Goats or a Pig?

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

Hi,

Not wanting to offend any swine lovers or pork producers...but here goes...remember - this is just MY opinion. Don't want or need any trouble or hate mail. Pork producers are going through really hard times right now...and many beef producers are too - I feel for them.

Okay...there are a couple of reasons. Pigs...are well, pigs. The smell of goats is one thing...the smell of pigs is another. Do you have neighbors close by? Even one pig stinks. You never really get the smell out of your clothes or off your shoes.
I also find that they are hard on buildings and fences not to mention vegetation.

I'm a goat person and feel they are much more responsive. IMO goats are easier to house/keep. I love going home to my goats, ponies, geese and chickens everynight. We raised them (pigs) when I was a kid. They really do make a mess and frankly, seem terminally ungrateful.

Baby pigs are really, really cute for about a week... and then they become pigs. I really LOVE pork food products though - looking forward to a BLT for lunch today. Love pork roast, chops and steak - I just don't want to raise it. I'll leave that up to people that are better equipped both physically and mentally.

 

[gaited horse]

I vote pig. Pigs are smart, they eat table scraps they are easier to pen pigs are nicer they don't smell as bad as evreyone says. I have owned both.

 

[bargain]

Think fencing with a pig....Ours like to dig out so you want electric fencing. But even with electric fencing, we've seen them dig out and roam the acreage and only come back for meals. Also ours are such bullies! You want to be sure and have male castrated or meat will be not quite as nice as it should be.

I prefered my pot bellied pig as a pet but recently sold her as she was sterile and I needed a pig that could have babies to sell.

Pigs like pairs but will be okay alone.

Do you have a guard dog to protect the pigs against predators? In our area with coyotes and more we had to have a guard. We use a donkey for our guard.

Pick.....mmmm that's tough....I love my milk goats but doesn't sounds like you have the set up for that. I'd probably take a milk goat and change the set up and have my cheese, milk, butter, yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, buttermilk and MOST of all Ice cream and fudge and okay I'm hungry, lol, but I also love my goats for being so social. They are a lot of care but give a lot in return. Let me know if you have goat questions.

We presently have pigs as well, but they are not tame. I truly believe that if I fell in the pen, I'd be their next meal. We got them as babies, but not nice pigs....I think I just will always want a pot bellied that swags up to say hello and rub my head...

Have a great day.

 

[SarahFair]

So what kind of set up would one need for a goat?
What am I lacking?

 

[Julie_A]

I have mine behind electric fence and base wire.

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

I have fainters and we just use Hog Panels. I've never tried using hot wire. I've never had trouble keeping them in at all. Each pen has a shelter so that they can get out of rain, wind, snow, etc. I feed hay and pellets twice a day. On weekends when I'm home they free range in the woods and near the creek.

 

[Julie_A]

We keep them behind five strands of hot wire in a three acre tract of timber to help keep the predators out. Works like a charm.

Also, they'll climb or "wallow" all over your base wire or panels if you don't put a strand of electrice fence wire on it. Mine rub down the gates. Ruined one section of fence that way.

 

[wombat]

I'd love to have both, but we just don't have quite that much space unless I turn the whole place into a hobby farm ... and we're already the weirdest people in our neighborhood.

Dairy goats are great, but are you going to be able to devote the time to milking and maintaining them?

As for pigs ... my grandfather kept a few around in his retirement, and I don't recall them smelling at all. They were pastured, and had plenty of space, and I recall them only having an "animal" smell to them, no worse than anything else he kept. They were docile and curious and were only agressive about wanting whatever was in your pockets, as they'd been hand-fed treats and were quite spoiled.

Pigs will turn a small pen to muck though, and that will stink ... of course, if you left anything to lay about in it's own manure, you'd get the same thing.

I'd get a few goats if space is an issue. If you have the room, then I might lean towards the pig, only because bacon that has actual meat on it is beyond belief.

 

[SarahFair]

Quote:
lol so are we! but the neighbors love it

Im thinking of just getting a pot bellied pig maybe.
I am home ALL day everyday (stay at home mom). I think a pot bellied could do the job I want done (garden tilling) and graze the large back yard I have + the goat pen (but not while they are in there). Ive been reading up on them this morning and they seem a little more manageable then and full grown hog. I mean people let them in their house?!
lol dont give me ideas!! My SO said he could never eat the pig if we had it butchered..

Does this sound like a good alternative?

 

[SarahFair]

Nevermind..
I dont think I want a Pot Bellied Pig