[patchy1990]

Anyone use electric fence to keep their pigs in?

At the moment mine are in a properly fenced field, however, the ground has turned to mush! And want to move them, we have two very large fields next to where they are, but don't want them turning the whole fields up. I was going to have another fence built to make a new pen for them, however someone mentioned just using electric fence temporarily until their usual field has a bit of substance again!

I think that surely building a proper fence will last longer and be more cost effective in the long run? As can then constantly swap fields? And surely would be safer?

Any experience with pigs escaping through electric fence?

[Beewyched]

Hiya Patchy1990 

You don't mention how old your piggies are - do you have a headstrong boar etc etc?

We have Kunes & they are very well behaved with their electric fence.  We use the "horse tape" type on plastic posts with 3 strands, battery powered - no escapees so far.  We did train them to it first in their stock-fenced paddock, our adult castrate had to be nosey the minute we stiched it on - oh the squealing was like murder! but he never went back to it.  Our baby stud & the clever girls seem to have learnt from his mistake & have not been near it as far as we know.

We use the electric fence to rotate them around a 4 acre field, it is securely stock fenced on all sides though.

Oh, & keep your battery box OUTSIDE of the paddock - we made the mistake of setting it up inside the paddock & the inquisitive little beasties turned it upside down & disconnected it - lesson learnt!

We got ours online at ukcountrystore.co.uk - found them very reasonable & fairly quick on delivery.  They do different packages depending on your needs.

  

[Leri]

Hiya Patchy.
I'm not much help as I haven't tried - but am interested to read the replies you get as I am wondering about the same thing.
I have pigs outdoors in a properly fenced in pen at the moment. We have kept two boars there with no problem at all in the past. And it was rested over winter while the pigs were indoors in sheds (when the mud got too deep).
We bought a saddleback gilt in Spetember and where she was from they only used electric fencing. It meant that they could keep a large amount of pigs all penned seperately in different age groups. It was just one low wire. We asked about it and they had no trouble with them getting out. But I think the pigs have to sort of be trained - or at least train themselves if you know what I mean - so pigs that haven't ever been kept that way might get a bit hurt for a while. Also he said to us that when it came to removing the pigs from the pens he would switch off the current and lower the wire but the pigs would not cross the line into the trailer. He woudl have to cover the line with straw or back the trailer over it. I didn't like the sound of that.  
We had been thinking of using the bottom of one of our other fields that is all rough bracken etcd and using electric fencing there for the pigs but not sure now.
We have decided to use it in the paddock though :-( The pigs I mentioned in the beginning in the properly fenced pen in the corner of the paddock - there are seven 18 week old males there - fattening up. They have dug away the bank (probably my fault as I was feeding them there on the ground) and the posts are getting loose in the ground - there is a massive gap at the bottom under the bottom barbed wire - and they have been out a few times!! We have blocked it up with logs/ stumps/ rocks/branches etc - but think we will need to run an electric wire along there. Will let you know how it goes. x

[patchy1990]

Thanks for your replies.

At the moment i just have two gilts, and they are five months old. No boar as of yet. The fields are all secure, so if they were to escape from the electric fence it wouldn't be a major problem. Just don't know whether it would be worth building a whole new fence?

May take a chance and go for the electric as will be able to move them more!

[Joe11]

Also to start with if theres nothing on the other side of the electric wire they are just as likely to run through it as they are to back away! So u might have a few escapees but they really do train to it pretty quick. Good luck

[Leri]

Those of you that use it - do you find that that they won't cross even when it isn't there anymore?

[Beewyched]

Ours don't care, as long as we've got a bucket of something tasty to follow us with 

[benkt]

We had three weaners last year and used an electric fence to confine them to one corner of a larger field without any escapees. And yes, they wouldn't cross the line when it came to move them so we had to back the trailer right up to the pen and drop the tailgate ramp over the electric fence.

[Hilarysmum]

I have an old rug which we put across the area where the electric fence would have been.  Sometimes it takes a little bit of food on the far end of the carpet but it works.

[Eve]

Patchy, if the outer fence is secure then yes, go ahead with electric fencing if you wish to save time and (much!) energy - putting up an electric fence is child's play. You'll need to be there for the first few hours with the little ones as when they get pricked they'll jump - and my jump forwards out of the pen instead of staying in. If it's very close to a road, I'd rather use a fixed fence.

Ours so far haven't had a problem going past the line where the electric tape is when the electricity is off or the tape is missing, if the electricity is off or the tape is gone, so are the pigs! 
 

[blonde]

An electric fence is the only way to go....   as long as there is feed in the pen the girls will stay home.  Once there is no feed there they may try the fence but if trained well they will wait for a feed.

[Leri]

We put up some electric fence this morning. The poor things all had to go and look - and they were squealing really loudly all over the place. Felt a bit sick! But they are none the worse for it - just hope they have learned and keep away from that bit now. It's under the fence where they've dug away at the ground.

[czechmate]

To move them over the fence line, I find it more successful to have a couple of Helpers hold the wire high where the pigs can't see it, rather than laying it on the floor - where they can. Also, training is much quicker/ more successful just inside the permanent fence, if only for a day, rather than their first experience with it when they can just run straight through. I also find boars make much more fuss when they touch it!

[oaklandspigs]

We keep anything up to 30 adult sows just behind electric at various times of the year, and have frequently kept growers just behind electric.

Czechmate make  really good point - training pigs to the electric fence is key to consistent successful containment.

Otherwise its 50/50 as to whether when they first touch they go forward or backward. Either way the pain stops. If they go forward - you've just taught them to escape not be contained.

A small area with some stock fence (doesn't need to be tight) and electric just inside.  Then they can't go forward, so quickly learn to reverse.  Job done !

Only caveat, is that should they escape, you want a backstop - eg something between them and the main road or next door's prize veg patch.

[blonde]

To move them over the fence line, I find it more successful to have a couple of Helpers hold the wire high where the pigs can't see it, rather than laying it on the floor - where they can. Also, training is much quicker/ more successful just inside the permanent fence, if only for a day, rather than their first experience with it when they can just run straight through. I also find boars make much more fuss when they touch it!

There are handles that you can buy that allow you to let the gate go.   The plastic handle is attached to the wire fence and when you let it  go it becomes non electric.   This holding the wire up and down is not a good idea.