Problems with the New Breeder Pig Setup!

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[@planesteven]

You just need to use hard gates between paddocks. The pigs quickly figure out that they aren't hot and will easily move when you open them.
You really only need two gates and just rotate them from paddock to paddock.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

When you have 4 to 6 groups of pigs this is impractical, particularly when the paddock set ups like our require 2-4 gates per paddock. The poly tape works great when they figure out. These figured it out in a few days. With one group of pigs one or two gates and a design setup different from ours might work well.

[@ronlevin2339]

what do u use as electrical source for the fence ?

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

A 120 volt electric outlet. Nothing else powers the 30-40 joule chargers we use!

[@edgararvizu9292]

Get a lot of chickens

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

We’ve been down that road. It isn’t a viable option for us at this time.

[@jeff-hh9mc]

Let me run something by you to get your take on it and this is an open question to anyone. I’ve got a bit of farmland 40 miles away from my house. 68 acres is put up in row crops. 27 acres you can’t get a tractor on just rolling terrain BUT it has two ponds and some trees. To set up pasture pigs how many hogs do you think I should run on 27 acres with two ponds? Along those lines again I’m 40 miles away so I think about a hot fence BUT my concern would be they’d get out if I wasn’t there everyday…thoughts?

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

It's going to be a bit of a challenge and may very well be a recipe for disaster. First, feed. Most pigs won't perform well if you just throw them out there. Even if you grow a lot of diverse forage crops for them that are really nutritious, they will eat the nutritious stuff first and then starve (not literarlly but they wont perform well) from the less nutritious unless you manage the rotations more carefully. Which means they need supplemental feed. If you put a drop feeder out there, your pigs won't be accustomed to you. This will make catching them wildly difficult. Second, water. If you let the pigs into the ponds you will have all kinds of issues from water quality to the pig possibly destroying the physical pond structures depending on their design. Further, until you have a really good stable water setup, I would look at the pigs and their water every day. They will tear up any water setup that you have.
The pigs getting out is less of a concern to me and more of whether you can get them back if they did get out and whether you know where they are. Pigs really need to be checked on every single day, if not twice a day or more frequently. This is especially true if you have a new to you setup with feed and water or if you are new to keeping pastured pigs. That said, rarely, I will go out of town for a night and it will be 48 hours between visits to my pigs, but I am prepared for it, and have several years of my feed, watering, and shade systems in place and years of seeing how pigs can mess up my system.
I'm not saying that it cannot be done, but I would advise against it.

[@jeff-hh9mc]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms putting feeders and waterers on site wouldn’t be an issue at all in fact that is my plan but for feed to supplement whatever I could broadcast legume / grass wise. My goal was / is to check on them every three days. I was / am looking to the ponds basically as a giant wallow not as a source of water. Never heard of hogs destroying the sides of a pond BUT acknowledge they are demolishing machines. I’ve read you could stock hogs 30 to 100 per acre. But I’ve never done that most I’ve ever ran ews five which I’m doing right now and it’s a learning process. As indicated I’ve got 27 acres that I can’t get anyone to cut hay on and I can’t use for row crops so it just seems like a waste unless I do something with it.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Pigs will tear up any water that you have. Further, if they have access to the ponds, they will wallow and tear up and mess up the water quality. Even if they have other water it can be health hazards.
As I mention earlier, if you dont feed them by hand every day initially, it will get chaotic when they get out.