Owning Pigs for Butchering

[ohiofarmgirl]

you need to make sure their arent any restriction on the deed by going to the county recorders/registrars office (i believe) and also see what the zoning is for your property. both of these things MAY be online.

we couldnt believe how many properties we looked at had 'deed restrictions' on livestock and most of this county is zone for Ag use!

good luck!

 

[wombat]

You'll do better if you give them a lot more space. Pigs are quite clean if you can pasture them, but they'll turn a small pen into a pile of muck. Usually some welded wire fencing with a hot wire at snout height is all you will need, and a couple hog panels to either side of a gate where you don't run a hot wire. If you ever hot wire the gate area, they will generally think the hot wire is still there, no matter what, and good luck ever getting them through it ... so use a couple sturdy panels to either side of a gate and no hot wire there.

If you have an incorigable digger, you may need a 2nd hotwire lower down ... kind of a pain in the neck, since you'd then need to keep things trimmed so as not to ground it out.

My grandfather always raised a few hogs, even after he had "retired" from farming. I wish I had the space for a few myself. Bacon that has actual meat to it, and isn't 90%+ fat like the store stuff makes it worth the effort. Pastured hogs can be much leaner, depending on how you feed, of course.

They're generally quite docile around people, except for unfixed males. My grandfather pastured a few, and they would follow him around like dogs and come over for a scratch. They shared about 2 acres with whatever chickens wanted to go over the fence. They would pester us rather agressively for treats, though ... if you had a pocket, they wanted whatever might be in it, they were that spoiled.

Our area runs about $35 for the kill fee, and $.35 per pound cut and wrapped. It's likely cheaper in other areas, things are expensive where I am.

Hard to tell from your overhead map with no scale, but you might want to use that whole lower right corner outside the yellow fencing line ...

 

[Livinzoo]

16x40 is REALLY small to try to keep pigs and keep the smell down. I have 2 160ft priemer electric portable fences that I move my animals around in. They also have a permanent pasture that is 50x250. They will be going in the permanent fence for the first time in 4 months. And the only reason they are going in the permanent pasture is because we will be out of town and it is a bit more secure. We have had escapes a few times. Usually when we are moving the fence or if we get a rush of rain that washed it down.