[jacob and Georgina]

I would like to keep pigs on an acre i have unused at our small holding. Ideally i would not want to keep rotating them as i do not have much more land available, i would not have pigs on this land all the time if that helps, for example if i bought 2 weeners i would fattern them up and once they go off to the abattoirs i would leave the ground for 4-6 months to recover, possible allowing only the chickens in that field, do you think this is this long enough to leave the ground before introducing more pigs? Or Will they have to be rotated? I am pretty keen for this acre of land not to be turned into a muddy mess with no grass left in sight. Will 2 pigs be capable of destroying a whole acre? I would also be interested  to hear if there is a particular breed of pig that may not make as much mess as others as a result of foraging and digging???

all replies will be greatly appreciated!     

[WinslowPorker]

Hi
we got 7 GOS cross Saddlebacks and they have approx 600 sq.m within 2 weeks there was not a blade of grass!! not sure what 2 could do to an acre but i have a pretty good idea.
All of our pigs will be gone by end of July and we are going to rotivate, roll, rake and seed until next year and giv the land a break. did think about continuous pork production, but in the end decided to be 'fair weather pig keepers'
I am certainly no expert on pigs but i believe they will all turn the ground over considerably as it is their nature to forage and dig.

Good lluck and enjoy it, seriously it will be the best thing you do.

[jacob and Georgina]

thanks for your reply 600 square metres is only 0.14 acre so would expect them to ruin that pretty quickly but it was promosing to hear that you are able to keep 7 pigs on land this size, if i was not bothered about the state of the ground how many would you suggest i could have on an acre without them getting cramped?

[HappyHippy]

Hiya, your land WILL get trashed ! Maybe not all of it, maybe not terribly badly - but they WILL dig it up. (sorry) Kunekune's don't dig AS MUCH as other breeds, but you'll get a lower amount of meat back for your money. The only way to stop them rooting is to ring their noses (depending on how you feel about that - personally I wouldn't do it ) If you're raising them for meat, ideally you don't want to give them as much as an acre - they'll burn off all their food running up and down and it'll take longer/cost more to get them to slaughterweight. If you're going to rest the land for 4-6 months between 'batches' that should give the land a chance to recover (with a bit of grass seed thrown in for good measure)
Good luck, Karen

[jacob and Georgina]

thanks happy Happy. I am against ringing noses like you so that would not be an option i would consider. It makes sense to not give them as much as an acre if they will burn off too much, how much would land you recommend for two pigs? do they give a recommended amount of land per pig? How about if i split the acre in to two, keep the pigs in one half and once they have been fattened up and been sent for meat i put two new pigs in the other half an acre and let the original grass recover for 6 months + some grass seed.

Is half an acre still too much? i Would be interested to hear if anyone thinks this would be the right thing to do. 

[Hilarysmum]

Why not divide the land into 4 parts.  Rotate the pigs between all parts as each bit of land gets used, put them in the next one.  I would start with 2 pigs to see how it goes.  (Warning I started with two at last count have 7 sows/gilts and a boar - be warned they are addictive).

[JulieS]

Very addictive!  I started with 3 for meat and now have 23!   

I agree with Hilarysmum, I would split the land into 4 too.

[jacob and Georgina]

thanks all for replies, i would love more than 2 now, but to start i would just like to get used to them and learn about several different breeds. I am sure we will all become very addicted to them and in the future we would like to have our own piglets. dividing into four separate areas sounds like a really good idea and once an area gets muddy then i could rotate them. I was thinking that i would have stock fencing around the whole acre and use 2/3 strands of electric fencing to divide it up. I would have to design a movable house for them or perhaps a house in the centre of the land so they can use the house whatever area they are in. I also read that it can be useful to grow a single type of root veg in the unused area i.e. potatoes to help the soil and also once grown can be eaten by either human or pig. does anyone else do this?? 

[Hilarysmum]

It can work cook the potatoes though for more nutrition.

[dixie]

I have adult pigs on an acre, well there is a pen with access to the acre, so we can restrict them if necessary, but they spend all summer out there. they havent trashed the whole thing, they tend to stick to 3 or 4 favourite digging sites! I would think that 2 fatteners for 6 months would be fine, giving you a chance to repair if necessary over the autumn/spring ready for the next batch. Or you could split it in half, use half one year and the other the following year? either way I dont think 2 weaners would do that much damage to a fairly large area, the other thought also is that they will grow quicker in a smaller area, you may not get them to porker weight by 6 months if they have too large an area, of course others may disagree but thats my experience.