Size of Pig Pen

Cntry_livin · #1 03/31/11, 02:44 AM

My family & I were wanting to get 1 or 2 pigs. We were wondering what a good size pen would be. Comments? Advice?

We look forward to hearing different ideas.

Thanks,

Cntry_livin

linn · #2 03/31/11, 08:23 AM

The general rule of thumb is to build at least an 8'x16' pen for one hog and 16'x16' for two hogs and so on.....
Build of sturdy materials such as hog panels with posts set at small enough intervals to fully support the weight of a hog rubbing against the panels or rooting at the base of the panels.

olivehill · #3 03/31/11, 08:27 AM

I would strongly encourage you to get no fewer than 2. Pigs are social animals, they do best with at least one companion of their same species.

For the pen as much space as you can possibly allot them. If you can give them pasture to graze that would be a very good idea.

Brooks WV · #4 03/31/11, 09:57 AM

What kind of pigs are you planning to get, and what type of property do you have? The bigger the pen, the better; or as olivehill said, a fenced pasture is better yet.

I too am new to pigs, and opted for a heritage breed that does best on pasture. We have no fencing, and let them roam the entire farm. They don't wander far, as they have food, water and shelter close by.

Mare Owner · #5 03/31/11, 06:19 PM

As large as you can manage is the best size. Pigs are happier (IMO) if they have room to move around, run and play, plow and dig, and wallow.

The smallest pens I have are about 10 x 16 (horse stalls) for farrowing sows in winter, everything else is much larger, and is outside with shelter from wind/rain.

Ed Norman · #6 03/31/11, 07:42 PM

I was researching pen construction a while back, and for some reason, they recommend long skinny pens over squares. They say the hogs do better and gain better. I don't know why.

TxHorseMom · #7 04/01/11, 04:13 AM

I am going to agree with everyone else here and say the bigger the better. My pen is aprox 100'x70' and my pigs seem very happy. They can run and play. The more exercise they get, the leaner the meat.

jkalmeida · #8 04/01/11, 04:04 PM

We did one in an outside pen, all it ever tried to do was get out... which it did often. We would come home from work and it would run down to the car to say hi (like a dog) LOL we would get some food and walk it back in the pen. The next year we got two. Put them in a section of our barn that has a cement slab. The edges are higher up around - like a step up to the edges of the barn. So we just took pallets and screwed them to the sides and made a pen. They had room to move around plenty, but not too much room like free ranging obviously. They never tried to get out-kept each other occupied. They could stand on their hind legs with front feet on the pallets till they got too big. We had shavings down and hay. We had the sliding barn doors too so they had air and sun/shade. we bought an auto water nipple that we hooked up with a hose. It was a life saver to us compared to the first year with the bucket water. Good luck with your pigs- you will enjoy and just make sure the pen is big enough for them to move around in, or make it bigger if you want them to really move around! I don't think there is an exact science to it- learn as you go!

jkalmeida · #9 04/01/11, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Norman

I was researching pen construction a while back, and for some reason, they recommend long skinny pens over squares. They say the hogs do better and gain better. I don't know why.

Ours was more of a rectangle than square- not sure if it made a difference, but they pee/pooped on one end - ate in the middle section - and slept on the other end. Worked great.

our first pen outside was square and there was no defined method to her ways! LOL

Our Little Farm · #10 04/01/11, 04:19 PM

Give them as much space as you possibly can. I like to pasture raise ours. The best pork you have ever tasted.

Small pens mean that they are wallowing in their own filth. Pigs are clean animals and given the chance will not eat where they 'go'.
I also recommend at least 2 pigs. They grow better than if there was just one.

HeritagePigs · #11 04/01/11, 04:40 PM

Ours are all on pasture / woods and I know that they are healthier than if they were cooped up.

I usually do my last check on the herds before sundown but the other night I was late making my rounds. It was at dusk and I was with one herd in the woods as they were starting to bed down for the night.

I knew that they slept in small groups, four or five together, and always assumed that they just found a windblown pile of leaves to sleep on. But as I was watching them I was amazed to see them actually preparing their beds for the night. They were going around collecting mouthfuls of leaves and making community piles. Some would walk around, grab a mouthful, carry it back to the bed they were making and carefully place the leaves. Some were doing the gathering, others were pushing the pile into place and removing large sticks and rocks. After a lot of seemingly careful work they would lay down together on their prepared bed for the night. Their behavior was like nesting but it was obviously a planned and shared effort.

In this herd there are 22 sows and they were in groups of four or five; each group was doing the same behavior. This whole process took about a half hour and then they were all bedded down for the night. It was amazing for me to see this.

The point is that I doubt that they would have exhibited the same behavior in a pen. I believe the fact that I had them in their natural environment allowed them to express what I assume is natural hog behavior. This has to mean that being out in a large paddock in the woods is better for them. Now I'm even more convinced that giving them the right environment is the best way to breed and raise them.

Brian

Our Little Farm · #12 04/01/11, 04:44 PM

Thanks for sharing that Brian.

Kmac15 · #13 04/01/11, 09:46 PM

We have 16X16 pens with a 1/4 acre fenced area for rooming. We let them out once they are get big enough to not go under the fencing.

olivehill · #14 04/01/11, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeritagePigs

The point is that I doubt that they would have exhibited the same behavior in a pen. I believe the fact that I had them in their natural environment allowed them to express what I assume is natural hog behavior. This has to mean that being out in a large paddock in the woods is better for them. Now I'm even more convinced that giving them the right environment is the best way to breed and raise them.

Brian

While I agree with you that pasture rearing is best for hogs your assumption would be wrong, ime. Our hogs are pastured in the late spring, summer and fall, but are moved to hard pens for the winter and early spring and they exhibit this behavior in pens on a regular basis. It's one of my favorite things to watch. We have one barrow in particular that we joke would be an interior designer to the stars if he were human. He's meticulous about the placement of their bedding materials. He always has the "design the nest" part of the job. And if others don't bring him acceptable materials in whatever order he deems necessary he'll go out and root around a bit and then pretty soon snatch up a mouthful of something, take it back and put it in whatever spot he had in mind for it before going back to using the materials the others brought up for him.

The depth and complexity of their social system is amazing.

TxHorseMom · #15 04/02/11, 05:28 AM

The other problem IMO is that in a smaller pen the pigs/area gets STINKY!! You also have to clean the pen a lot if it is small. A job I would rather not do. In my larger pen I have never had to clean it out.

cooper101 · #16 04/02/11, 07:34 AM

The wetter it will be, the bigger you should make it. For one pig, 8x8 on cement and cleaned out EVERY day worked for us. If that was a dirt floor, it would have bordered on cruelty after about a week of poop and rooting. If you don't plan to shovel it out, make it as big as you can afford in cost and space. Also, make a waterer out of a plastic barrel and a hog nipple. Keeps the pen much drier and cleaner. Using buckets or tubs, 2/3 of the water just goes on the ground. Long and skinny does seem to work better; they will definitely destroy one end and the other will be clean. I think one pig does fine on its own. They won't grow as fast, because they don't feel they have to compete for food. My butcher swears by his "quarter rule". Raise anything, sell 3/4 of whatever it is, the quarter you keep will be free. So, you can buy 2, sell 3 halves to friends, keep a half and cover most of the cost of your half. Won't cover overhead, but it helps and 2 are just as easy as 1.

linn · #17 04/02/11, 08:49 AM

Keeping hogs in a pen with a dirt floor is not cruel if you keep it dry and bedded with hay or straw. We put a big bale of hay in our pens. The pigs eat part of it and tear the rest of it up to make bedding. A lot of it gets trampled into the dirt and this keeps the pen from getting muddy.

fixer1958 · #18 04/02/11, 08:53 AM

Brian
We had a PB that ran loose with the dogs and slept in the garage in the corner by the freezer where his 'nest' was. He would go through his nightly routine of preparing his bed which consisted of old rags, coats etc. In the winter he would crawl underneath all of it and all you would see was his butt.
I had to keep things on high shelves that he couldn't reach because more than once I find 'stuff' for his bed in there. Boxes that he shredded that used to contain something, a corded drill a couple of times.
I thought it was just him, but I guess not.
We had to have him put down because he couldn't hardly get around anymore. He was about 10 or 11.
I think about him everytime I look at the scars on my shins from his tusks when we would have a disagreement.