Move a Pig

[Adapted from Storey’s Guide to Raising Pigs by Kelly Klober and Temple Grandin’s Guide to Working with Farm Animals by Temple Grandin]

The most difficult and time-consuming task on a great many farms with hogs is getting them from point A to point B while maintaining a modicum of dignity and your religion. The best way to keep a hog moving is to block the way behind it. As much as possible, allow the hog to move along at its own pace and in the company of other animals to help it remain confident and at ease. It is often far easier to drive two or three hogs back off a trailer than to drive just one hog onto it.

Tip: A plastic trash can on wheels can be used to move two or three shoats (young hogs) quite comfortably for a short distance.

Hogs are wary of shifting light patterns and contrasts in flooring and other footing surfaces when being moved and may balk or turn back from them. Limit changes in light and flooring as best you can.

A rigid board or panel is effective for moving pigs. Pigs respect a solid barrier, and a solid panel must be used to move mature boars.

A “witch’s cape” made of plasticized cloth cut to the width of the alley and attached to a stick across the top can be used to move sows and piglets out of a big pen or down a wide alley. In narrow alleys, use half a witch’s cape.

A large flag on a short stick works well for moving pigs. The flag is made from a lightweight plasticized cloth and can replace a rigid panel in many cases. Quietly move the flag behind the animals and don’t wave vigorously.