Fencing - A sturdy fence and a well-placed electric wire is necessary. We experienced too much heartbreak as a result of only a sturdy fence and no electric wire at first, and awoke many a morning to find that the pigs had rooted up my precious sheep pasture. If you can, place their house somewhere in the middle of their pen, and then fence the perimeter in electric wire approx 8 in high. Then, keep watch that they haven't rooted up grass and mud or other debris and shorted out the fence. You need a fairly strong pulse as well, as I have heard of many a pig that backs up about ten feet, starts squealing and rams the electric fence.Feed - They eat allot! I have read about the theory of giving a pig as much as she will eat, but they appear to be bottomless pits, so this seems like a very expensive approach. I gave mine approx 5# a day/pig of a mix of all-breed grain and pig grower until the last couple of months or so and then I gave them maybe twice that. Next time we do pigs, we will buy a couple of tons of grain in advance. We didn't seem to be able to find any "free food" in the form of restaurant scraps or dairy scraps to give them, but I'm looking forward to the days of owning a dairy cow, and utilizing the excess milk for the piggys.
Water - Pigs like to rearrange their furniture, so you must tie up your water bucket. I thought it was cute how they would pile up all the buckets and detritus from their field into one area and push up all the bedding in their house all comfy/cozy. One day, they even decided to root up all the floorboards in their house, but they did set them nicely to one side - neat and tidy! I guess I got a bit off subject here, but in reference to their water: they drink allot, and their bucket must be tied to something to prevent it from being carted off.
Having learned a few lessons, we will raise pigs again next year. We have a wonderful garden area fertilized and turned over, and homegrown pork in the freezer - a pretty good deal.
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