Your first thought of a pig Your first may be of a pink-skinned beast wallowing in sloppy mud on a day bathed in sunshine. That’s a pig’s happy place, but swine are hardy creatures that can be kept in all seasons and thrive on farms in seasonal climates. The key to successfully overwintering pigs is to ensure they’re healthy and have proper shelter as well as enough food and water. With a few simple steps, your hogs will be as happy in snow as they are in mud.
On farms where pigs are kept in large numbers and are part of the farm’s annual income, overwintering is a normal part of pig-keeping. Sows are kept for years for breeding, and piglets are raised up at all times of the year. For smaller farms, homesteads, and hobby farms, the most common model is to purchase “feeder pigs” as piglets every spring, raise them up, and butcher them in fall. This model works well for many, but there are still reasons
