Where are all the pigs?

[LudoBear]

If you go into the countryside you see fields full of sheep and cows. But where are all the pigs??

[Warning added at poster's request: contains some upsetting images - see Ginger's subsequent post]

In huge indoor pig units.

We have a farm near us that has them all outdoors - really lovely to see them all. But as you say, it's the exception - I would assume they're all in those low-lying huge farm buildings you see. Same for the chickens as well I would guess?

Sorry, I should add a viewer discretion advised to that video as there’s some pretty upsetting scenes. Obviously Not All Farms Are Like That, but they do exist. And I’m not advocating for breaking into farms.

A farm near me has them up on a hill quite a way away from where people would normally be, you'd have to go out of your way to see them. They are in a large field with styes and they get rotated around the field throughout the year.

@GingerAndTheBiscuits

Sorry, I should add a viewer discretion advised to that video as there’s some pretty upsetting scenes. Obviously Not All Farms Are Like That, but they do exist. And I’m not advocating for breaking into farms.

Thanks for the warning. I only got 20 seconds in and I had to stop watching

We've passed pig fields before. I think some pigs are raised indoors though.

Pigs are much MUCH brighter than sheep or cows.
Their fields are differently arranged
but in the Wylye valley and in north Dorset you'll see LOTS of free range pigs
footpaths and pigs do not mix
so you are less likely to see them while out walking.

Absolutely loads around here, in Norfolk. We seem to have plenty of outdoor raised pigs. But not many sheep or cows.

Mine certainly weren't kept like that, but they were tucked well away from prying / thieving eyes in a secluded paddock.
You'll find it depends also on area. Some landscape is better suited to sheep or cattle.
Just be careful what you buy, always at least look British meat.

We used to live by a pig farm they stank when the wind changed

Oh and what @ListeningQuietly said - I would never keep one in a right to roam National Parks or where a public footpath runs though. I've been attacked my one of my own boars - only half heartedly thank goodness, but terrifying nonetheless.

That video is why you shouldn't buy meat from anything other than well bred and cared for pigs. Same goes for any animal really though.

There's loads around us - outside. While it's lovely to see the wee piglets running around it's clear that the sows are just treated as breeding machines.

Pigs dig so farmers often don't keep them on soft ground.
They really can make a hell of a mess of a field.

Also agree with pp that they need different habitat / care than animals often kept in fields like cattle. So you won't see them so much

Pigs (at least round here) seem to have more biosecurity than cows or sheep. Footpaths never go through pig fields despite the fact that unlike cows they don't trample people to death.

If you ever drive down the A303 past Stonehenge you'll find your answer OP. There's fields full of them. They used to be in the closest field to the road but have been moved back now.

They usually live indoors. Cows and sheep go out to graze but pigs are fed meal all year so no real benefit to the farmer of putting them outside, actually I think they might damage the fields but not sure on that.

Most pig farms keep them as someone else said in the low ceiling farm buildings, most wouldn't be crammed in like the PETA type videos although sows will be in pens when they're pregnant and when their babies are small.

In Wiltshire.

I drive past two fields of pigs every day, on separate farms a few miles apart. They have those arch-shaped shelters made of corrugated metal all over the field, and usually the pigs are in or next to those.

They do stink some days, presumably depending which was the wind's blowing.

@Theunamedcat

We used to live by a pig farm they stank when the wind changed

If humans lived and shat outside I expect that would stink too.

@Sowingbees

Pigs (at least round here) seem to have more biosecurity than cows or sheep. Footpaths never go through pig fields despite the fact that unlike cows they don't trample people to death.

I would not get close to pigs. they are huge. and have huge teeth. they are highly territorial

they might not trample you, they would slice you legs open and then possibly eat you.
feeding bodies to pigs is a common way in criminal novels to get rid of evidence

Do you never watch TV - every other programme is farming at the moment, and they are all free-range everything.

You need to go to East Anglia - loads of outdoor pigs there.

Our local farmer has outdoor pigs too, they make very tasty sausages.

Footpaths never go through pig fields despite the fact that unlike cows they don't trample people to death.
No. they will eat you.
Pigs are omnivores.