Pig pen location

[Ferguson K]

Bolt cutters work great for cutting panels. Cutting one in half doesn't getyou 8ft though. Those edges are sharp and you have to cut them back. That and they don't tie to anything.

An 8x8 won't be terrible for the pig if you train it to be walked,, like a show pig, so you can take it out for exercise. You're right thigh, 10x10 is standard on The commercial world. Those pigs are also isolated and destructive. Don't bend the panels, cut them. You'll make your fence stronger by not adding a bend in the wire. More solid.

Are you planning on putting in a gate? Unless you give that pig mind problems, he will figure out how to tear it down in a hurry. Unless you wire it shut.

Put the majority of your ties down low. Rebar tie wire atTSC is cheap and effective. The bottom six or seven holes need to be tied to your post so pig doesn't root out of his small pen. Make sure you get the tallest tposts you can afford. Drive them in asp that only about 4ft is out of the ground. This ensures your pig will not dig his way out.

Toys are great for pigs. Large hard rubber balls, frozen bottles that make noise, treats hidden throughout the pen everyday, keeps them occupied.

Keep empty milk jugs, freeze them and put treats in it. Your pig will tear it up going for food and you won't have a destructive pig!

Food for thought.

 

[norseofcourse]

For cutting those cattle and fence panels, I use a sawzall/reciprocating saw, goes through them almost like butter!

 

[craftymama86]

Ummm... Thoughts on pallets for fencing? I don't want to sound cheap, I'd love to use nice hog panels but we could easily get a BUNCH of free pallets, which would allow me to make a bigger pen and we already have a bunch of t-posts from when we had goats a few years back. We also have a stack of 4x4s we could use if needed. I've seen pallets used but wonder if they would hold up?

I like the toy ideas! I'm sure I could find plenty around here to offer as toys but I've also seen bowling balls in the thrift stores around here which I would imagine would be a good choice?

 

[craftymama86]

Do you have garden? You could plant veggies to supplement the pig feed. Squash, corn, even garden trimmings would be happily consumed by a pig. I second the bigger pen idea. When you cut a cow panel in half, you don't get two 8' pieces, but more like 7' plus a few inches. You are cutting out one square hole. I use bolt cutters, 24" handles, for cutting fence wire and cow panels.

We'll be planting our garden this month, can't wait for fresh produce! My in-laws are one of our neighbors and we share a large garden but we always always have extra so that will definitely help. We do give our animals scraps but there are still things like potato peelings and celery ends none will touch.... That reminds me, I haven't looked up yet what pigs can't eat, like poisonous plants. I don't plan on feeding it meat, just plant scraps.

 

[Ferguson K]

If you use pallets as fencing, make sure you put two t-posts per pallet. One on either side. If you have access to free pallets, amazing. Works great for just about all kinds of fencing.

Just keep nails and board s handy, because they will rust and they will rot and you will have to replace some of them eventually.

Drive to post down inside the pallet, not behind it or in front of it. That will give you the most support.

 

[craftymama86]

If you use pallets as fencing, make sure you put two t-posts per pallet. One on either side. If you have access to free pallets, amazing. Works great for just about all kinds of fencing.

Just keep nails and board s handy, because they will rust and they will rot and you will have to replace some of them eventually.

Drive to post down inside the pallet, not behind it or in front of it. That will give you the most support.

Wonderful, thanks! We try to keep things like nails and boards on hand anyways, there's always something to be done around here, or personal projects, etc, lol.

 

[Ferguson K]

Oh I understand!

 

[Baymule]

There are several here that have used pallets for fences. @goats&moregoats

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/barredrockmomma-im-still-here.13692/page-37

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/pallet-fence-for-goats.27162/#post-344770

http://www.backyardherds.com/thread...1-fence-building-pic-heavy.23635/#post-316555

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/new-pig-pen-pics.15013/page-2#post-203373

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwrel&v=dXOfnJiLdiA

 

[teach1rusl]

Definitely bigger is better...and healthier...for the animal. The tinier the pen, the more often it'll have to be mucked out...

 

[craftymama86]

So with the free pallets I'm thinking 20x20. Here's the back of our land. The house will be on the right side, the right end of the house will be where the burn pile is currently. The left end of the house will be about where the tip of the lower branches come out on the front of that big tree, if that makes sense. I haven't measured the space between the corner of the house and where the current fence is but it may be more space than I previously mentioned. At the rate things are going, we may process the pig before the house is even finished so I want to go ahead and place the pen where I originally wanted.

Here is the front view of the mostly fenced area. Sorry it's not a close up but I couldn't fit it in otherwise. From this view, where I want the pen will be on the right side, in the front.

Same front view but to the right a good bit more, the front shaded area to the far edge of the burn pile will sit the house. And, yes we have bees and will be moving the hives before building starts.

This view is basically where the house will sit, it's not really that close to the fenced area. At least I don't think so but a good strong wind and I'm sure we'd still smell the pig if it were on the other end of the fenced area, lol.

So here's where the pen will be. We had a pile of gravel here so there's still a little left which I figured might help when it gets muddy, hope so anyways, lol. There's a nice shaded area from the trees.

Just another view. And for these last two pics I was standing just outside the 20x20 area. I think it's a pretty good size, yea? Oh and I think there may be a plant in there that I'll have to dig out. Hubby wasn't sure but it may be poisonous to pigs. I forgot what he called it... Anyways. That's it! We cut a 55 gallon barrel to put out there for the feeders. We'll see how they hold up, lol.