Pig Protector?

[KimKimWilliamso]

We stopped by a Peavey Mart (farm supply store) to grab some chick feed on sunday, and one of the clerks started asking about our chicks, and how we intend to protect them from pedators. We explained our coop and pen concept, and the motion sensor light we planned on having in addition to a few other preventative measures we will take.

He mentioned that his family farmed meat chickens for years, and always had a couple of Pigs in with the Chickens to protect them, as he never trusted his dogs. he said they never once had a death by predator, and he is sure its because the weasels and fox's were scared of the pigs!

How do you think this would work? We were wanting to get a pig soon anyhow, but can i keep him in the same pen as the Chickens at night, with a little house of his own?

 

[ReikiStar]

There was a thread on here in the past few days asking if you could mix pigs with chickens. The consensus was...if a pig ever learns what a chicken tastes like...look out! They will be the predator you have to worry about. If you can keep the chickens and pigs from mixing with each other, it would be ok. But I guess that defeats the point, unless just having pigs in the vicinity is warning enough to other animals.

 

[KimKimWilliamso]

Hmmm, I never thought of that. The man we bought our chicks from had several mini pigs in with his ducks, swans and chickens. I will ask him if he has had any trouble with them fighting. We'd get ours as a baby, so he would be climatized to them, and we could seperate him from thier coop with a divider for when we arent supervising. I will let you know how it goes. And, I will search for that thread! Thanks

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

A pig is an omnivore, and the guy at the feed store was telling a TALL one

 

[Shireshome]

I had the unpleasant experience of seeing what pigs can do to other farm animals. We were looking at some goats that were for sale and I guess from what I remember something had happened to the pig's pen and the lady decided to board the pigs with the goats for the night. Anyway she hadn't fed any of the animals yet that morning because we were coming so early to look at the goats. They were a fully grown buck and doe and when we came up we saw the back end of the buck had been eaten away and his entrails were pulled out of him, he was dead though I am sure it was a horrible death! The doe was mortally wounded; they had eat her utters off and were drinking the milk that was flowing from her it was horrible and only reaffirmed my hate of pigs. Anyway, NEVER board any other livestock with pigs, they will kill. Also I should mention that pigs on large pig farms are routinely fed dead chickens as a main source of food.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

If you used a 'moat' type set up, it's worth a shot. Some people do that with dogs. You have, say, your chickens in a smaller pen, completely fenced in, then a perimeter fence around that in which the pig/dog goes in. Dog can't get at the chickens, but predators have to go through dog to get to the chickens.

 

[animals1981]

I want to know about this also i saw a big huge pig beat up a coyote and try to eat it with my own eyes, id say put feral pigs in there or something though not meat pigs idk but i know that german shepherds single german shepherd can easily displace a group of pigs from feeding on its turf

my grandfather used a german shepherd to chase off relentless pigs from eating his crobs if the pigs decided to fight the dog the dog would just get them by the ears and see them off so iimagine the ones with tusks would be better the pig that took on the coyote was huge and the coyote was terrified

 

[animals1981]

if he has swans that might be what is attacking the foxes and weasels i have seen swans beat the crap out of them a mini pig is harmless the strong pigs are the giant ones


if you get mini pigs you will need to protect it from predators they are easy to kill coyotes will eat them so will bobcats, dogs, large birds of prey. Size really does matter. A minipig just like a mini dog is pretty much helpless might even be a


i am pretty sure in an open area a fast smart dog like a german shepherd will probably kill any farm pig i think u should get a donkey a big one they are better pets.


In the end a LGD would be the ideal choice probably but i mean if u can find the right big pig with tusks would be cool protector lol

 

[nzpouter]

a pig will NOT protect your flock, they are opportunistic "eat everything catchable" creature....

sure they will run with your chicken no problem if your flock is in tip top healthy condition, but a sick slow chicken is a different story.

... another thing, housing. Pigs will squashed any chickens decided to sleep in their quarters.

 

[CMV]

As having owned pigs at one time allow me to offer a few words of advice...DON"T DO IT!! Pigs are a huge nuisance. They are entirely too smart for their own good, which means they will be a huge headache for you. The day the last of the pigs left my property was a relief. My husband looked at me, I looked at him, and we both said at the same time, "Never again."

Oh, and as everyone has mentioned...pigs eat chickens.

Good luck.