[CameronS]

We had pigs years ago, i was to young to remember much about the rearing etc, i have now in the past year shown an interest in getting pigs

i now have concucted a list of questions.

what would you say is the confertable minimum for two weaners, i have no intent on breeding/showing, purely for meat?

Would a 6x4 shed be sutiable as a house?

what sort of fencing, and how high?

what sort of plants should i plant in the pen, ?

I am no meaning to be cruel asking for the mimimum size, as i am far from it, i would like to know so i can measure out to see if we have space, the hens roam a 7 acre orchard, which i would love to be mine, but we have an eggs per month agreement. and pigs dont lay eggs!

[HappyHippy]

Hi Cameron,
I'll do my best to answer your questions, but I'm sure you'll get lots of advice from everyone 
For 2 weaners, raised for meat I'd think round about half an acre would be plenty space for them.
I see no problem with using a shed for a house - BUT it would have to be very robust - they do love to rub against things ! Does it have a solid floor ? You'd need to provide plenty of straw for them to lie on and I'd maybe consider halfing the door, so that only the bottom part was open (to cut down on draughts and heat loss)
Fencing - doesn't need to be high (unless you're getting flying tamworths lol!) about 2 feet high should do it. You can use electric fence - double line of the tape style stuff, one line about 6-8 inches high and the other at the top. Or standard fencing, but it might be worth running a length of barbed wire along the bottom to discourage them from trying to get under it. Whichever you choose - make sure it's sturdy and check it regularly to avoid escape attempts.
If you wanted to plant things for them, you'd need to wait til the plants were grown before putting the pigs in or the plants wouldn't get a chance to grow. But stuff like carrots, turnip, cabbage all go down well. But they go down equally as well from a bucket or trough, the pigs will root up all the ground so I'd think maybe your crops wouldn't get a chance to grow. I've not tried it - so can't be sure.
Make sure that you give them a wallow too - either a mucky bit of ground that you wet regularly for them, or a custom made one - they just love their muck 
You sound like you're doing your homework I think your pigs and chickens could live together more than happily in your orchard, just make sure your trees that are less than 10 years old have some form of protection from the rooting pigs. If they ate all your windfall apples you'd get pork with inbuilt apple sauce 
Just got to decide which breed you want now - that's the REALLY hard part 
Good luck and keep us up to date with how you're getting on.
Karen

[CameronS]

i would love to be able to uses the orchard, but unfortunatley is dosn't belong to us  , if i get them (or when i should say) i might be able to let them in during winter

[Hilarysmum]

From our own experience as big an area as you can possibly give them.  As HappyHippy has said a wallow, a good shelter, shade from direct sunshine in summer and a big enough area to run around.  100 m sq would be my absolute minimum for 2 weaners for fattening during the summer, killing out in autumn.  That way the ground could rest through winter/early spring.  Be warned pigs are addictive

[CameronS]

i was looking through some websites, and liked the look of the Oxford Sandy and Black, and Saddleback or Tamworths.

What are these breeds like for meat, escaping, and attitude

Thanks for the respones

Cameron

[ukag0972]

I keep tamworths and they are fabulous eating! They can escape unless your fencing is excellant and, like most animals, you show them who's boss, they'll respect you!!

[Daisys Mum]

I have had saddlebacks and the meat is really good.They have been easy to contain with 2 strands of electric fencing. They also have a super

attitude and love attention, rolling over to get their tummies scratched.

Would the owner of the orchard not let you use it in return for pork and bacon?