Tips for Successfully Pasturing your Pigs

Did you just purchase some grazing pigs that aren't supposed to root and now they are tearing their pasture up? Are they pacing the front of the pen turning it to mud? Does it seem like they are living off grain? Are they ripping your fences apart and lifting gates off their hinges?

If so, you aren't alone. We have experienced all these problems and would like to share some tips on how to have a better grazing experience.

Rooting

Pasture pigs are bred to have shorter upturned snouts which makes them more suited to grazing than rooting, however, that doesn't mean they can't root. There are a few reasons why your pigs might be rooting. If the weather is about 80 degrees or warmer, and they are rooting near their water dishes than the problem is likely that they need a wallow. We use the little tykes turtle sandboxes as portable wallows.

If they already have a wallow or the weather isn't warm, then the problem could be a mineral deficiency. One way to tell what minerals your pigs could be deficient in is to have your ground tested. Whatever minerals the ground is low in your pigs probably are (or will be) too.

One other reason we have seen that causes grazing pigs to root is feeding them on the ground. The rubber dishes sold for horses work well as sturdy feeding dishes.

If none of these things are working, you may just have a pasture pig that roots. While it's unfortunate, it does happen, especially with pigs that don't have as short of snouts as they should. So, when looking for pasture pigs make sure that the ones you will be purchasing have short, upturned snouts.

If you are a beginner, it is a good idea to ask an experienced breeder to help you decide on the best pigs for grazing. Frequent pasture rotation can help a lot with this problem, not only will they have much less time to get much rooting done, but they will also be distracted by the fresh pasture.

Pacing

We recently moved our Kune's pen close to the house, pretty much in the lawn. It was nice to be able to see them out the window and they were close by for chore time. Everything was fine until it started raining.

What a mess they made! Because they were right in the front yard, they were seeing us all the time and regularly paced the front of their pen wanting food. This wouldn't have been such a problem if the ground was dry, but since it was soft from the rain... well, you can see what they did!

As the third photo shows, after moving them behind the shop they barely do any damage by pacing.

So, if your pigs pace too, I would put their pen where you won't be walking by it all the time, at least while the ground is soft. Moving them frequently will also really help.

Grazing Pigs Not Grazing?

We have had this problem too. The two main things that cause the problem are the pasture type and how much grain you are feeding. If your pigs are thin, it's probably the pasture, if they look fine (or fat) then you are probably feeding too much grain or other food.

Pigs are fairly lazy when it comes to grazing. If they are getting enough other food or if the pasture is too tall, they just don't eat it.

So, if the grass is about 8" or less and you are moving them at least every couple days, it's time to reduce the grain.

Feed them a fourth less grain every few days until they start eating grass.

It's fine to keep giving them table scraps, but they don't need hay while the grass is growing.

Escaping

Basically, you have to use electric fences for pigs. We have tried it all, field fencing, they tear up by jumping on it and pushing under, cattle panels, they lift off the posts, metal gates, they twist the hinges, so the gate opens, wood board, but it's too expensive and too much work for the whole fence. The only type of fence we have found to be reasonable for pasture pigs is electric.

You can use almost any fence you want for permanent pastures as long as you run an electrified strand 6" off the ground. This will keep any pigs big enough to push through the fence in. If you do that they also won't jump on the fence.

For portable fencing, most of Premiers net fences should work as long as the bottom electrified strand is no more than 6" high, and it is at least 24" tall. If you will be raising piglets, make sure the bottom electrified strand is no more than 2"-3" off the ground.

The one we have is the 20" versa net, but when Honey, our Kune sow, is light enough, she will jump it. She can just barely clear it though, and she is a fairly small Kune, so a 24" fence should work for most pigs.

If you tend to have rocky or hard ground, you will have a much more pleasant grazing experience if you get at least single spike posts, but preferably drivable (not all fences have all post options).

Moving Pastures with Electric Fencing

The best way to do this is to have enough fencing to make your second pasture while leaving the pigs in their old one. When you are ready to move them just open the pens up to each other and your pigs should run right in to get the new grass! Once they are in you can move their waterers etc. over.

Well, hopefully these tips will help you solve or avoid some of the problems that can

occur with pasture pigs so you can successfully raise your own supply of delicious pasture raised pork!