Gwen Weerts

Hi Bryant, thanks for the welcome! I'm beside myself with excitement. Thanks very much for the tip on fencing and shed. I've read it's important to fence train them as piglets so they don't go right through the electrified wire, so I'm starting out with a 16x16 hogwire enclosure, and I'll run the electrified netting on the inside until they learn what it is. The very heavy semi-movable loafing shed is accessible from this enclosure. Perhaps this can be "home base" and I could call them to return to this area each night. For the movable netted pastures, I was thinking of a PVC/tarp shed, but your comment about adult size and scratching has made me reconsider. Back to the drafting board!

What and how much do you feed your AGHs to supplement their grazing? I've started out with a pricey bag of non-GMO hog raiser, but the cost will not be sustainable, so I'm still researching other grain feeds. We have lots of breweries in the area, but most of the spent grains already have already been spoken for.

I'm bringing in 4 American Guinea hogs this weekend, and I'll be using intensive rotational grazing with movable electric netting around our pasture. I have a loafing shed that is technically movable, but it would require PVC skids and a tractor. I need to be able to move the whole setup (waterer, feeder, loafing shed, fence) every few days, and it's not practical to move the wooden loafing shed so often. The pasture is open and unshaded, so they'll need a cool place to hang out. One hog farmer friend suggested corrugated drain culverts, which can be easily rolled, but I think those will get too warm under direct sun. Any suggestions? Guinea hogs are quite a bit smaller than other pigs, max 200 lbs at maturity, usually smaller.