Why keep pigs?

Make sure you know why you want to keep pigs before you start.

Positive things about keeping pigs

• Pigs are smart animals and respond to good care.
• Pigs make great pets.
• They can provide home-produced pork or bacon.
• They can eat kitchen scraps and surplus garden vegetables.
• They can forage outdoors on pasture
• They can be used to break in scrub.
• They can be kept in pens or indoors and provide manure.
• They reproduce regularly to provide an income from young pigs.

Negative things about keeping pigs

• For good production pigs must be well fed which means purchasing correct proprietary balanced diets.
• Your meat could be cheaper from the supermarket!
• Pigs can produce smells that you and your neighbours may consider offensive.
• Pigs can also be noisy at certain times (feeding).
• Their rooting and wallowing urges can severely damage pastures.
• Pig paddocks and shelters can look offensive in a nice environment.
• You may need to keep a boar, which can be dangerous.
• You will need to provide housing for certain classes of animals.
• Escaping is fun for pigs. They get through wire mesh and lift doors off hinges.

Sort out a pig production system

• Buy in weaners and grow them to pork or bacon weight.
• Keep a sow and boar and sell weaners.
• Keep a sow and boar and feed all offspring to pork or bacon weight.