Pigs

Introduction to pig farming

Rearing pigs can be a good introduction to livestock farming for small food producers, as you can buy in piglets for fattening. This allows you to gain experience with keeping pigs before learning about breeding piglets on your own farm/croft. Pigs are also efficient foragers and can be used in managing land. 

Keeping pigs is a form of livestock management and comes with legal responsibilities of caring for their welfare throughout the year — you must check on your herd every day. Your legal duties as a meat producer grow if you want to butcher the meat yourself, but many arrange for meat to be prepared by a local butcher.

 Before purchasing a herd, you must learn how to manage pigs and care for their welfare. There are many course providers, such as Lantra or Skills Hub Scotland, but as a starting point you can look at  resources like AHDB’s ’New pig keepers guide — Small-scale production’ or Soil Association’s guide to small-scale pig keeping.