UPDADE Pg1: Help before it's fully feral

[Lil Chickie Mama]

About two to three weeks ago a little piggy (must be weaner size, but not sure) escaped from the auction yard across the street. Animals escaping from there happens A LOT and we seem to be the "sanctuary" of many escapees. Rarely does anyone ever come for them unless it's a full trailer that escaped.

Anyway, it's been a few weeks and this little guy is a BIG problem. I won't go into the damage, but we've tried to get rid of him and he thinks he has free roam here. We've tried to shoot him a couple times but missed. He broke into the chicken coop yesterday and I'm afraid he will eventually start going after the chickens. I know it doesn't take long for a pig to go feral so he needs to go. Is there any way to up our chances of getting him besides better aim? Is there a good time of day to "hunt" him? Can I lure him to a more secure area with a certain treat type enticement? Okay, as I await your responses I am getting ready to go buy more shells. Ugh.

 

[jhm47]

How big is he? Remember, a pig is relatively solid muscle when they are small, so he will be quite strong. Would he fit into a large live trap? Corn is an excellent bait for pigs, or you might want to buy a bag of pig feed at a farm supply store.

What kind of gun have you been shooting at him with? A shotgun will do little, unless at very close range. A .22 rifle bullet in the lung/heart area will do the trick, but may take a few minutes to kill. A pig squealing for several minutes can seem like an eternity.

If you should be successful in live-trapping him, you might be able to resell him at the auction, or else you might construct a secure pen and feed him up to butcher weight. Fresh pork is very tasty. Good luck!

 

[countrywife]

I would try the live trap.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i'm goin with luring him into the corner of a building that has a pen set up...use corn to get him in. once in a small, confined area and he is settled and eating, take better aim. its ok to use a bigger gun too
;-)

in all seriousness, be careful!

and let us know what happens

 

[Lil Chickie Mama]

We currently only have a 20 guage single shot shotgun according to my husband. He said it has like 4 bebes in it. Can you tell I'm not a gun person? We are going to go buy a new one for each of us today, a .22 rifle for my meat uses and some other thing for him to shoot the geese and ducks out of the rice field. I don't even know how long the wait is though.

Live trap is out, he is too big for the large one we saw at TSC but I don't know how big he is exactly, I was guessing weaner but the auction yard sells weaners, feeders, market hogs, sows, and boars but he seemed smallish the first time I saw him. He does seem to be growing fast though.

I'd love to trap him and feed him up to eating weight, but hubbie is too pissed off and wants him gone. Can you eat them when they are young? I don't mind butchering myself, but all I have to go on is Encyclopedia of Country Living. I have a 10X10 3 sided goat shed (currently unoccupied, goats coming in April) and we set t-posts in the ground with 5 foot no climb wire for a large area around it. Part of the fencing is cyclone fence to my chicken coop. Would this keep him in? I tried to make the goat shed more appealing by spreading a ton of straw in there but the rest outside is mud.

Yesterday he was in the chicken coop that had just been re-arranged so some of the cyclone panels were only secured with a single clamp. That's how he got in, when DH scared him he took off running and almost broke the gate by pushing underneath it and bending it out at the bottom corner. It was an easy fix but now it's latched and has 2 chains holding it shut at bottom and top. I'll try using some of the chickens feed to lure him into the goat pen, some fresh water too...we'll see if I can get him to stay or at least get him trapped in so we have a good shot. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[annanicole18]

hmm i would say try something that is going to make a really good smell....off the top of my head i would say some nice hot water and some dog food? put it in the goat pen and wait til hes in there pen him up and then started fattening him up and tell the hubby that you will get three times the meat if he just waits a little while... anyone else have any ideas on what would make enough of a smell that the pig would come running?

 

[jhm47]

Did you get him yet? Keep us informed.

 

[Lil Chickie Mama]

Nope, not yet. His pattern seems to be to only come around at night or early mornings, but the times that we've scared him off it takes a few days for him to return when we can see him. I'll try the hot water and dog food! I've seen fresh tracks, but not very many. Some of his tracks run along the canal bank that runs through our ground, LOL, I think that he'll be looking for shelter soon since it's supposed to start raining again. I'll be trying the water, dog food, and a plate of chicken food that got wet (ew) tomorrow, maybe I'll set it out late in the day after I put the chickens up for the night and see if hubbie and I can stake out from the kitchen. I'll let you know how it goes...

ETA: I'll see if I can keep the porker around, but if he's mean or tears up the pen we'll settle for very little meat. Whether we process him now or are able to wait till he fattens up, is there anything I should look for to know if it's okay to eat?

 

[jhm47]

If he's an intact boar, I wouldn't bother with trying to eat him. Boars have a very distinct musky odor, and the meat has the same off taste. The dog food may work, but I'd also try to bait him with corn or something similar. A bag of pig feed would likely be the best. Put small amounts out where he lurks for a couple days, and gradually place it closer to your pen, or wherever you plan to trap him. He will slowly move closer to where you want him.

He will definitely be wild and perhaps mean after you catch him. However, they quickly learn that humans are their source of feed, and he will settle down very fast. Just be really sure that your pen will hold him. Pigs are very strong, and can escape from some very secure places. Good luck!

 

[Lil Chickie Mama]

Okay, the *insert swear word here* is dead!!! We got our guns in yesterday and shot at him but he ran off. Yesterday he had done more damage and we were ticked! He got into my tulips and ate them and apparently ate a few of my chickens. I'm not sure exactly how many because there are 8 missing but I know some flew off at the sound of the guns. I'm hoping they come back but I doubt it

So this morning I woke up ready to go, we headed out to his "hang out" are and took 4 shotgun shells and 10 .22 bullets. He wasn't very smart as he went around the same area but didn't leave. At one point I was holding the shotgun and DH had the .22 and shot at him. Well the porker came toward me and I had to fumble with the safety (I could have shot him in the head right there otherwise) and got him in the hindquarters. DH was able to finish him off after a few more rounds but we were out of bullets and the pig was dead when we were done. We dragged him back to the house and hung him by the forklift. Actually at this point we found out it was a SHE so that was a relief. We bled, skinned, and cleaned HER up. We cut the head and feet off completely and took her to a local butcher to see what meat he can salvage. They weighed it and it was 35 lbs. Not big, but she made a heck of a mess alive so we'll get what we can out of her!

Thanks for all the advice and support! I'm just glad she can't eat my chickens or tear up our property anymore. I'll let you know how she tastes. We're hoping to get a small ham and a bunch of sausage from her but we'll see.