Pigs vs electric fences

Hello,

My husband an i raise hogs, currently Polish China, Old Spotted, and Duroc. I wanted to eliminate our electric fencing around their lot. I'v noticed that each time they get loose and go back through the fence we end up with an injury. What could i possibly plant as a hedge to keep them in? And something that they won't root up. They are on about 1/4 acre lot, with shelter and running water. I'v raised hogs before, but never any whom tested the fence as much as these ones do. Any thoughts on how to deter them?
Your advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

I wonder if it would help to bait the fence wire.....put something yummy like peanut butter on some little tags of aluminum foil attached to the wire every so often. The pigs will lick it, get a really thorough shock, and might be less likely to challenge the fence. I've never kept pigs, but I've used this technique successfully with goats; and also to keep deer out of a garden.....

most pigs I have seen will go strait forward when shocked.i use hog panels with one strand of electric ribbon.no problems and I fence about an acre or more.dont think planting anything will hold a pig in,not an expert though.try throwing in a bale of hay or two for them to eat and play with.might keep them occupied.ggod luck.

Hog panels seem expensive but you have to remember the resale value - you can keep moving them or resell them when you're done, can't do that with most other fencing. It's my preferred fencing. Well, actually cattle panels cost half as much often and I use those as well except the baby pigs can run right through them. I can put up a hog panel fence by myself pretty quickly, I think they're awesome.

If your pigs are bored try giving them empty milk jugs with some food inside. Also be sure they've got enough food and water. But some are just fence testers. I guess it's an opportunity to learn how to make a fence "hog tight".

If you can figure out which is the one that is testing the fence, maybe send that one off early. It could be one gets out and the rest follow. I used to have a boar that would escape regularly - when I got rid of him no more escapes. Well, except the piglets. They wound up needing their own pen.

It's actually a "bar" or castrated male, he thinks he's big stuff and does it at least twice a day. I make sure they have plenty to eat and drink, they have a spring running through their lot, and get fed up to 3 times a day depending on who's doing so. We got hog panels from an auction but i'm only going to use them for the piglets. My boar is actually quite affectionate and super lazy. I'm sure we'll be sending that hog off soon, he's getting quite large.
They have about 1/4 of an acre with some vegetation left after they have been out for the last 3 months.
I'll give your suggestions a shot! Thank you!

Electric fencing is highly effective with pigs. Pigs, like all species, need to be trained to electric fence because it is a psychological barrier. Unfortunately you have trained them that they can brave the fence and bust out. Retraining them will be harder. To train them put them in a physically well fenced space of about 250 to 1,000 sq-ft. Put an electric fence inside of that just like you'll have out in the fields. e.g., step in posts with polywire or what ever. In about a week or two of training in this area they will be ready to venture out into well done electric fenced paddocks.

I would suggest three wires to start with although even a single wire will work for well trained pigs. Wires should be at low and high walking nose levels. Third wire about 36". If you have jumpers, such as flying pigs or sheep, then another wire at 44" or so.

Tight wires are far better than loose wires. Highly visible fencing with a good visual marker (e.g., stone wall, brush, forest) outside the fence is helpful. Keep the things they need and want inside the fenced area and the scary things outside.

When a pig is shocked on the face in front of the ears it tends to go backward. When a pig is shocked behind the ears it tends to go forward. Strong tendency in both cases.

If you have a Houdini and can't retrain him, eat him. He is a bad influence on the other pigs and a waste of your time.

We keep about 400 pigs on about 70 acres using managed rotational grazing and many miles of electric fencing for our perimeter and paddock divisions. Properly done electric fence is highly effective for pigs. Here are some articles about how we do it:

http://www.google.com/search?q=site:sugarmtnfarm.com+fencing%20OR%20fence

Cheers,

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in Vermont

Thank you Walter. I have established a good fence now, and a rather high voltage fencer, he hasn't tested it in the last week, i'll be adding a third strand of wire soon since they are getting rather large now. And i'll be adjusting the existing fence, there are apple trees as a barrier currently, and some tall grass and some kind of hedge in the one corner. I will be adding more to the fence.
Thank you!

Beware that pigs love apple trees and apple trees hate pigs. In other words, pigs may kill the apple trees by stripping bark or compacting the soil at the base of the tree. Out in our big pastures we have wild apples that seem to coexist well but in areas with high traffic the apple trees do not tolerate the pigs.

Yeah i gathered that when the one pig got loose and was rooting under the apple tree. But the tree has survived! Thank you again Walter!