How to Keep Pigs in Pens
- 1). Allow at least 50 square feet of pen area per pig. Create more pen square footage for each pig if you're raising a larger than average breed. Overcrowded pigs will experience agitation, which can result in poor health and inhibited growth.
- 2). Build a board or barbed wire fence at least 4 feet high to prevent your pigs from jumping over and escaping. Secure a single electrified wire to the fence posts at ground level, inside the pen perimeter, to prevent your pigs from digging their way out. Don't string this electric wire across the opening of the pen, as doing so will inadvertently train the pigs not to enter or leave when needed.
- 3). Place your pigs' water supply on the opposite side of the pen from their food and shelter areas. Pigs will often defecate near their water supply, potentially contaminating their solid food and bedding if their water is too close in proximity. Place extra straw in the areas where the pigs have chosen to defecate in order to better absorb the waste.
- 4). Construct a small, enclosed, draft-free shelter area within the pen in which your pigs can take cover in inclement weather. Set the roof of the shelter at a height of at least 4 feet, and leave gaps or air vents under the eaves to allow hot and stagnant air to escape on sweltering summer days. Cover the floor of this shelter with a large amount of clean, dry straw and replace it .
- 5). Create an area of shallow water and/or mud within the pen for your pigs to wallow in on hot summer days so that they don't become overheated. Rehydrate this area daily with cool water during periods of particularly hot and sunny weather.
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