[NicandChic]

Hi, just wondering if a couple of pigs would be good to clear an area of land we have down by our river, only early stages of researching pig ownership etc, large area covered in nettles, thick grass, weeds, tree's (old). Would possibly look to keep them in with electric fencing appropriate housing etc (Most likely be pets - possibly fatten to eat, but would need to research abattoirs/ transport etc) does the above sound feasible, if so any suggestions on breed, open to any suggestions/ feel free to post frankly is it a good/bad idea...as I would be 'new' to pigs!

[hughesy]

Yes most breeds of pig would clear your land. Do your homework though as they are not cheap things to keep and you need to know what will happen when they get bigger. You really need to have it all planned out from the start.

[NicandChic]

Thanks, I'm big into research, won't be getting any new additions until I know 'everything' possible.
You say they are not cheap, would feeding be the no1 expense?

[Berkshire Boy]

Yes feeding is the no1 expense. Also you will need to be careful of any polutants going into the river. Good luck and enjoy your research and hopefully pigs later on.

[Fowgill Farm]

Agree feed is the biggest expense around £300/tonne (40x25kgbags) here in N Yorks. I get thro a bag a day!
See www.gospbc.co.uk under header pig management for more info. on keeping free range pigs and try to visit somebody nearby for hands on advice, you can also find a memebers list on same site.
BUT beware pig keeping IS addicitive.
Mandy

[waterbuffalofarmer]

provided you have everything ready I would say it was a good idea. However there is an issue in pig choosing, there are breeds which graze mostly and don't do as much damage to the land. For grazers I would choose large blacks, for uprooters I would choose berkshires.

[Anke]

If you are near a river you may have to be careful, not only is there the chance of pollutants going into the water, but also if you create a muddy area so near the watercourse you may get flooding or similar, depending on how the land falls down to the river...

I would have thought that you need to keep a certain distance away from water courses with pigs (I know that cattle now have to be fenced off rivers, not sure on sheep)

Where pigs would be the short-term solution, goats may be a grazing option?

[NicandChic]

Thank you for the info/ replies, I had thought about goats but I didn't think they grazed an awful lot?
Were fine for flooding as banking goes down to river, pigs or other would be a distance away so pollutants etc should be no problem, so...pigs still need a fair amount of food each day up & over what they consume/destroy within the are we want clearing, if we didn't 'keep to eat' I can't really see them working.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

We bought goats about 10 yrs ago to eat the gorse, they never ate much and caused a huge amount of trouble.
I am sorry to say I had a horrendous time when I had the goats, due to nosy neighbours. Thankfully I sold them and have never bought in any since.

[hughesy]

I get thro a bag a day

Those were the days! I'm on about 4 bags a day now, depending on how much fruit and veg I've managed to scrounge.

[Anke]

Thank you for the info/ replies, I had thought about goats but I didn't think they grazed an awful lot?
Were fine for flooding as banking goes down to river, pigs or other would be a distance away so pollutants etc should be no problem, so...pigs still need a fair amount of food each day up & over what they consume/destroy within the are we want clearing, if we didn't 'keep to eat' I can't really see them working.

But they will eat the weeds, de-bark the trees... as long as you have good fences and a shelter in their field.

[FiB]

And when they have 'cleared' you may well have a VERY healthy crop of thistles the next year! Although we disc harrowed and reseeded after the pigs, we are still fighting the braken and thistles they spread :-( .... Clear, yes, improve? Not necessarily!   


I am worried now waterbuffalow.... Have some large blacks on order and was relying on them to turn over a piece of rough mountainside ground...... .  I may have missed a vital bit of info... In my research?   

[NicandChic]

Blow tourch & butane maybe easier! 

[shotblastuk]

We brought two GOS sows at 10 weeks old to do exactly the same thing (clear some land). In the first and second year they did a fantastic job, this year however, they have become rather lazy and seem to spend most of their time dossing or snoring!!  I would suggest in my experience then to renew every couple of years Wish I could but I've become too attached to them and their characters.
As a rule of thumb the longer the snout the deeper they root. i.e Gloster's are like rotovators, Tamworth's are like ploughs. common sense really I suppose.
As regards electric fencing one good wack seems to do the job, I haven't had my fencing unit on for 12 months now and they have only got out once when they got lost following our shetland pony 

[shygirl]

pigs will make a mess, we still have big "twist your ankle" style ruts where our pigs were allowed to free range through the woods. and once the pigs are gone, it will grow back, especially docks etc.