Peek-a-boo….
….well, we took a deep breath and released our month-old piglets into the woods. Not quite freedom though; a two strand polywire electric fence is holding them to about a half acre.
They come back for food and water and to sleep in an old stall, but we’ve noticed a decline in feed consumption, probably because of all the acorns they’re finding in their new “digs”. They are clearly reveling in their new-found freedom and we’ll eventually expand their area for roaming.
Someday (perhaps) we’ll let them go altogether. I’m already fairly confident they’ll come back in the evening for the safety of their beds. We do have bear, fox and raccoon (not to mention deer) in the 150 or more acres of woodland but I’d bet on a pig in a fight.
Photo by Gisela Volkert.
2 Comments
mike ortwein
When you say let them go altogether, so you mean no fence at all? Also, put their food in the trailer you eventually intend to haul them to market in–round up time will be easy. And what type of pigs were they?
David
Yes, I mean just let them roam. I’ve seen people do it. They’re home bodies. Now I just raised the possibility.
And yes, the “feed them in the trailer trick” is how we get them loaded. But we don’t bother with that until a few days before market.
Tamworth.