[Chicken_House]

Hi,

I've two small pigs (micro pigs) who have a fenced pen in the garden with a sty etc. I also have a small outhouse with a small outdoor pen attached which I was going to put them in for winter, so they are on hard standing indoors, protected from the harsher weather but still able to get outside if they want. It's not a large area so I was only going to use it when the weather got really bad.

Due to a high level of rain however, the outdoor pen is becoming a quagmire. How muddy is too muddy for the pigs to stay there? Is it cruel to have them housed indoors from October right through to spring or is it quite usual for pigs to be housed indoors when things get boggy? Or are they ok to stay where they are for a bit and as the saying goes, be 'happy as a pig in mud'?

All feedback welcome, thanks 

[harmony]

They will be fine indoors with straw to root in. Your muddy patch isn't going to get any better and you can get it sorted whilst they are in.  Pigs don't suffer the same as horses, sheep, goats or cows can in mud but it can't be all that much fun for them and it gets dangerous for you if you slip. It becomes jolly hard work feeding and watering etc in mud.

[Marches Farmer]

Pigs are no more fond of trudging round in mud than humans are.  What is muddy now will turn into semi-liquid slurry by the beginning of Winter.

[SallyintNorth]

One of the things about mud is that they're taking wet mug back into the ark with them.  Quite soon the straw can get wet and cold, and the pigs then also get cold.  So if they are out on mud, keep checking their straw - get your bare hands into it, you can't tell by looking.

[harmony]

Sally has made an excellent point.  Old bedding in the doorway can be a useful doormat.

[Chicken_House]

Thanks everyone, I moved them inside and will continue to move them in and out until the weather fully sets to cold and rain consistently. Elvis and Rosie both say thank (yep sorry but we named them as they're are pet rotavators and not food!) x