[langdon]

how long can we keep pigs on the same piece of land before leaving it to rest

[oaklandspigs]

Hi Langdon,

Just partly answered this in your other post 

No hard and fast answer - depends on size, soil, usage, weather and probably other factors if I thought about it.

The answer lies in "why rest it?"

possible reasons to rest ground would be

1. worm burden - unlikely with small numbers of pigs who are treated
2. ground severely poached (we rest areas that are poached, and cast grass seed onto them, I then take a quad bike with small roller over it to flatten and bury the grass seed - leave it a coupe of months and it recovers quite well - not exactly pasture but good enough for pigs
3. Letting an area visually recover


We swap pigs between areas to achieve 2 & 3 - particularly the sows who can turn over an area very rapidly.

[langdon]

sorry forgot i posted it twice!
but thanks for reply what do you mean poached when it comes to land

[Farmer]

Churned up...muddy....stops the grass from seeding and growing

[Higgins11]

Land that is in continuous use (such as a dirt lot) will become sterile and compacted if not rotated. I've seen lots that over time become moon scapes where nothing will grow. If you have your paddocks appropriatly sized for the number of pigs you have. Then you can rest part, while raising pigs on the other part. I would say 6 monthes to 1 year rest time to allow regrowth and death of all paracites. Be sure to replant grasses after pigs go to slaughter to prevent soil erosion.

The key to healthy pigs is to have healthy paddocks. Do not overstock the paddock and alternate the paddock year to year.