This is not a pet. I know you love your animals and give them the best care possible. This is a pig headed to slaughter. This does not mean that you can't love and care for him. But this is reality knocking. Please don't take this as criticism, that is not how this is intended. Bottom line-pigs can be dangerous. He is already out of your control. He doesn't want petting, he wants OUT to run amuck and do what pigs do.
Feral hogs are so bad, so dangerous, that practically NO predator kills and eats them. Domestic hogs that get loose are about a week away from being wild.
I am no pig expert, by any means. We have raised feeder pigs only, no breeders, no sows, no boars, no birthing piglets--and I don't want to. I've had pigs stalk me in their pens, talk about creepy! I've had them rush me when trying to put out feed-not mean-but if they knocked me down, that could have turned out bad.
I got tired of fending off pigs determined to take a bite to see if I was good to eat, tired of pigs that immediately turned their feed tub over, wallowing in it and wasting it, watching the crows fly in to feast on MY money! I got tired of pigs immediately tumping their water over and still being thirsty. So I built a Pig Palace. My inspiration came from
@Simpleterrier because he posted pictures of his pig pen. Best ideas ever!
I found 2 Hereford boars 4 1/2 months old on Craigslist. We went and got them today. I have long admired Hereford Hogs and am delighted to find these! As usual, I have no hog pen ready and won’t be putting them in the pasture we sprigged with Bermuda and Bahia. So I guess we better get busy...
www.backyardherds.com
This is a link to my Pig Palace build out. I am sure that your husband could build a better, prettier pig barn than mine, but it works for me. Keep in mind a place to back up truck and trailer to the gate or build a loading chute.
Cleaning up the lot? Make it big enough and the pig will use a corner for poop. I used a 200' roll of wire, plus a 12' gate, plus the width of the Pig Palace, which gives pigs plenty of room to dig a wallow (squirt water from the OTHER side of the fence) and a potty corner. I hate seeing a pig in a small pen where it cannot get away from it's own poop. Yes, they will root and eat it. It is their natural behavior to root and eat dirt. If they can't get away from their own poop, their need to root overcomes their aversion for their own waste. No, I don't go in the pen to clean it out. They have their potty corner and that suits them and me just fine.
I can now feed and water from outside the pen where it is much safer for ME.
Wilbur was a tame, sweet boar. But he got so BIG that when he wanted to affectionately rub on his human momma, it became dangerous. He had 4" long tushes, one bite if he got riled up and it would have been over. She went out of town and asked her friend to sell him. Friend took one of her older kids with her when she went to feed Wilbur. Kid was armed with a 45 pistol to shoot Wilbur if things got out of hand. No matter how tame he was, his size trumped tame. We bought him, loaded him and put him in the Pig Palace to feed him out before taking him to slaughter. He was a sweetheart, but I still didn't go in the pen with him.
I found a deal on a huge boar. His name is Wilbur and he is a Red Wattle. He got too big to breed their sows, so he went up for sale. The lady who owned him couldn’t put him in the freezer, he was her first pig and a pet. He is very calm and gentle. But she became afraid of Wilbur because he...
www.backyardherds.com
. thanks for the pep talk...and I’m going to inspect your pictures!
