# Pig foaming at mouth



## Cattlieysmommy (Apr 14, 2017)

We are semi-new to the pig raising "business". We newly acquired 3 Wessex pigs about a week ago. Two of them are around 60-70 lbs and one is about 125 lbs. They are all females. Well, last night one of the smaller ones dig under the fence (which is actually buried in the ground some) and got out for a brief amount of time. We decided that in order to stop this, we needed to ring their noses. We got one of the smaller ones (not the one that got out) and ringed her nose around 8:30 last night and decided to wait till morning to do the others. I went to check on them this morning and she had foam coming from her mouth. Like I said, we are new at having pigs so I would love to hear feedback on this. Is it ever normal for them to foam at the mouth? Or is something wrong since it's happening after we ringed her? Any and all info is much appreciated.


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## nyhunter (Nov 14, 2014)

Normal.


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## Cattlieysmommy (Apr 14, 2017)

Okay. Thanks. I was told by a friend, after I posted this, that it is Norma for pigs to foam some. I am new to owning pigs so I'm learning as I go.


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

I am truly curious as to the results of ringing your hogs' noses. I've heard of it before, even considered doing it once. An update on whether it keeps them from escaping would be awesome! Pigs are such a headache when it comes to fences....I'd gladly brave the wrath of the animal rights crowd to save myself the work and expense of fixing where they get out.

As an occasional hog raiser who does 2-3 feeders at a time, I don't exactly have a dedicated hog tight area for them..


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## Cattlieysmommy (Apr 14, 2017)

It is a huge job to get ahold of them enough to do it, especially with the size of them at this time. So far, it has kept the one in that we have done so far. I'm waiting for husband to come home from work to get the other ones done. I truly believe it is worth doing versus mending a fence or chasing them down all the time. We even buried our fence in the ground when we built our pen, but somehow she still managed to escape.


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

Yea, all the hogs I have had manage to beat the system somehow. Haven't tried electric, my fence charger doesn't put out enough zap for pigs I don't think.


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## Cattlieysmommy (Apr 14, 2017)

It would be WAY too much work to get an electric fence set up for what we have. I believe it's just easier and better to ring them.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

ShannonR said:


> Yea, all the hogs I have had manage to beat the system somehow. Haven't tried electric, my fence charger doesn't put out enough zap for pigs I don't think.


It takes very little voltage to shock a pig since they don't have thick coats of hair.

They are also very intelligent, so one or two shocks will generally teach them to avoid the fence altogether.


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

Bearfootfarm said:


> It takes very little voltage to shock a pig since they don't have thick coats of hair.
> 
> They are also very intelligent, so one or two shocks will generally teach them to avoid the fence altogether.


Thanks, that's good to know!!


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## fireweed farm (Dec 31, 2010)

And electric is THE easiest fence to set up and maintain. Ringing sounds like work and stress to me. Even better than a few hot wires, is the electric mesh with step-in posts. I highly recommend it if you're having issues. It's also wonderful for rotational grazing.


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## Wanda (Dec 19, 2002)

Rooting is a problem in a small area with an electric fence. If they root dirt up to the electric wire, it causes a ''dead short'' and the fencer will not energize any of the fence.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

Wanda said:


> Rooting is a problem in a small area with an electric fence. If they root dirt up to the electric wire, it causes a ''dead short'' and the fencer will not energize any of the fence.


A dead short would be an energizing wire up against a grounding conductor, not a bit o'dirt over a wire. If your energizer fails under your description you have a completely failed system.


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## cooper101 (Sep 13, 2010)

A little dirt on the wire shouldn't ground out a good charger. Happens all the time and my fence works unless a wire is touching a steel post.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

Depending on what kind of hogs you have and what kind of soil you have, they might bury an electronet and simply walk across it, good news is, they will learn enough respect of it not to try while there is still a bit of it showing. That gives you a chance to turn it off and go around and pull it out of the ground. I have found if you move it just inside of the furrow that they initially dig all the way around, you can get more mileage between dig outs. 

As far as smart, the jury is out on that one, I have a boar hog that tests the fence about every other day, and it consistently pegs the tester. Noisy when he does that. I question the supposed intellegence of porcines each and every time. But he doesn't get out. Pigs that have been allowed to get out, are hard to keep in, even with electric. 

I've never ringed a hog, my dad and his dad before him ringed hogs. Dad quit doing it when they invented electric fence, for some reason. With most things, the reason a practice has been discontinued here, is because advances in technology made it impractical or not worth the effort. By his accounts, ringing is very effective, but temporary. After the soreness wears off, the rings act a little like the teeth on a backhoe bucket. They still root, but maybe a little less. They don't do anything at first. To do an effective job, you do about six of the little ones around the outside of the snout circle, and you do the big one through the septum. The big one has a little barb in the middle so it pokes them when they put pressure on it. It's temporary, they will either wear them in two or rip them out. They might last the life of a feeder pig, but the average feeder pig doesn't root nearly as much as a breeder pig. 

I like the poly ribbon. Doesn't get buried like the net, offers a good visible boundary, and does an effective job. I train pigs with net and then move to the poly ribbon. If you don't train them as pigs, you need field fence with a strand of electrified barbed wire around the bottom on standoff insulators. If they aren't trained early, and right, they will lower their head and go, no matter how fancy your step in posts and charger are.


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

fireweed farm said:


> And electric is THE easiest fence to set up and maintain. Ringing sounds like work and stress to me. Even better than a few hot wires, is the electric mesh with step-in posts. I highly recommend it if you're having issues. It's also wonderful for rotational grazing.


This is just one girl's opinion, but I beg to differ. The actual setup as far as grounding rods and burying cable is slightly complicated, but very doable. It's the maintenence I find to be such a headache!! Especially if your fence is in a heavily wooded area....I'm forever fixing the darned fence. Finding any little shorts there may be, cutting brush off it, pulling weeds from under it. It doesn't hold in my goats, the dog has figured out how to get past it... the fence just isn't worth the trouble as far as I'm concerned. I swear by cattle panels now

But hey, I did try it!


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## Cattlieysmommy (Apr 14, 2017)

Well, we have ringed two of them so far Shannon and neither have escaped the fence since. So I would say, as of now, it has been a success.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

Electric fence can be very problematic and also very effective. Getting to a point where problems are minimized isn't far from what utility companies have to do. Under growth, overhead growth has to be dealt with. 

In my usage, electric fence isn't just to keep pigs in. I use it to keep critters out of plantings before it is turned over to hogs. Deer, bear, coyotes, hedgehogs, woodchucks, skunks, racoons, fox, bobcat, mink, rabbits, beaver, and squirrels are all problematic, electric fence helps. Useless for turkey, geese, moose, and my neighbor, Ol' Charlie. Charlie generally brings his own beer but usually forgets where he is going, in or out.


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

Cattlieysmommy said:


> Well, we have ringed two of them so far Shannon and neither have escaped the fence since. So I would say, as of now, it has been a success.


Thank you for the progress report! Hopefully they will continue to stay home, chasing hogs down is always a real adventure.


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## Cattlieysmommy (Apr 14, 2017)

ShannonR said:


> Thank you for the progress report! Hopefully they will continue to stay home, chasing hogs down is always a real adventure.


They are still in. I would say it's been a success and they are still just as happy as can be!


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## Cattlieysmommy (Apr 14, 2017)

Thank you. If we have any more problems, we will try that.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Cattlieysmommy said:


> Thank you. If we have any more problems, we will try that.


NO! Please never directly connect wall power (110V, 120V, 240V, etc) to a fence line. That is EXTREMELY dangerous and can kill livestock, wildlife and people. The problem is it delivers a high amp current that does not let the animal let go of the fence. This is an extraordinarily bad idea. Use a good quality modern fence energizer. They are not expensive.

-Walter


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## Jhammett (Apr 10, 2013)

Thanks Walter I was horrified at that suggestion.... very bad Idea


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## Cattlieysmommy (Apr 14, 2017)

highlands said:


> NO! Please never directly connect wall power (110V, 120V, 240V, etc) to a fence line. That is EXTREMELY dangerous and can kill livestock, wildlife and people. The problem is it delivers a high amp current that does not let the animal let go of the fence. This is an extraordinarily bad idea. Use a good quality modern fence energizer. They are not expensive.
> 
> -Walter


Thanks for the info. I doubt we will ever even use an electric fence for any of our animals. It's just too much work for what we have going. Thanks again for info, though. If by chance we do ever need one, I will just go with the basic store bought stuff.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Electric fences are highly effective but they are _not_ just plugging a wire into the outlet. Electric fence energizers put out a high voltage and a very low current in a ultra short pulse and then turn off for the rest of each second or so. This give animals a chance to get away from the fence. Here's a good reading resource on electric fencing:

http://www.kencove.com/fence/resource.php

and here is a very good fence energizer:

http://www.kencove.com/fence/Mains+Energizers_detail_EK6.php

They have a 1 joule unit but I would not recommend that. Stay above 2.5 joules.

Pigs, like all animals, need to be trained to the electric fence. It's a psychological barrier, not a physical barrier.

Cheers,

-Walter


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

highlands said:


> NO! Please never directly connect wall power (110V, 120V, 240V, etc) to a fence line. That is EXTREMELY dangerous and can kill livestock, wildlife and people. The problem is it delivers a high amp current that does not let the animal let go of the fence. This is an extraordinarily bad idea. Use a good quality modern fence energizer. They are not expensive.
> 
> -Walter


My question to that original suggestion was, what in the heck is the light bulb for??? I don't think it makes a bad idea any better, but my mind keeps going back to the light bulb part of his post...


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## Jamie Sadler (Apr 19, 2017)

We have two gilts, about 600 pounds each. We use electric fence very effectively. Neither one is ringed. It took them about two days to learn to stay away from the fence. We also use it to keep bears, moose and the neighbors dogs out of their pen.


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## Jamie Sadler (Apr 19, 2017)

highlands said:


> Electric fences are highly effective but they are _not_ just plugging a wire into the outlet. Electric fence energizers put out a high voltage and a very low current in a ultra short pulse and then turn off for the rest of each second or so. This give animals a chance to get away from the fence. Here's a good reading resource on electric fencing:
> 
> http://www.kencove.com/fence/resource.php
> 
> ...


It is most def a psychological barrier. We moved our girls to a larger pen last night and we fought with one for over three hours because she knew the electric wire used to be where we were trying make her walk and she flat our refused to step over the invisible line. It took four of us to push and force her to step 'across' it. once beyond that point she was fine but she would not do it on her own for anything , regardless of what we tried to coax her with.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

Jamie Sadler said:


> It is most def a psychological barrier. We moved our girls to a larger pen last night and we fought with one for over three hours because she knew the electric wire used to be where we were trying make her walk and she flat our refused to step over the invisible line. It took four of us to push and force her to step 'across' it. once beyond that point she was fine but she would not do it on her own for anything , regardless of what we tried to coax her with.


This is very true. I go through this when turning over area to hogs. I've never had one just bolt across that line. It is best to remember this when loading hogs, been there at 10 degrees. The effect/education can also make routing hogs to new areas easy, they see a line, they avoid it. It doesn't have to be energized for short term transfer. Feed bucket trained hogs make it slick.


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## WadeFisher (Sep 26, 2013)

Jamie Sadler said:


> It is most def a psychological barrier. We moved our girls to a larger pen last night and we fought with one for over three hours because she knew the electric wire used to be where we were trying make her walk and she flat our refused to step over the invisible line. It took four of us to push and force her to step 'across' it. once beyond that point she was fine but she would not do it on her own for anything , regardless of what we tried to coax her with.


We have more problems with this than with pigs getting out of their fence. So you have to learn some tricks.

When you learn the skill of electric fencing you have a lot more possibilities with pasturing.


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