3 Little Piggies Coming in 3 days. HELP!

[Healthy Skeptic]

Ok. Thanks

 

[Baymule]

Pigs are resilient. They will be ok putting them in the place that you have for them. The last two we had spent a month in the trailer while we built their new Pig Palace and pen. I once knew a man who raised 2 pigs every year-in a trailer. He parked the trailer over his garden spot, moving it weekly. He washed the poop out and it fell in the garden. He let it lie fallow and planted the parking place he used for the pigs the previous year. He always had a great garden.

 

[Healthy Skeptic]

That’s really interesting. They should only be locked in for a week.

What about ticks? My hubby heard ticks love pigs. Is this true?

We live in MI and my son got neuro Lyme from a tick in our woods back in 2016 hunting. So it is a concern for us!!

 

[Healthy Skeptic]

My husband wants to do wood chips. Says it holds up better. But straw is so much cheaper. Will they eat the chips?

What scraps can we not give the pigs?

 

[mysunwolf]

I would mix straw and wood chips while they're indoors. Wood chips are great for muddy areas, straw is great for their dry spot. They shouldn't eat the chips, and if they do hopefully they'll chew them. We've used wood chips with no issues.

Raw onions and garlic are not great. No pork. Some folks like to avoid meat, use your best judgement. Ex no cooked bones. You'd be shocked to see pigs chow down on a deer carcass, but there are disease issues there.

Ticks definitely love pigs, but so far we just pull them off and have never had a problem with pigs getting any tick-borne illnesses (but can't say the same about myself). You can use diatomaceous earth around the pen to discourage ticks, plus spray your pigs with permethrin or a natural tick repellant if you're that worried. Injectable ivermectin takes care of quite a few internal parasites as well as adult ticks and lice as well.

 

[Latestarter]

Speaking from what I've heard you need to be careful with salted foods as pigs can't sweat.

 

[Healthy Skeptic]

We already spread DE all over the inside of their home. I maybe should put in outside pen too. Thanks for the info.

 

[Healthy Skeptic]

Is the injection safe? I’m worried about that too. Argh. I prefer organic pigs. But it’s too expensive.

 

[Latestarter]

http://www.livingwithbugs.com/permethrin_pyrethrum.html If you'll be keeping the pigs close to home, ticks shouldn't be an issue. If they'll be wandering the property or going in the woods, that would be a different situation...

 

[Latestarter]

Just a note on DE... it works by desiccating the dry exoskeletons of insects, which causes them to dry out and die. It is virtually useless to do this in wet conditions. Spreading DE outside is really a waste.