Author Topic: Do you keep your pigs out at night? (Read 8772 times)

Eastling · « **Reply #15 on:** March 15, 2011, 09:47:17 pm »

Mine too! until they hear you, come running to see what you might have for them. Today Ollie forgot the electric fence and caught her chin on it not nice to hear the cry!

Blonde · « **Reply #16 on:** March 16, 2011, 10:42:03 am »

Quote from: lillian waddell on March 15, 2011, 11:11:02 am

princess a maremma is a lovely big white dug originates from Tuscany if they were guarding our pigs and sheep they would be stinking and black just now

My dog is nice and white and yes he guards the pigs. He does not have access to thier pens only to the lanes ways within the piggery. As for stinking....dont think so. They are working dog, not one that sits in the lounge room with you and watches the TV.

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #17 on:** March 16, 2011, 02:50:56 pm »

Blonde, I have always been interested in the Maremma to ward off foxes. I have a load of questions but will post them on the Working Dogs area.

Tudful Tamworths · « **Reply #18 on:** March 16, 2011, 10:31:34 pm »

Mine are out all year round, even in the snow and ice - apart from farrowing to weaning. We're 800ft up, which is why I chose very hardy Tamworths.

Blonde, I have always loved Maremmas. I'll have one myself one day - even if it does have to get dirty up here! However, judging by the ones I've seen when I've been at Cruft's, I'm guessing the dirt would drop off quite easily. I have three Newfoundland/Bernese/collie crosses with long hair and one of the three has a soft and very fluffy coat which can be covered in mud one minute and clean the next. The other two have coarser, curlier coats and are a lot more difficult to deal with...!

Leri · « **Reply #19 on:** March 17, 2011, 01:14:33 pm »

The maremma sounds interesting. I'll go look them up. Woudl they protect ducks and fowl too? And what about from mink?
A friend of mine lost a lof of birds to a mink - taking them back to her family.
It wasn't funny - but we did tease his partner that she'd be wearing a mink coat soon ....
As for the pigs - seven porkers of mine are out with a raised up wooden ark - which they spend a lot of the daytime in too!
Two big sows and a boar are in the back of the shed with a big hole in the wall where they can go outside into fenced off area - but spend most of the day in the shed apart from when they want to poo wee or have a drink (usually one trip!) And the saddleback sow and her two piglets are still in another section of the shed but only cos I hav nowhere to keep her outdoors at mo till my porkers go to slaughter.x

TheCaptain · « **Reply #20 on:** March 17, 2011, 01:48:08 pm »

My two ladies were out right through the winter until I brought them into a stable, but that was because we have horrendous mud (clay soil!!!) so I boshed a doorway into the side of the stable out into their pen. Had I not done done that I would have just concreted around the pig arks about 8 ft either side and fenced internally so they would have a concrete area to go when the mud was really bad. As it is they live in 'Old Spot Towers', and very happy they are too!