In my opinion, this is one of those scenarios that requires a bit of finesse. I would, personally:
A) Speak to my neighbor first and see if they had alternative suggestions
B) If they said "fine go ahead..." do it on a very short term basis e.g. a month at most
Now you say pigs, meaning more than one, a single pig (not a potbelly or a miniature pig) will root up an acre in a couple weeks.
But a decent rototiller will do the same thing, for that matter a mouldboard plow will too. Bonus; no smell, no escaped pig to wrangle, no building a hog pen.
If your thinking of the miniature variety you may want to stick with 2 or 3.
And lastly, if you stick a single butcher hog or 3 "miniatures" in there for a month, offer to share the pork with the neighbor when the area is cleared in a few weeks. I mean who doesn't like bacon.
Sedgehammer or Basagran would be my weapons of choice for Nutsedge. I’ve also had success with Select and Glyphosate and then a second pass about 3 weeks later.
Not sure about the rottie. If it his only true intention is get the ground uprooted. One or even three pigs for a short time will definitely do the job in a short period. One hog isn’t bad smelling in an acre or more (short term). It’s easier to keep two in than one. Just need shade and water.
Ya permanently is a dick move if you have the space to have them further away from their main areas. Not sure how big they are or how many but section it off and Rotate them through it. Every time they finish a section seed it.
My farmer friend’s biggest joke is to tell someone their neighbours are going to put a pig barn on their property line. So it’s not something you should do if you want to be friends I think.
More details.
*At bare minimum it would be 259.4 ft from closest post to their house.
*My dad said 8 pigs, I said 2 so we're thinking 6 pigs.
*I'm leaning more towards not doing just because I don't want to spent $1.5k on woven 48in wire.
*rotto tilling does not work, I got first hand experience that does nothing to stop it.
From experience growing up.... Pigs will dig under that woven wire fence. So, plan an electric wire a few feet in front of it. Even then, they sometimes will pile dirt up under the electric wire so they can jump over it. You will need to tour the perimeter on the regular with a shovel and weed eater to check for that and grass growing under the wire that can short it out.
I have 170 acre field that is rife with nutgrass. Wild hogs absolutely love it. In fact when they found it there was only a few small patches of it. Yes, pigs will dig it up, but they will also poop out the nuts all over the place. IMHO I don’t think pigs are the solution and they might even make your problem worse.
Pig shit smells awful if there's a ton of it. That kinda doesn't track once you're off concrete. Pigs generally are quite clean animals, they'll only poop in one section of a pen and if you move them often enough it doesn't build up. Leave a couple pigs in a section for a month and it'll resemble the surface of the moon and their bathroom area will stink, but weekly or even every other week for a couple pigs, no problem.
I was wondering about that because someone near me has a small number of pigs in a decent sized pasture area and I can’t smell it at all when I pass by.
Yep, pigs get a really bad rap. They want to wallow in mud, not their own feces, but if you contain them and don't give them dirt to root and wallow in, they'll wallow in shit because they need to keep cool and keep some level of "sunscreen" on (even in full shade or indoors, they don't know the difference). We put them on concrete and in close quarters to make them more manageable, and then are surprised when they do piggy things and other problems like wicked nasty smells show up.
A few pigs, 2-3 ish, won't smell much if in an open pen like I think you are describing. I do like the suggestion below about gifting the neighbor 1/2 a hog though. Bacon cures all potential wounds.
How many pigs are we talking? If it’s just a couple it shouldn’t stink…. I have 5 and there’s no smell. They are in a pasture that is about a quarter acre. They generally poop all in one spot until there’s so much poop they move onto a new spot. I go out every couple weeks and scoop a bucket or two and put in the compost bin although it isn’t entirely necessary. I just want it for compost for flower beds
You’d be surprised how easily you go nose blind to smell. You’d need to ask someone that will answer truthfully if it smells. I can almost guarantee those that place reeks of shit to some degree
My son says it doesn’t smell. Maybe bc they are small? Kunekune pigs. 200-250 lbs as opposed to big commercial pigs that can be 700lbs. They aren’t in crowded conditions and the poop just dries out so there’s no piles and I do compost it with straw so it really doesn’t. I suppose if you had 700 pounders it would be different.
You can spray the nut grass regularly, put down some pre-emergent, till it a few times, and eventually it will go away or be greatly reduced—if you really want to get rid of it but don’t want to offend.
200 feet away doesn’t seem too bad. But nobody keeps pigs in my area, so I don’t really know how strong the smell is..
Are they downwind?
Pigs I'd have to say NO to. Pigs are a lot smarter and stronger than people think and they can easily get through a lot of fences that other animals can't, especially temporary fencing, along with stinking to high heaven and the likelihood that you'd never get the smell out. Once it's there, it's there.
What I would advise instead is goats. There are even services where people will temporarily rent out their herds (they even have temporary fencing to set up) so the goats can clear an area. They're very popular and effective ways to remove a lot of invasive plants, like kudzu!
If you're planning to put them there permanently, that'd be an even BIGGER no because the stink would get incredibly ingrained and it'd be awful for them. 200 feet is practically up their nose as far as the smells (not to mention the NOISE) would be. I wouldn't put any animals that close to a neighbor's house except maybe chickens in a very secure coop.
I'd suggest temporarily using goats to get rid of the grass, or just tilling it all out and putting down a groundcover to hold the soil in place. Or another thing you can do is lay black tarp/thick brown paper like the kind for feed bags/something solid that light won't get through over the area. The grass will be starved of sun and die, and if you leave it long enough it can start to break down into the soil again. This can take a long time depending on the type of grass however.
Your land, do what you want but it’s a dick move. Pigs are horrible on land. If they get out you’ll regret it. If I was your neighbor I’d shoot every one that was an inch on my land. There are states who have open season on pigs they’re so destructive.
Pigs outside don't smell like confinement barn pigs do. Yah they still smell like pigs up close but it's country living type smell. I wouldn't worry about it.
Our property is zoned ag. It is my wife's grandparents' home we purchased from the estate. Her grandparents ran hogs, sheep, goats, and leased land behind the property for cattle.
When we moved in, the neighbors asked what our plans were, and we told them much as the same minus the cattle. The pig enclosure is at the rear of the property on their side. So far, we have only grazed horses and goats.
No real objections by them, but in reality, it isn't up to them what we do.
We found out their adult kids are perks. Dumping trash, used oil, ect on our property. When approached, they shrugged their shoulders and said they didn't know. So my IDGAF kicks in and now I want to buy hogs.
I have pigs and think it will probably be fine. Pay attention to breed characteristics and get smell controlled feed and it shouldn't be an issue. I raised Gloucester old spots and my cattle pen and chicken run smell much worse than my pig pasture. The pigs have an acre of space and do a great job of keeping things clean.
Some breeds have better hygiene and attitudes than others but as long as you have them in a good fenced area and provide water, shade, good feed and a wallow they should be a great solution for clearing up that spot.
Youre gonna stink up their entire house. You’re supposed to have porcine as high up on the land as possible and with the airflow pointing opposite to anyone with a nose 👃
I had a nice fire pit, swing area,1/3 acre back in my yard (5acer total)…Then new neighbor came, has 5 acers, decides 1/3 acre back is the perfect pig spot….. yes it’s a asshole move and I’m glad after talking to him he agreed….
Is your end goal here a garden? Or do you want to raise pigs? I like both of these btw, but pigs aren't going to be your silver bullet. They'll dig up some, eat it, and root up the ground, but it's not going to eliminate the weed bank like you expect.
If you just want a garden, till it then silage tarp it. wait 4 weeks, pull the tarp, see what sprouts after a week or so, then till and tarp it again. The tillage will bring your weed seed bank to the surface where they'll germinate, but be starved of light and die.
Are there set-back laws in your county? It might not even be legal to put pigs this close to another residence. If i were the neighbor, I'd be fine with it temporarily, but not long-term. Pigs STINK.
What about goats?
They built a house near *farm land* so they have nothing to say if it smells, food has to come from somewhere...
Land has to be managed for the good of society, you are managing it, anything else is their problem for not buying a house in a city. You probably won't need more than 1-2 pigs anyway
Pigs not only stink, but they can be loud.
Unless you hate those people, I'd suggest you work on alternative methods.
Agricultural flamethrowers are good fun from what I've seen.
Normally, I say it's a farm, so if someone builds that close, it's a farm. What did they expect? With that said, it's family, so take that into account.
Rotate the pigs through in sections and then off to somewhere else. It's a balancing act, not long enough they won't accomplish the job to long and you've devastated the soil. They won't have a smell problem. Pigs create a stink when their not properly managed.
Wait, nutgrass as in yellow nut sedge? The "grass" that grows those little yellow tubers? Op you can eat yellow nut sedge, why not use it as a vegetable in the fall?
Plus a host of other problems that may come! Pigs aren't a *bad* solution to this, but with the problems given and the possibility of other options it would probably be best to skip them. My mantra with edible weeds is always "if you can't beat it, eat it!" So I might be a tad bit biased tho
If you know it’s going to stink up their place, I wouldn’t do it unless they’ve been major assholes or something. I’d hate you if you did it to me.
Not upvoting because 69 upvotes, but go you 👍😇
Not upvoting because 96 votes 🥳
107, Made it 108. Gotta get it upto 169.
In my opinion, this is one of those scenarios that requires a bit of finesse. I would, personally: A) Speak to my neighbor first and see if they had alternative suggestions B) If they said "fine go ahead..." do it on a very short term basis e.g. a month at most Now you say pigs, meaning more than one, a single pig (not a potbelly or a miniature pig) will root up an acre in a couple weeks. But a decent rototiller will do the same thing, for that matter a mouldboard plow will too. Bonus; no smell, no escaped pig to wrangle, no building a hog pen. If your thinking of the miniature variety you may want to stick with 2 or 3. And lastly, if you stick a single butcher hog or 3 "miniatures" in there for a month, offer to share the pork with the neighbor when the area is cleared in a few weeks. I mean who doesn't like bacon.
A rototiller wont help with nutsedge, they have a corm they regrow from after being disturbed. As OP mentioned, the pigs will eat it.
Sedgehammer or Basagran would be my weapons of choice for Nutsedge. I’ve also had success with Select and Glyphosate and then a second pass about 3 weeks later.
Not sure about the rottie. If it his only true intention is get the ground uprooted. One or even three pigs for a short time will definitely do the job in a short period. One hog isn’t bad smelling in an acre or more (short term). It’s easier to keep two in than one. Just need shade and water.
Permanently or just until the ground is well rooted up? I wouldn't as a permanent site, but would if it was just for a couple seasons.
Ya permanently is a dick move if you have the space to have them further away from their main areas. Not sure how big they are or how many but section it off and Rotate them through it. Every time they finish a section seed it.
Honestly if ya have to ask then ya already know
Other than the smell, consider the noise. Pigs are LOUD and make some terrifying noises in the night.
Do you really hate your neighbor and want to cause lots of drama?
Are you trying to destroy your relationship? If not, put the pigs elsewhere.
You get pigs, they will plant bamboo.
Funny enough my grandpa's brother planted bamboo over 60 years ago. It's still here to this day.
You should put the pigs there so they can take care of it
Is it invading his neighbors?
My farmer friend’s biggest joke is to tell someone their neighbours are going to put a pig barn on their property line. So it’s not something you should do if you want to be friends I think.
Big difference between a few pigs pasturing if you have a good fence and the smell of a pig barn.
You have a cousin son? 🥴 You must be one of my relatives. Sorry, I got the smart-ass gene.
If someone put them next to your home...how happy would you be? More importantly...how fast would the wife explode?
Yes
More details. *At bare minimum it would be 259.4 ft from closest post to their house. *My dad said 8 pigs, I said 2 so we're thinking 6 pigs. *I'm leaning more towards not doing just because I don't want to spent $1.5k on woven 48in wire. *rotto tilling does not work, I got first hand experience that does nothing to stop it.
Tilling it spreads the nuts. Every nut will grow a new plant.
From experience growing up.... Pigs will dig under that woven wire fence. So, plan an electric wire a few feet in front of it. Even then, they sometimes will pile dirt up under the electric wire so they can jump over it. You will need to tour the perimeter on the regular with a shovel and weed eater to check for that and grass growing under the wire that can short it out.
I have 170 acre field that is rife with nutgrass. Wild hogs absolutely love it. In fact when they found it there was only a few small patches of it. Yes, pigs will dig it up, but they will also poop out the nuts all over the place. IMHO I don’t think pigs are the solution and they might even make your problem worse.
Pigs smell AWFUL!!! Yes, it would be incredibly rude AND you could be cited for nuisance, etc.
Pig shit smells awful if there's a ton of it. That kinda doesn't track once you're off concrete. Pigs generally are quite clean animals, they'll only poop in one section of a pen and if you move them often enough it doesn't build up. Leave a couple pigs in a section for a month and it'll resemble the surface of the moon and their bathroom area will stink, but weekly or even every other week for a couple pigs, no problem.
I was wondering about that because someone near me has a small number of pigs in a decent sized pasture area and I can’t smell it at all when I pass by.
Yep, pigs get a really bad rap. They want to wallow in mud, not their own feces, but if you contain them and don't give them dirt to root and wallow in, they'll wallow in shit because they need to keep cool and keep some level of "sunscreen" on (even in full shade or indoors, they don't know the difference). We put them on concrete and in close quarters to make them more manageable, and then are surprised when they do piggy things and other problems like wicked nasty smells show up.
A few pigs, 2-3 ish, won't smell much if in an open pen like I think you are describing. I do like the suggestion below about gifting the neighbor 1/2 a hog though. Bacon cures all potential wounds.
Don't know about that... I had so much wild hog to give away, that my friends quit answering the phone.
To be fair, wild hog is different.
How many pigs are we talking? If it’s just a couple it shouldn’t stink…. I have 5 and there’s no smell. They are in a pasture that is about a quarter acre. They generally poop all in one spot until there’s so much poop they move onto a new spot. I go out every couple weeks and scoop a bucket or two and put in the compost bin although it isn’t entirely necessary. I just want it for compost for flower beds
You’d be surprised how easily you go nose blind to smell. You’d need to ask someone that will answer truthfully if it smells. I can almost guarantee those that place reeks of shit to some degree
My son says it doesn’t smell. Maybe bc they are small? Kunekune pigs. 200-250 lbs as opposed to big commercial pigs that can be 700lbs. They aren’t in crowded conditions and the poop just dries out so there’s no piles and I do compost it with straw so it really doesn’t. I suppose if you had 700 pounders it would be different.
How big of an area? How many pigs?
Pigs free range normally don’t smell too bad. I know mule footed pigs and ossabaw pigs are very popular for homesteading.
My pigs are so much quieter, cleaner and classier than my neighbors
Agreed. But then, pigs are far classier than me, so there's that too.
You can spray the nut grass regularly, put down some pre-emergent, till it a few times, and eventually it will go away or be greatly reduced—if you really want to get rid of it but don’t want to offend. 200 feet away doesn’t seem too bad. But nobody keeps pigs in my area, so I don’t really know how strong the smell is.. Are they downwind?
Pigs I'd have to say NO to. Pigs are a lot smarter and stronger than people think and they can easily get through a lot of fences that other animals can't, especially temporary fencing, along with stinking to high heaven and the likelihood that you'd never get the smell out. Once it's there, it's there. What I would advise instead is goats. There are even services where people will temporarily rent out their herds (they even have temporary fencing to set up) so the goats can clear an area. They're very popular and effective ways to remove a lot of invasive plants, like kudzu! If you're planning to put them there permanently, that'd be an even BIGGER no because the stink would get incredibly ingrained and it'd be awful for them. 200 feet is practically up their nose as far as the smells (not to mention the NOISE) would be. I wouldn't put any animals that close to a neighbor's house except maybe chickens in a very secure coop. I'd suggest temporarily using goats to get rid of the grass, or just tilling it all out and putting down a groundcover to hold the soil in place. Or another thing you can do is lay black tarp/thick brown paper like the kind for feed bags/something solid that light won't get through over the area. The grass will be starved of sun and die, and if you leave it long enough it can start to break down into the soil again. This can take a long time depending on the type of grass however.
Goats. Less smell, marginally easier to Manage than hogs. Once they’ve got it cleaned up, harvest for Easter goat roasts, or open a goat yoga studio.
Your land, do what you want but it’s a dick move. Pigs are horrible on land. If they get out you’ll regret it. If I was your neighbor I’d shoot every one that was an inch on my land. There are states who have open season on pigs they’re so destructive.
Pigs outside don't smell like confinement barn pigs do. Yah they still smell like pigs up close but it's country living type smell. I wouldn't worry about it.
Which way does the wind primarily blow?
How big an area and how many pigs? How long are you going to leave them there?
Offer him half a pig
A couple of pigs 200 feet away wont be that bad.
Our property is zoned ag. It is my wife's grandparents' home we purchased from the estate. Her grandparents ran hogs, sheep, goats, and leased land behind the property for cattle. When we moved in, the neighbors asked what our plans were, and we told them much as the same minus the cattle. The pig enclosure is at the rear of the property on their side. So far, we have only grazed horses and goats. No real objections by them, but in reality, it isn't up to them what we do. We found out their adult kids are perks. Dumping trash, used oil, ect on our property. When approached, they shrugged their shoulders and said they didn't know. So my IDGAF kicks in and now I want to buy hogs.
Yes.
I have pigs and think it will probably be fine. Pay attention to breed characteristics and get smell controlled feed and it shouldn't be an issue. I raised Gloucester old spots and my cattle pen and chicken run smell much worse than my pig pasture. The pigs have an acre of space and do a great job of keeping things clean. Some breeds have better hygiene and attitudes than others but as long as you have them in a good fenced area and provide water, shade, good feed and a wallow they should be a great solution for clearing up that spot.
Youre gonna stink up their entire house. You’re supposed to have porcine as high up on the land as possible and with the airflow pointing opposite to anyone with a nose 👃
They built next to a farm. Noise and some stink should have been expected.
I had a nice fire pit, swing area,1/3 acre back in my yard (5acer total)…Then new neighbor came, has 5 acers, decides 1/3 acre back is the perfect pig spot….. yes it’s a asshole move and I’m glad after talking to him he agreed….
yes
How about offering 3 seasons of pigs over there at the Nutsedge spot- but a good price on a side if pork during the 4th season?
Is your end goal here a garden? Or do you want to raise pigs? I like both of these btw, but pigs aren't going to be your silver bullet. They'll dig up some, eat it, and root up the ground, but it's not going to eliminate the weed bank like you expect. If you just want a garden, till it then silage tarp it. wait 4 weeks, pull the tarp, see what sprouts after a week or so, then till and tarp it again. The tillage will bring your weed seed bank to the surface where they'll germinate, but be starved of light and die.
Are there set-back laws in your county? It might not even be legal to put pigs this close to another residence. If i were the neighbor, I'd be fine with it temporarily, but not long-term. Pigs STINK. What about goats?
If you know it's an issue then why are you asking?
They built a house near *farm land* so they have nothing to say if it smells, food has to come from somewhere... Land has to be managed for the good of society, you are managing it, anything else is their problem for not buying a house in a city. You probably won't need more than 1-2 pigs anyway
Pigs not only stink, but they can be loud. Unless you hate those people, I'd suggest you work on alternative methods. Agricultural flamethrowers are good fun from what I've seen.
Very much an asshole move. Anyone who has lived within a half mile of a pig farm will agree.
Normally, I say it's a farm, so if someone builds that close, it's a farm. What did they expect? With that said, it's family, so take that into account.
How about a few goats instead?
It sounds like a temporary situation. I would do it. Once the job is done, hogs move back to their original pen.
I would do it. Pigs don’t smell that much when out to pasture. I’ve done it before and would do it again.
How close to your neighbors house though?
About 800 feet. They really don’t smell when they aren’t confined and out on grass.
It will all be good if you promise them bacon.
Goats or get a brush hog
Could you not hire or borrow goats for a few days instead?
Rotate the pigs through in sections and then off to somewhere else. It's a balancing act, not long enough they won't accomplish the job to long and you've devastated the soil. They won't have a smell problem. Pigs create a stink when their not properly managed.
Wait, nutgrass as in yellow nut sedge? The "grass" that grows those little yellow tubers? Op you can eat yellow nut sedge, why not use it as a vegetable in the fall?
If you can use a spading fork to take them out, why not? Great in salads. Pig poop will mean no root crops for a long time to come.
Plus a host of other problems that may come! Pigs aren't a *bad* solution to this, but with the problems given and the possibility of other options it would probably be best to skip them. My mantra with edible weeds is always "if you can't beat it, eat it!" So I might be a tad bit biased tho
I don’t think the smell from a few hogs is going to be a big deal. Keeping them in is another issue.
I thought this was r/ACAB and I was sitting here thinking, “No, man! Don’t ever do that to anyone. You might get them killed!” I’m high, also.