Rootbusters!

[MiniGoatsRule]

Hey y'all!

So I'm in boy scouts. I saw the animal science badge. One of the requirement options is raise a pig from a baby to market weight.

I'll be keeping it longer. A study showed that pigs can be smarter than humans... Who wouldn't want a pet smarter than them? For me, that's all my pets...

ANYWAY.

I will be keeping it as a pet. The problem:

Rooting.

The R word.

The lawn ruiner.

So, if I have a pig from a young age, can I train it out of rooting, or at least find something to get it steered away from that?

 

[Alasgun]

Put a ring in its nose.

 

[Simpleterrier]

Rings work untill the nose gets a calous. Then they don't care. Stopping them from rooting might not happen

 

[farmerjan]

I have seen hogs with a dozen rings in their noses and after it gets callused, they will continue to root. It is in their DNA. Some breeds root more than others, but it is part of what they do.

 

[Alaskan]

Supposedly the kunekunes don't root as much... and will actually graze....

But 2 pigs are better than one.

Then they don't get lonely, and more importantly, when tiny, keep each other warm.

 

[Baymule]

A neighbor had kune kune pigs and their pen was rooted up bare dirt. He said without adequate pasture, moving them often so they didn't stay in one place and destroy it, bare dirt is what you'll end up with. Given room, good pasture, and penning them up to give the grass a chance to grow back, they are like any other pigs and root.

 

[MiniGoatsRule]

What exactly do rings do?

Also, I just realized that I forgot to ask this, but can I teach a pig to free roam? We do that with our goats and I don't think we have much space for a pen. If it could free roam, it'd go inside at night and could go anywhere to graze, eat, etc.

And would I need 2 if the pig could stay with my goats whenever?

 

[farmerjan]

Yes, pigs will "free roam"..... and they will not necessarily return at night. They will know where their feed is provided, and will usually return for that. However, they will pick favorite places and those places will get rooted up and grazed down to dirt. They will only roam a certain distance regularly, but if they take a notion, you may have them just go roaming and not come back. And you are looking at possible predators when they are smaller.... and they can't run fast for very long..... wild hogs will run for short distances too, and they are fast, but they will stop as soon as they find a place that they think will hide them. They also are raised from babies to follow the rest of the hogs or they get left behind and eaten. Yours will be more "pets" and will not have the survival skills or abilities of wild hogs.
What happens when they get into your vegetable garden, or your flower bed.... root up the grass in the yard. They will root up grass that the goats will want to eat too.....
How close are you to other people? If they go visiting, you could be looking at expensive replacement of someone elses yard or garden.
The goats will more than likely NOT take up with a pig. They like to have company of their own kind.... and if that is racist then so be it. 1 goat might become friends with 1 pig... but if you have a pair or more of goats, they will not accept a single pig as a 3rd wheel....

 

[MiniGoatsRule]

Yes, pigs will "free roam"..... and they will not necessarily return at night. They will know where their feed is provided, and will usually return for that. However, they will pick favorite places and those places will get rooted up and grazed down to dirt. They will only roam a certain distance regularly, but if they take a notion, you may have them just go roaming and not come back. And you are looking at possible predators when they are smaller.... and they can't run fast for very long..... wild hogs will run for short distances too, and they are fast, but they will stop as soon as they find a place that they think will hide them. They also are raised from babies to follow the rest of the hogs or they get left behind and eaten. Yours will be more "pets" and will not have the survival skills or abilities of wild hogs.
What happens when they get into your vegetable garden, or your flower bed.... root up the grass in the yard. They will root up grass that the goats will want to eat too.....
How close are you to other people? If they go visiting, you could be looking at expensive replacement of someone elses yard or garden.
The goats will more than likely NOT take up with a pig. They like to have company of their own kind.... and if that is racist then so be it. 1 goat might become friends with 1 pig... but if you have a pair or more of goats, they will not accept a single pig as a 3rd wheel....

We are surrounded by a neighborhood, but where the fence wouldn't block them, there is our long field. The goats don't even cross that unless they want to follow us home.

If I used an e-collar, could I train them to stick around? I'd need a big one, for sure, but I think they have a big enough collar.

Maybe.

Okay, maybe not. Nevermind

 

[Baymule]

Pig’s intelligence level is higher than a dog. Pigs are darn smart and they don’t need you. Free range? I wouldn’t. With a neighborhood around you? Nope. Not happening. Too many temptations for a pig to get into, people’s pet food, garbage cans, their flower beds and yards. Then they call animal control, your pig can get caught and it’s bye bye piggy. Or you get a fine for letting it run loose. Or it decides to join the feral hogs and you never see it again.

Around our area, I’ve seen litters of feral crossed with a Hampshire. Somebody’s Hampshire got loose and is busy improving the local feral hogs.