Pigs and Chickens together disease problem?

[chicks for better health]

I have a couple of pigs and about 80 chickens, is it a problem to raise and house them close to each other? I know the pigs could eat the chickens, but I think I can build the fence so that the chickens can't get into the pig pen.

 

[justusnak]

Not a problem at all. I have 2 pigs...already had one butchered...and my chickens free roam. I just put a short piece of chicken wire around the bottom of the pig pen, to keep the chickens from pokeing thier little pea brains in there....just asking for the pig to bite thier heads off!

 

[chicks for better health]

Somebody told me that there are diseases that cross between chickens and pigs, is this true?

 

[justusnak]

Hmmm, I never heard that before. I dont seem to have a problem...so far. Maybe someone else knows better???

 

[patandchickens]

As long as they are not mixing togther, my understanding is that you should be ok.

The disease a previous poster referred to is probably avian tuberculosis, which is supposed to be not especially uncommon in chickens and although it does not cause serious illness in pigs it will produce lesions that look like pig TB which will cause the carcass to be condemned if run thru a commercial slaughterhouse. (Obviously if you are just butchering and eating the pig yourself, that is not an issue... I do not *think* it is actually harmful to humans but you might want to doublecheck).

Pat

 

[raindrop]

Bird flu strains that mutate into a form that can infect people often use pigs as an intermediate step, perhaps that is part of what "people" are saying about pigs and chickens and disease risk.
I think you will be fine.

 

[greyfields]

It's a potential problem.

However, I have lots of chickens who fly into the pig area and eat the gleanings. I think it's one thing to have a few pigs, it's another to be raising them in barns with thousands of pigs. The potential for disease in an outdoor healthy environment is diminished.