Just doing my research beforehand but how aggressive are pigs?

[FriendsHerd]

I know there are a lot of things to factor in like breed, sex, and age as well as the fact that every creature is different but I'm just looking for an on average.
I've been told that pigs are super aggressive and mean beasts that I don't want anything to do with, I've been given a story about a family member of a friend who had pigs and had to take a hammer out with him everyday just to fend them off because they would charge and try to attack and even swinging the hammer didn't tame them. Obviously I'm thinking "why would you even resort to a hammer?" But is this really necessary? Are pigs really that bad? I've seen pigs raised for fair and my own cousin raised one, though we don't talk much I would imagine she wouldn't have gone through with it if the pig had been that mean. So there it is, my first big question. How aggressive are pigs.. in general/on average?

 

[NH homesteader]

They are not always aggressive, no. But I don't ever 100% trust one either. I've had pigs that love belly rubs! It does depend on breed and many other factors. I do not typically allow my daughter(4) in the pig fence unless my husband is in with her. But I might be the same with other animals, not my goats though!

I go in the pen with 3 every day and feed them, they run over and stick their faces i their bowls but have never been aggressive.

 

[Bossroo]

Most pigs can be raised just fine IF one keeps a wary eye on them , raise them as a business in a proper husbandry manner and don't trust them no farther than you can throw them over the moon. Sooner or later too many people have lost life and/ or limb when they always treat them as pets. Disney be damned.

 

[OneFineAcre]

I've got 3 feeders right now. They aren't aggressive. 2 of them are actually quite friendly. But, they are young and will be slaughtered before they have a chance to get aggressive.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

In a lot of instances, it depends on the pig. There are breeds that are said to be more docile and gentle. I have American Guinea Hogs. They are the sweetest pigs I've ever had. Even mama's with new litters are very laid back and non-aggressive.

My grandkids - my pigs:

Those are actually young boars loose on pasture. They have never been, nor are they now as mature breeding animals, aggressive. At this point I wouldn't let my grandkids go into their confined pen space - but only because they guys get impatient at feeding time and might bump into a child. Not aggressive - but definitely hungry, lol. Also, they are a bit catlike in that they want to touch you, lol!

Talk with some breeders that raise some other breeds and get their opinion. Over the years we've had durocs and hamps that we fed out. Myself - not fond of durocs. The one we had was nippy. The hamps have been ok.

Good luck!

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH! Glad you joined us. Make yourself at home and browse around the pig threads. There's a lot of valuable info there and I'm sure some will help you. Most say that temperament is a result of breeding. Mean pigs produce mean pigs. Keep and produce only friendly pigs and that should be the outcome. Just a few things to keep in mind with pigs...

They are FAST! A lot faster than you might think or believe.
They are SMART! And they have an exceptional memory... keep that in mind if you ever use force against one... they'll remember and they'll retaliate.
They are POWERFUL! Ever get hit by a moving truck? That's what it will feel like if one runs/charges at you and connects.

Hope you'll share some pics of what you decide to get and let us know how your journey goes with it.

 

[misfitmorgan]

I think people just see mean pigs here and there or get mean pigs and think all pigs are that way. Definitely not. It's like any other animal there are mean animals and nice animals. i have met both types of goats, sheep, horses, cows, llamas, donkey's, cats, dogs, rabbits, ducks, geese, chickens, and yes pigs too. In general if you breed aggressive animals you get aggressive animals, they may start out nice and lovely and end up aggressive and mean. You can not get a "wild" pig and expect it to be all lovey and calm and nice, if you work with it a lot it may be but its much easier to start with a friendly pig/piglet and you can never really trust those pigs.

We specifically breed our pigs to be calm, nice, good mothers without being overly protective, and to move slowly around us. Pigs are about as smart as dogs and can be trained quite easily. If we have a mean, aggressive, or simply flightly pig they go to the freezer. If we have a gilt who farrows and turns into a lunatic whenever her pigs make a noise or you touch them...freezer.

So start with the best personality stock you can afford, be aware you may have to send them to the freezer and remember they CAN hurt you but if you get the right ones they don't really want too. I wouldn't consider a pig any more or less dangerous than a cow, horse, ram, dog, etc. If you abuse a pig they will remember it.

I have been hurt by pigs but none have been intentional, they can get very very large and they often dont seem to know their own size esp at feeding time. When my pigs are fed and watered and done eating they will come up and stand there calmly and was to be petted and scratched and interacted with like most other animals.

Flighty pigs are bad....because a scared 400-500lb pig doesnt care what gets in front of it.

Pigs get extremely strong esp in the neck and jaw area so if they were to want to hurt you they could and very badly but again i dont think it is any worse then a cow, bull, steer, horse, etc could hurt you. I think a lot of the fear of pigs come from the fact that they are like most humans in that they eat veggies and meat, they may or may not try to take a bite out of meat thats walking around, again if they are fed well and of the right temperament and trained from a young age you should never have these problems. My pigs do not put their mouths on us, they know they are not allowed too. Yes it is super cute when a piglet comes over and nibbles on you but it super not cute when a 500lb pig tries to come over and nibble on you.

We have the same practice with all animals if they attack people they go away, we do not want them in our breeding programs. We own a Rhode Island Red rooster, easily one of the most well known aggressive roosters ours lets us pet him because we dont put up with his crap. None of our roosters attack us.

This is Red and Spot they do not like people unless you have food but they are not aggressive.

This is Mr. Pig our mini boar...again he does not like people but is not aggressive.

This is an example of a few pigs we got...they didnt work out as hoped. The far left is a boar, he went to freezer camp because he wasnt fertile enough. The next pig to the right was a barrow, bought for a meat pig for my mom os freezer. The next one to the right is my favorite pig Eva, she is my ersonal pig and will retire here atm she is AI'ed with some show pig semen and a lot bigger then in this pic. The far right was a flighty grumpy pig who was scared of people and just generally was going to be a problem...freezer. None of these pigs were aggressive, we could pet all of them.

The is Sarah she is a Duroc and an absolute sweetheart of pig. She had her first farrow not to long again and turned out to be an excellent mother personality wise and her caring of the piglets. We will keep her to breed her for 2 more litters and then she will probly not be bred again. We love her but she doesnt hold weight well while in lacation and she has a bad rail.

Sarah looking to be petted.

So yeah pigs can be really friendly. Would i go sit down in the pen with them...no...would i trust them not to knock me down, kill and eat me, yes.

 

[FriendsHerd]

Wow thank you so much for all of the responses and welcoming! I will definitely be saving all of this information in my notes! I'm still trying to convince my fiance on us getting a piglet but I think I'm getting close! So onto my next question then.. or story maybe? So I would like to get two little babies to grow up together and as some of you have pointed out to the freezer, do I want a male and female? Or do I want both females? I'm pretty set on having at least one female because breeding is literally a bucket list thing for almost all kinds of farm animals at least once. The farm down the road has a couple pigs though I'm not sure of the gender, if one were a male I was going to ask if they'd be willing to stud(if they have a good attitude!) so what are your guys' thoughts and opinions on this? Also how much space would be advised for a pen and yard, I'm wanting to supply both and I think I have the space to do it, oh and they would be kept together full time if they get along! Our thoughts were to go to the county fair this year and get an idea on all of the livestock they have, start looking at breeds we like then do more research on the specific breed. I like the pigs with spots but I don't know what breed that would be, I know they're not really for looks but I prefer unique oddballs over standard, plain, and just solid colors. Thanks again for all of the advise and knowledge you guys are passing on!

 

[misfitmorgan]

Wow thank you so much for all of the responses and welcoming! I will definitely be saving all of this information in my notes! I'm still trying to convince my fiance on us getting a piglet but I think I'm getting close! So onto my next question then.. or story maybe? So I would like to get two little babies to grow up together and as some of you have pointed out to the freezer, do I want a male and female? Or do I want both females? I'm pretty set on having at least one female because breeding is literally a bucket list thing for almost all kinds of farm animals at least once. The farm down the road has a couple pigs though I'm not sure of the gender, if one were a male I was going to ask if they'd be willing to stud(if they have a good attitude!) so what are your guys' thoughts and opinions on this? Also how much space would be advised for a pen and yard, I'm wanting to supply both and I think I have the space to do it, oh and they would be kept together full time if they get along! Our thoughts were to go to the county fair this year and get an idea on all of the livestock they have, start looking at breeds we like then do more research on the specific breed. I like the pigs with spots but I don't know what breed that would be, I know they're not really for looks but I prefer unique oddballs over standard, plain, and just solid colors. Thanks again for all of the advise and knowledge you guys are passing on!

Doesnt really matter if it is male and female or two females they should get a long just fine. You can have the neighbor stud two females for you but keep in mind size can be a problem. If your neighbor has a 500-600lbs boar and your trying to breed gilts, if is gonna be rough on the girls and i wouldnt leave them in with the boar long. What size depends on if you wanna raise in a drylot setting or a pasture setting. People do have pig pastures up to 160 acres, other people keep their pigs in farrow slots most of their life or 8ftx8ft stalls, some people have a small 24ftx48ft pen/yard for them and a pig hut.

Pigs with spots can be Old English Spotted or just known as Spot, also blue butt pigs can have spots and pretty much any cross can have spots. We bred Sarah the duroc to our berkshire/hampshire cross boar and they made 2 all black piglets, one black with a white face piglet, and one duroc red with small black spots so you never know.

Spot in my pics up there was the only one in her litter with spots, and eva in the other picture was one of only 2 with spots and both of them were calico colored, white/pink base, red/grey patches, and black and red spots. The entire rest of eva's litter was black or black and white. Some breeds you can only tell apart by their ears too. Like landrace, yorkshire and chester white look almost identical, yorks have erect ears so they are easiest to tell apart. But landrace and chesters really only different is landrace is longer but if you dont have a landrace to look at it can be hard to tell. Duroc and tamsworth both come in shades of red duroc have flop ears and tamworth erect.
This link show you the "commerical" breeds available
http://shaffergoldrush.com/boars_list.php?breed=tamworth
Thats a boar semen place but it is a easy way to see them all side by side so to speak, if you click each breed there are more pictures of others pigs in that breed.

Aside from the commercial breed there are many many many other breeds which you wont likely see at the fair. Idaho pasture pigs, american guinea hogs, red waddle, mulefoot, kune kune, mangalitsia, etc. This link has some of those listed
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/conservation-priority-list
There are many more though all have their pros and cons.

 

[FriendsHerd]

Thank you! I definitely love piggies! So aside from breed and temperament, can anybody give me a "pig raising for dummies" in their own experiences?