Planning for Pigs

We think we might get a few pigs or sheep.

A little bit of investigation has made the choice clear. The fencing costs for sheep will be substantially higher than for pigs. Our patch of land is long and thin, with hedges round all the sides. To keep the sheep in will require steel sheep netting and this is going to cost thousands of pound. The pig fencing will only be a couple of hundred pounds worth of electric fence.
Of course pigs need a shelter but sheep do not. New pig arks cost £300-£400 if you buy one, but we are going to make one out of large straw bales. I have decided to make one to my own design. We have fence posts and old bannister rails for struts and corrugated iron sheets for the roof. My neighbour has provided some large bales of straw which I collected o his trailer. It ought only to cost about £20 (plus some of our own labour) to build it. The photo is of the (not quite) finished pig house. It needs a bit of strengthening on the corners, although they are very unlikely to move the bales, as I could only slide them off the trailer with ropes and levers!
Then we need to get the pigs. The son of a local farmer breeds all sorts of rare breeds and is willing to sell us some: so we should be up and running soon.
I mentioned keeping pigs with a couple of friends who live close by and they are keen to join in. Our next door neighbour discussed it with their children, but, while the children were keen to have pigs they were not keen to eat them! We solved this problem by arranging that the local butcher will act as an intermediary.
Luckily, another son of the same local farmer also runs the butchers shop in the village! Their plan is to sell local produce when ever possible.