electric fence

duckidaho · #1 04/26/11, 07:04 AM

Can I fence pasture for pigs with just electric fencing? I want to fence a bigger area and not use hog panels if that is possible. If so, what electric fence configuration?

olivehill · #2 04/26/11, 07:33 AM

Yes, you can. Two or more strands, beginning about 4 inches off the ground for the lowest strand. You'll want another at about 10-12 inches. Those two will likely do it, but some people add a third and even a fourth strand. Depends on what you're using it for. Just a few feeders in the summer? Two should do it. If you're keeping breeders year round on it, you may want some higher.

You can use just about any fence type you want -- galvanized, high tensile, rope, tape.

You will need to train the pigs to the electric if they've not been trained to it already. Easiest and most hands off way to do that is to string one line of electric inside a hog panel pen. Leave them in there for a few days and they'll train themselves. I've done it "by hand" too, which has worked for me as well. Put some feed directly underneath the hot fence on the ground and a hog panel outside the fence either being held by a couple of adults or put in place with T-posts. They'll try to eat, get zapped on the nose and most learn pretty quick to steer clear of the wire. Some of the denser pigs might take a bit longer though.

HeritagePigs · #3 04/26/11, 08:09 AM

Olivehill has some good advice. I have run our herds on pasture for years with electric. There are many advantages.

We like to rotate our herds through paddocks to better utilize and condition the pasture. We use polywire so that it can be easily moved and reused. I put t-posts at the corners and every 300 feet or so. This allows me to tension the wire. Then I put plastic posts wherever needed to support the strands.

Since I have mature breeders I place the bottom wire about 10 inches above the ground then the second wire about ten inches above that. This places the second wire at the average nose height. Since I also run cattle with my hogs I have a third wire at about three and a half feet but it is only necessary because of the cattle.

I create two paddocks at a time. Once the hogs have used the first paddock I move them into the second. Then I disassemble the first and use it to create the third, and so on. I have several farm ponds so I create the paddocks in sort of a pinwheel pattern around each pond so they have a water source and wallow.

After each paddock is used I run a harrow through to break up their waste and drag any thatch. Then I reseed each as needed with clover. Since the waste is spread out as the hogs graze we don't have any problem with odor.

I also try to include some woods or Port-A-Huts so they have shelter and seclusion for farrowing.

The piglets are born in the woods or huts and wean on pasture. This ensures they have learned to live on a pasture diet which makes them ready to do well on our customer's pastures. They will run under the wire, in and out, but don't go far from the herd. By the time they are weaned they are trained to the electric.

I have to replace about twenty percent of the wire and poles each year.

I have found this method to be the best and most economical for pasture farms. It also provides a very healthy environment for the hogs and their behavior indicates they like it...

duckidaho · #4 04/26/11, 08:30 AM

Sounds great. Does electric fencing need to be in a continuous square (or circle)? I guess I'm asking, I currently use one section of the barn for shelter. How do I get the pigs in and out of the barn door? Can I run the wire in a horseshoe and leave access to the barn? Or do I have to do a continuous square and build a shelter inside of it? Thanks, duck

HeritagePigs · #5 04/26/11, 08:34 AM

Electric should be continuous to allow for current flow but not a closed loop. The horseshoe is the right idea. I have, at times, made a run from a shelter to a remote paddock.

Here's a good article on electric fencing: http://www.pasturemanagement.com/electricfencing.htm. My only critique is that smooth wire is hard to reuse. I prefer polywire for the reasons mentioned above.

olivehill · #6 04/26/11, 08:45 AM

And the fence itself doesn't have to be continuous, you just have to be able to run the current. You can bury insulated wire if you need to "jump" the current from one place to another.

As for the horseshoe, it'd work just fine. If you don't want them to have access to the barn however, you don't have to leave it open. They should have some kind of shelter from the worst elements -- but that doesn't have to be a barn. A pallet A-frame, a hut, woods, etc can all work too. Depending on how many you have to move and how much you've handled them, you may be able to just walk them over with a bucket in hand. Mine will follow me anywhere if they think I have good food. If not you can also wrap a hog panel into a teardrop shape, put it over a hog and move them that way, too. You will want a couple adults to use that method though. Some hogs will stick their nose into the panel and lift it up. They can send it flying if you're not holding it down.

cooper101 · #7 04/26/11, 08:48 AM

You can use a horse-shoe. No problem not having a continuous loop.

One thing I've learned with electric is it works well to get them comfortable in a new home first before letting them out into a pasture just with electric. I used a small hog panel pen inside an electric fenced pasture. I got them nice and settled in and not afraid of me before I let them out into the big pen. That way, they're not spooky and running away from me when I'm around. They know where the food is and they're happy here. I also had a single strand at the bottom of the panel. They're now very wary of wire/steel. They have poor eyesite and need to learn where the boundary is; if you let them out and they're running scared, they'll blow right through the fence without even seeing it. I walked around the pasture perimeter and they followed me. They were going slow enough that they could see the fence. A couple zaps later, they knew where it was. One thing I was going to try was to get some of that yellow plastic caution tape you see around construction areas. I was going to string that along the fence so they had a more visible barrier, but after walking the perimeter with them twice, they figured out the boundary and there hasn't been a need.

duckidaho · #8 04/26/11, 10:58 AM

Good info guys. I have a small hog panel paddock from last year I can start them in. Then expand with electric.