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Since there is no room in the barn, we were thinking of making him a place on the north side of the barn (fully shaded). How big should his house be and how big should his yard be.
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Hello and welcome. I am fairly new here but have raised many a hog. First thing to look at is which direction does your prevelent wind blow from? Especially in the winter. Your pig will need to be out of it or be able to get out of it. In our area the winds will normally come out of the north/northwest. We have our hogs in a barn with an outside run on the south side. They do like to lay in the sun part of the time. Depending on the number of hogs, up to 3 or 4 will be comfortable in a small shed about 5 x 10 feet with a raised floor so they will be off the ground. Also some sort of bedding is a help as well. We use straw and they are quite happy. The pen doesnt need to be that big. 20 x 20 feet is more than enough.
Fencing can be as elablorate or as simple as you want. We use hog panels which is welded wire that comes from 10 to 20 foot lengths I believe. Its about 3 or 4 foot high which is plenty as hogs are not normally climbers. We attach this to T posts for temporary pens or to wood for more perm pens.
With hog wire you can dig a trench about 6 inches deep and sink the bottom edge of the wire into the trench and fill will concrete to give a bottom more difficult for them to dig under. Or u can use a bottom board. A sturdy gate that they cant get under and you should have a pen that is capable. No pen is perfect. We had a hog that learned to open the sliding door of the barn. Even after we installed a locking latch, she tried to still figure out how to open it.
Basically, no matter how escape proof you build a pen, there is going to be a hog that gets out. All you can do is the best you can and hope you dont get that smart hog that figures out how to get out.
Hogs are one of the smartest animals around. They tame easily and actually can become good pets. Had one years ago that acted more like a dog and trained more easily. He used to follow me around the farm just like the dogs and every once in a while go visit the neighbors down the road. Used to get a call about once a week to tell me the pig was down there and we could come get him since he was begging at the back door. (The y made the mistake of feeding him some scraps the first time he went visiting.} [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
As to finding just one or two, I suggest checking with your local Ag rep or COOP to see who raises them in the area and then go talk to them. That way you know where you go it and how it was raised. You can buy them at the sale barn but you dont know alot about them then and there is a better than even chance that you will get a cull.
Good luck and watch out for letting it become a pet. Much harder to make bacon from a pet.
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