The Rural Voice, 1990-10, Page 23The 160 -acre farm is divided into enclosures of 10 to 14 acres; each encompasses pasture, marsh, and bush.
are never separated from the herd or
fed differently. A few days before
they give birth they will disappear into
the woods and make a nest of
branches, leaves, and hay. If the snow
is still on the ground, the animals will
dig down through it to make a nest.
One to two weeks after their
piglets are born, the sows rejoin the
herd. Sows average four piglets a
litter, and, if four are born alive, all
four usually live to maturity. (Wolves
can cause trouble, but a high-powered
electric fence will solve the problem.
Piglets nurse for half to three-quarters
of a year; then the sow breeds for the
next year. One litter a year is more
common, but occasionally a sow will
breed while still nursing, producing
two litters in one year.
Each spring and fall the animals
are rounded up. This process takes
about four weeks. The animals
migrate towards paddocks as fences
are opened ahead and closed behind to
guide their migration. They are then
tagged with metal eartags and released
back into their family groupings and
their own enclosures.
Wild boar are hardy animals, not as
sensitive to stress as domestic swine.
They adapt well to any climate or
environmental conditions. The first
winter, Peipp built shelters for the
animals, but they proved to be
unnecessary. The coarse hair of the
animals gets a thick winter undercoat.
Peipp does not medicate his
animals: "It is not needed," he says.
In six years, he adds, he has had no
farm veterinary bills. His feed
expenses are also low, and there are
no expensive buildings to build or
keep up. The biggest expense is
fencing. If the most expensive
equipment is used, a l0 -acre enclosure
can cost as much as $1,500.
Fences are four strands of electric
fencing with 9,000 volts running
through each strand, a system backed
up by a generator. Pcipp's morning
chores, rather than feeding the animals
and scraping pens, is walking the
fence line to ensure that all are in
OCTOBER 1990 19