The Aspiring Farmer Blog

Last week I was debating what to do with the pigs. They were outgrowing the pallet pens I made, but they were still small enough and crazy enough that I didn’t want to put them out on pasture in just electric fencing. To be honest, it wasn’t even obvious that they respected the electric fence. Eight pallets in a square just isn’t enough space for them to be comfortable and understand that the electric fence is not to be messed with. They were running into it all the time.

So I made a bigger one. I went into their existing home and put some feed in a crate and lured them in. Once they were inside I relocated them and built a pallet pen with twice the square footage. A veritable piglet McMansion compared to the last shanty. I could tell right away that they were much happier. They had room to scurry back and forth without touching the fence and they could root for a longer distance without worrying about the boundary.

I think I’ll let them keep growing out in the pallet pens for a while. By my estimation they’re only 35-40 pounds today and they’re still small enough to get their noses under the electric wire and bolt through, so I’ll give it some time. I’d like to get in their pallet pen and have them not freak out and run around. I’d like them to be calm and comfortable. I’m not sure if that’s even possible with the Ossabaws since they’re still pretty feral, but I have tried scratching them a bit while they’re eating each day and generally trying to soften them up. As they get older and bigger I hope they settle down. I’d really love to have them out in the woods and on pasture, it’s been a little frustrating keeping them in the pallet pens. But it’s worked and they’re not running loose, which is the alternative.

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