I am planning to raise a pig for butcher. I have raised cattle, chickens and goats but not pigs. I am only planning on raising one for maybe a one time deal. I know I will need to build a very strong pen with electric wire at the bottom and with shelter. I just don’t know how big I should make it. Any suggestions on the size of a 1 pig Pig Pen? Thanks, Jeff

-- Jeff (sell_man1@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002

Answers

your pig will be happy with any size pen , the bigger ones they can root around for grubs and stuff, in a small pen they just get what you feed,.... i would go with 50 ftX 50 ft for one pig, or larger .

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

Hi Jeff! How big the pen is depends on how much fat you want on your pig when you get it butchered. If you want more lean meat, give it more room to run around it to keep the fat worked off (which will also take a little more feed and maybe a little longer to get to the 225-250 pound butcher weight). If that isn't an issue for you, a four- panel pen 16'x 16' would be plenty big. You can either fix it in a big circle or use T-posts and make it square. With only one pig, you don't really need to worry with electric wire unless you just want to make sure. Personally, I think I would make it where you could move the pen around and give the pig "fresh" ground every once in a while, but that's your choice, too. You can leave him in the exact same spot the whole time if you want. We've got friends that raised two meat hogs in a 16' x 10' area with a small lean-to for shelter and it worked great for them.

Hope this helps. Oh .. you can look at the threads at the very bottom of the CS page and get a LOT of good information in the "Hogs" section.

-- Phil in KS (mac0328@planetkc.com), April 08, 2002.

16'x16' cattle panels.

-- julie (jbritt@ceva.net), April 08, 2002.

Jeff pigs do better when there are two or more. They compete for their food, convert it better and are company for each other. The sale of one retail will pay for your own consumption of the other.

Best wishes

Alison

-- Alison Homa (alisonhoma@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

I agree with the 16'x16' hog panels. This should be enough space. Also make a shelter for the pig to get in out of the weather. I use straw in the hog houses for bedding. They love a mud hole, and love being sprayed with the hose when it's hot.

I have never had to use an electric fence and we raise hogs year round. Maybe it depends on your soil and how easy it is for them to root up your posts. Have fun!

-- cowgirlone in ok (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

I agree with Alison. Raising one pig is about like raising one potato-doesn't make any sense. They like company, and will grow much better with at least 2. If you want to stick with only one, I suggest you raise a snapping turtle. They do much better as individuals. Tough to skin or shave, though! GL!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), April 08, 2002.

Unless you have a large family or eat alot of meat, 1 pig will probably be enough. Pork tastes rather funky if frozen longer than 6 months. We used to buy 1 in the Spring and butcher it in the Fall. I used oak skids(6) for the floor,tied together with used strips of lumber nailed on top of the skids. For the walls I used Pine sapplings no less than 4 inches in diameter nailed onto each other. The little porkers put on weight pretty fast. It did require a good hosing down at least once a day, but the only thing we purchased was the pig and the nails, and of course some of his food. One local grocer was glad to give us his scraps(Old fruit,veg and bread). Best pork we ever had!! Teresa

-- teresa (padsr@centurytel.net), April 08, 2002.

Size of the pen is not as important as that any pig pen built needs (imho) a floor. A pig raised off the ground does not stink. Also the pig is much happier with a pen that can be hosed clean. Give them a ball (or a truck tire)to push around for their rooting urge.

-- Diana in FL (dvance4@juno.com), April 08, 2002.

I am raising 1 pig right now & he is growing very well alone. I also have never found my pig meat tasting funny & I have some in the freezer from last year. A 16' x 16' pen should be fine. Just keep food in front of him at all times & he'll grow fine.

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.

Hi; We raise 2 pigs every six months and split costs with friends that also help wrap when the time comes.With 2 pigs they have company and try to escape less and compete for feed (as mentioned above). Here is a link to our pig web page (click on our hog story) Pig page

Also a link to our main page Ourfarm page regards

-- ourfarm (ourfarm@noaddr.com), April 08, 2002.

here is the link to my main page Ourfarm page

-- ourfarm (ourfarm@noaddr.com), April 08, 2002.

It is as easy to raise two as one. I always have two or three and they pay for the cost of mine, including butchering! I have mine in a woven wire fence with a strand of electric on the bottom with a small leanto for shelter. If you do decide to get more then one, I have plans for building a self-feeder.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), April 08, 2002.

I use four 16' pig panels. I have also used an extra three 16' panels to add on for transfering the pigs from one pen into the next. I do this when the first one gets really nasty. Also raise two at a time. As mentioned they will compete with each other and one will out grow the other(this is the one you will want to keep). As for leanness, part of that will come from the type of breed the pigs are. I always raised Yorkies, they seemed to be very lean and long which seemed you always got a few extra pork chops.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), April 08, 2002.

They eat soil in great amounts daily. They need a soil floor not boards. I used 16" CATTLE panels, they are taller and sturdier than hog panels, cause they will lean and jump up on the sides. Yes, they EAT soil, in addition to their regular diet. They need a shade spot from the sun also.

-- julie (jbritt@ceva.net), April 09, 2002.

i raised 4 last year in 16x16. they did fine-one learned to climb (yes, climb) over the fence at about 5 months so off they went, even though they were a bit small (180) we sold 2 kept 1 split the other between my parents and his for christmas gift and came out even. had to feed a little more because of having 4, but it was worth it. raising 3 this year the same way.

-- laura (okgoatgal@hotmail.com), April 09, 2002.

oh, yeah, they only got to stinking when it rained-the rest of the time they had very little smell. when the rain dried up, so did the odor.

-- laura (okgoatgal@hotmail.com), April 09, 2002.