The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Hogwarts on November 20, 2021, 07:19:58 pm
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So my pig paddock fence a year and half on whilst structurally ok is experiencing a problem. The bottom of the fence, which is probably the most important part is almost a foot above ground (not including the barb wire) in places due to the pigs digging around here. This is not ideal. Indeed one of my pigs actually escaped between the mesh and barb wire the other day because I wasn't very prompt at refilling their pig feeder.
I did ask about the best way to build a pig fence before I started on it and I think only one person advised I bury the fence in the ground, I wish I had taken this advice, but never mind I am where I am. What is the best way forward does anyone think? I don't really want the worry of another breakout so a fence remedy fix to sort this is needed. The way I see it I have two options:
1. A wooden rail instead of or with the existing barb wire at the bottom of the fence
2. Buying another roll of fence mesh cutting it in half (with a grinder) , digging below the fence and the attaching the half mesh and then burying it.
Tbh option 2 seems like the most permanent and effective solution. Option one would require incredibly long pieces of rail to reach between the posts and I'm not convinced the pigs wouldn't rip the rail off. Do other people have success with wooden rail at the bottom of their fences, if so how do you attach (two ends of rail) to the posts?
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What about an electric stand-off wire?
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How about a single piece of electric tape, just off the ground?
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I would certainly not be happy to use barbed wire as in your pictures. I have a run of electrified wire around the perimeter of the fence about a foot high and a foot in from the fence. This keeps the pigs off the fence. Every now and again I have to rake the soil back where the pigs have mounded up the soil in places high enough to come into contact with the wire. The fence has been intact for 7 years to date.
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How about a single piece of electric tape, just off the ground?
I have done this in the past but it does get covered in soil and require maintenance i was hoping for a permanent solution that requires little to no upkeep.
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I would certainly not be happy to use barbed wire as in your pictures. I have a run of electrified wire around the perimeter of the fence about a foot high and a foot in from the fence. This keeps the pigs off the fence. Every now and again I have to rake the soil back where the pigs have mounded up the soil in places high enough to come into contact with the wire. The fence has been intact for 7 years to date.
Is it a standalone electric fence in the ground or do you hang it from the posts which support your main fence? Just wandering what you use to hang it from the posts if so. I guess an electric fence could be even higher than a foot off the ground as long as it zaps them when they get too close.
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The neighbouring farm has pigs (Gasconne Noir) which are contained as PK describes. The outer fencing is there as a precaution in case of electric failure. There is a single strand of electrified steel wire set on separate short posts a foot in and a foot high within it and also subdividing the main enclosure. It's all been in place for at least 4 years.
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Is it a standalone electric fence in the ground or do you hang it from the posts which support your main fence? Just wandering what you use to hang it from the posts if so. I guess an electric fence could be even higher than a foot off the ground as long as it zaps them when they get too close.
I use these insulators that can be screwed into the fence posts.
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I would go with PK's suggestion to have any chance of keeping the pigs off the fence.
What are your plans for your pigs? That area is just going to get muddier as we head into winter. There is nothing there to keep their interest but the grass is greener on the other side as they say. Can you move them, rest and sort out the paddock?
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I would go with PK's suggestion to have any chance of keeping the pigs off the fence.
What are your plans for your pigs? That area is just going to get muddier as we head into winter. There is nothing there to keep their interest but the grass is greener on the other side as they say. Can you move them, rest and sort out the paddock?
The paddock will be resting over winter, I've quickly learnt that keeping outdoor pigs over winter is hardly worth it and lots of work and it allows the paddock to recover.