Pig advice!

[Cronks5]

I will be getting a pig or two in the summer. I was wondering if you guys could give me advice on how to set up for it. Is one pig fine or do they need friends? Can I use chicken wire as a fence and how high should it be? I live in Connecticut so it gets cold, should I make a stall next to my goats for it or will an outdoor small pig house work. Hope you guys can help!

 

[mysunwolf]

Definitely get TWO pigs, they are much quieter and can entertain each other instead of getting bored and getting into trouble.

DO NOT use chicken wire, they will break through. We have used 2x4" welded or stretched woven wire backed by t-posts for younger pigs, and hog panels with t-posts for older pigs. Most people make the fences 34-48 inches high. We've noticed that our pigs can climb about 34-36in when they're young, but not much higher than 40in.

If you have more than one pig, they can keep each other warm in a small pig house lined with straw. I would not keep them in your good wood barn as some pigs have a tendency to chew on the walls of wood barns.

 

[goatgurl]

agree with mysunwolf. get two pigs, they seem to do better that way. never try to keep them in with chicken wire, and 2x4 wire and field fence will keep in a small pig but they will push it up or out as they get bigger. i started using hog panels but found that a large pig could pull up and over them and was going to use cattle panels but realized that little pigs could go thru the holes in the panels so got goat 4x4 square goat panels instead. have worked well. to tall to climb over and holes are to small to go thru. they will do fine with their own little house, just give them some hay or straw to sleep on and in. they need shade in the summer, clean water and fed twice daily. i think they are one of the easier farm animals to care for.

 

[Cronks5]

Is their special pig grain that you use and find works better than others?

 

[mysunwolf]

Formulated pig feed works the best, since it has all the required vitamins and minerals pre-mixed and is usually inexpensive if bought from a feed mill. You can also feed them ground/cracked grains with a Fertrell swine formula mixed into them. Don't feed whole wheat as pigs can't digest it.

And don't forget all the tasty kitchen scraps they'll get!