Pigs - Raising Small Animals - page 198

keeping pigs or any other farm animal contained. General-purpose field fencing usually starts
at $159 for fence that is 47 inches tall and 330 feet long; studded “T” posts for the fence are
$3.99 each at the Tractor Supply Company at the time of this writing. As usual, you may be
able to find better deals if you buy secondhand. Electrified netting is also expensive, but it is
versatile and can be moved from place to place. It is useful if you plan to use rotational graz-
ing for your pigs. You can move the electrified netting wherever your pigs are grazing. Most
electrified netting in the United States is sold by Premiere1Supplies.com and can be pur-
chased online with free ground delivery. Fifty feet of Pig QuikFence is $57; 100 feet is $70.
When you are installing your fences, you will need to put up a few gates. Give some careful
thought to whether gates should swing inward or outward. For instance, if you do not want
your pigs to try to rush out of the pen into an open area when you enter, it is best to plan a
gate to open inward. If your pen opens into a pasture for the pigs, however, it may be fine to
have a gate that swings outward to allow the pigs to have easier access to the larger area. If
you have a gate to a barn entrance, you may wish to control access and have a gate that opens
inward so you can control how many pigs you allow to enter at one time. Consider the best
locations for your gates. If you have adjoining pens, for example, you may wish to place a
gate inside the pen as a shortcut instead of having to drive pigs out of one pen and into the
other. These may seem like minor matters, but they can make a big difference when you are
driving your pigs from one pen to another or carrying out your daily chores.
Hygiene Considerations
Your pigs' living quarters will have a direct impact on their health, the quality of meat they
produce, and on you or anyone else who works around them. Good planning can make it
much easier to maintain hygienic conditions around your pigs, make cleaning the pen easier,
and make for a more pleasant work environment on the farm.
Pigs are naturally clean animals, and they prefer to use one area of their pen or lot as a bath-
room. Once this area is established as the bathroom spot, your job of cleaning out the pen
each day should be decidedly easier because you will only have one place to concentrate your
cleaning efforts. You also should check the sleeping area each day and clean out any wet or
dirty places. Put down fresh straw or other bedding to keep the area dry and comfortable for
your pigs.