Getting 2 piglets - essential advice??

[mcf3kids]

So I have done some research over the past 6 months and have 2 piglets coming in the next few weeks. Hubby has built a pig pen for them with TSC hog panels and hoping they don't need electric fencing. We have a nice shelter built and when leaves pop they will have a nice tree cover for shade. Suggestions on feed or securing feed & water would be welcomed. We will use a commercial feed and have access to steeped grains from a local beer brewery to feed as extra feed. Would love and accept any advice!

 

[jhm47]

Get an electric fence around the INSIDE of the pen. You will regret it if you don't. Chasing escaped pigs is NOT fun!

 

[Royd Wood]

As above - we just use elec fence on some paddocks and they stay put. If your fence should stop working cattle seem to take a couple of days to suss it out but pigs are very clever and will know in no time.
Lots of older posts on here regarding feed - we have heritige pigs here who dont do well on commercial but great news on your local beer scoop.
Good luck and keep us posted - pics go down well too

 

[Truscifi]

Go ahead with the electric fence. We tried without it, but after the third time I spent over an hour chasing piglets, we put some up. The little rascals haven't escaped since. Before they were little Houdinis. Our neighbor said they went in her yard several times when I wasn't home, but came back to their pen when it was getting close to dinner time.

 

[mcf3kids]

Thank you all for the posts regarding electric fencing. We had planned on doing that and then went to visit a guy who was local and he doesn't have it and kind of steered us away. Hubby is an electrician so setting it up will not be a big deal at all so I will let him know that several people have suggested it. We do not want escaped piglets!

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

I would agree with the electric fence. As mentioned, our cows will let the fence be down (no current running through) for a week or so before getting out. They can hear the clicking that it makes and know if it is "hot" or not. It appears that pigs are much smarter and would be out in no time. We too are getting pigs soon and hopefully we will use a lot of learned wisdom from others! Congrats on your new pigs!

 

[Hillsvale]

Get an electric fence around the INSIDE of the pen. You will regret it if you don't. Chasing escaped pigs is NOT fun!

definately.....

we feed commercial to our tamworth as well as vegetarian kitchen scraps (ie no meat)

have fun, pigs are great critters and taste exceptional!

Oh, and if they do escape... they LOVE sweets, cake, cookies etc... they can sense that before other food... and just pretend that you don't care if they go back to their pen but you can wander that way with the covetted cookie once they know what you have, cause if you chase them....

 

[jhm47]

Thinking about escaped pigs, and one of my funniest memories is of my dear, deceased mother:

This is a true story, and my 96 year old father will verify it.

We had a couple litters of pigs that were born during the summer on our farm. We were short on housing space, so my dad had rigged up a pen under a large grove of trees with electric wire abou 16" above the ground. We kept it that tall since the pregnant sows were 3rd litter sows, and were about 550 - 600 lbs. We had a small shelter there, and kept it bedded with lots of straw. It was my job to keep these pigs fed, bedded, and watered.

When the baby pigs were about 6 - 8 weeks old, my dad decided that they needed to be weaned. Of course, they had been running under the electric fence for a month, and were very familiar with our yard. They were also about 40 lbs of pure muscle.

My dad and I tried for several days to catch them with little luck, so we enlisted the help of my mom, who had little to no experience with pigs. We got the pigs cornered near the building that we wanted them to enter, and were trying unsuccessfully to entice them into it, when the whole bunch made a headlong rush to escape. My mother, being inexperienced, stuck her left foot out to block them. The rushing herd never wavered. They struck her foot, and caused her to begin spinning around like a top. She was perfectly balanced on her right foot, and just kept spinning and spinning. At each revolution, her facial expression changed. First round was disbelief, second round was fear, and third round was anger. She finally collapsed into the muddy ground. My dad and I had run around the barn and were laughing hysterically. My mom didn't say a word about the incident. In fact, she didn't say a word to either of us for several weeks. My dad came to like sleeping in the barn with the cats and dog, and I learned some things about cooking. A good lesson for all of us.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Thinking about escaped pigs, and one of my funniest memories is of my dear, deceased mother:

This is a true story, and my 96 year old father will verify it.

We had a couple litters of pigs that were born during the summer on our farm. We were short on housing space, so my dad had rigged up a pen under a large grove of trees with electric wire abou 16" above the ground. We kept it that tall since the pregnant sows were 3rd litter sows, and were about 550 - 600 lbs. We had a small shelter there, and kept it bedded with lots of straw. It was my job to keep these pigs fed, bedded, and watered.

When the baby pigs were about 6 - 8 weeks old, my dad decided that they needed to be weaned. Of course, they had been running under the electric fence for a month, and were very familiar with our yard. They were also about 40 lbs of pure muscle.

My dad and I tried for several days to catch them with little luck, so we enlisted the help of my mom, who had little to no experience with pigs. We got the pigs cornered near the building that we wanted them to enter, and were trying unsuccessfully to entice them into it, when the whole bunch made a headlong rush to escape. My mother, being inexperienced, stuck her left foot out to block them. The rushing herd never wavered. They struck her foot, and caused her to begin spinning around like a top. She was perfectly balanced on her right foot, and just kept spinning and spinning. At each revolution, her facial expression changed. First round was disbelief, second round was fear, and third round was anger. She finally collapsed into the muddy ground. My dad and I had run around the barn and were laughing hysterically. My mom didn't say a word about the incident. In fact, she didn't say a word to either of us for several weeks. My dad came to like sleeping in the barn with the cats and dog, and I learned some things about cooking. A good lesson for all of us.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

jhm, that was a great story!



I put my piglet (and her 2 goat kid friends) in the pen outside the other day. It's a chain link pen, and I knew I'd need to reinforce the bottom, since it would be easy for her to push under, but I figured with her being small (7 weeks) she would be fine in it. She was ok the first day, but the second day I was in the kitchen and happened to see the sheep and goats looking at something...so I looked to see what it was and it was the piglet, happily walking around the yard. Luckily she was easy to get back in, and now I know that even small piglets will test the fencing.