The outdoor pig industry has grown quickly over the last decade, a factor that has been hastened by the high capital costs of indoor pig housing as well as public demand for a less intensive industry. Planning regulations have also made it more difficult to develop indoor pig production.

Outdoor pig production is largely concerned with the housing of sows and the rearing of the young piglets for the first few weeks of their lives. Pigs are rarely reared to slaughter outside, as they are usually grown in conventional finishing units after weaning.

The best sites for outdoor pig production are level free draining soils. Favoured soil types include chalk and sand (because they are porous) whereas clays are generally unsuitable. As sows breed all the year round care has to be taken with the choice of field as the ground could become inhospitable for young piglets during winter months and compromise their welfare. Best results are obtained where pigs are kept on grass.

Pigs that are housed outdoors have different welfare considerations to those indoors. In winter months when it is wet and cold piglet mortality can be a higher and in summer months stock can suffer from sunburn! These pigs are lying under a sun screen provided by the farmer.

Outdoor pig units are usually found on arable farms where there is little suitable fencing to contain the animals. For this reason most units rely on temporary electric fencing that can be quickly taken down when the herd is moved onto a new field. Because there is usually plenty of space for the outdoor pig herd, the access routes through the field are generous in size to help prevent heavy rutting in the winter months.

Outdoor pig production simplifies some of the waste management issues of pig production. Straw and muck from the sows are returned directly to the soil without machinery. Very often after use the straw from the individual arcs is burnt to prevent cross contamination of disease.

Outdoor pig systems are very much part of the arable rotation and this field will be returned to a crop of winter wheat which will benefit from the fertility that the pigs have provided. Pigs remain in the same field for about two years and usually the stocking density will be 6 to 8 sows per acre.

Further reading for Pigs - Production cycle

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