Anyone here raise pigs?

[Budweiser]

First post here, anyone here raise pigs? I'm thinking of getting a piglet this spring to raise for meat from my friend who breeds them... Just wondering what others do for pens, feed, etc. to get different ideas.

 

[SSDreamin]

Yes, several of us on here raise pigs. I would recommend talking to your friend who breeds them for ideas. They would know what works best for your area
As for us, we pasture raise ours, as much as possible. When that can't be done, we feed chop with lots of additions. Our pig girls have a nice sized hutch, L shaped for wind protection, piled high with straw. We were told to always have a minimum of 2 here, as they like companionship and will help each other stay warm during our cold months.

 

[Wannabefree]

I set up stalls in a metal frame garage for mine, 3 (8x10) stalls accross the back, made from pallets. They didn't cost me a dime. I repurposed a couple dog houses insde, and keep the floor about 6-8 inches thick with straw, which they toss around and pile up. It just takes a bit of maintenance to do it that way. I feed them kitchen scraps, grain, and old expired yogurt that I got for free. Our pigs are by far about the cheapest animals we raise, but we have a lot of stuff given to us for them. A few neighbors hold out scraps for us too.

 

[Budweiser]

I can get truck loads of pallets whenever I need then, and was thinking about using pallets to build the stall, just worried about it strength wise.

 

[Wannabefree]

Well, thankfully we have a ton of rebar strewn back here in the woods, we just anchored them with that. It's plenty strong if you have the oak pallets, and reinforce/anchor at the ground level with something like rebar, or maybe concrete would work as well.

 

[wannabefarmergirl]

we are getting pigs in a few days and we used pallets. We put t-posts in the pallets for support. Will this be enough? We are also using electric fencing.

 

[SSDreamin]

we are getting pigs in a few days and we used pallets. We put t-posts in the pallets for support. Will this be enough? We are also using electric fencing.

We used electric fence too, but trained them to it with what's been called a 'pig ball pen'. I'm glad we did - those stinkers would've went right through the wire without it!

 

[Wannabefree]

WBFG it should be enough. We haven't used electric ourselves, but I know folks who swear by it for pigs.

 

[the funny farm6]

we use cattle pannels. with T posts. we were told also to keep more than 1 at a time so they will compete for the food and eat more.

 

[Wannabefree]

They are pretty social animals too, and a lonely pig is an escape artist waiting to happen!!!