Sorry, wasn't at all meaning to be sphinx like. My routine is probably a bit different because of my situation and the wrinkles you come up against tend to vary depending on that. Obviously.
I'm up at 4 to get everyone fed and out/in/milked sometimes the pigs are up, sometimes not!
Where you keep them should be easily accessible and close preferably (if renting a field) as you need contact to keep pigs sociable. An unhandled pig got onto transport and sent anywhere is an unhappy pig. Not to mention creating a real pain in the...well, anywhere they can reach when you need to treat them. You really, really don't want to get bitten. Especially not if they mean it.
In the morning I feed, chat, fresh water & check the wallow. A quick eye over housing and fencing.
I check water 3 times a day, more in hot weather.
Lunch they get water check/top up, a bit of veg and a check over - twice a day feeding is fine but you need to do at least one of your checks in daylight if you don't have lamps/floodlights (it's a good idea even if you do) so any sign of problems is noticed quickly and dealt with. Particularly scour if you don't know the provenance or the sow isn't vaccinated, scour can kill. Also you need to be able to get close enough to check for sign of parasites or Erisypelas (another reason to be red hot on pest control and good hygiene) before it gets so bad you can see it from the gate.
Also so you know your pigs, they can bully, they can feed hog, they can develop the same changes due to illness as domestic pets. You need to commit enough time to get a feel for them and their normal, as long as you do it doesn't really matter how you configure it, that just works for me.
What I like, and it is completely personal preference, is a mix of Kune Kune, nice to own and smaller so a manageable amount of meat for the average family but easily run to fat and larger rarebreeds - I like British Lops, but rare indeed as not so popular, lovely meat, docile, less likely to trash the place rooting. Good orchard pigs. Middle whites and Tamworths - they're hardy, good doers and good mothers (a good mother is the best start for a good pig). Lovely meat and most importantly generally happy, docile beasts that can't wait for their Apple, a good scratch and get on well. Tamworths are fast though! Regular sprinters. Ime, ymmv! Welsh's are popular, good feed converter and will put more weight on quickly for less feed than slower growing breeds. They're alright. Never met one I didn't like but they're not my bag. Size and space are key decision makers here. Anything up to a medium tree will fall to a determined pig.
Spring weaners can be tricky to get hold of. Bearing in mind when you get them it'll be roughly 3-4 months to weight - again depends, porkers or baconers? If you keep both together you'll have porkers at weight first, then baconers later. So that's 4 pigs really as you don't want one suddenly alone. I came a cropper my first year when I drastically underestimated the actual size 120kg of meat was in the flesh, so to speak (roughly halve your weight to get uasable meat: 80kg slaughter weight, 60kg dead weight ~40-45kg meat products). It's also quite a quick turnaround, I love my pigs and it made me deeply think about everything I was doing in a way I hadn't been able to before when I didn't really know what a pig was in all their characterful glory, was it the best? Had I found the best abattoir? And ime you find out very quickly how strongly held your convictions are, even though it's not long you should develop quite a relationship with each individual. What others do is up to them but I said If I wasn't happy they would have a calm, pain free slaughter then that was it and I would become vegetarian. The main difficulty with finding a good one is what narrows your options - small number slaughter, distance (transporting has legislative restrictions even if the stress didn't put you off), price. I was sad when they went. I'm still sad, for every one, because that's an extension for me of caring for them. It isn't everybody's way and that's fine. I know they have had a wonderful life and the best end, comparable to a veterinary euthanasia. Also you have to have any deceased animals taken by an approved knackerman (your LA vet should be able to help with this), it's unlikely with such small numbers but sometimes the unexpected happens. Also I made provision for quarantine - you never know, unvaccinated animals, newcomers or an illness in one pig, all need quarantine.
They can be mardy, they get hormonal, they have personality and they do need input.
Fucking fencing...ugh. If it's not down, it's broken, if it's not broken it needs a new bloody battery if it's not that it's the hedges or posts or something. I do not do fencing. Hate it with a passion. I'm reliably informed it's not as bad as I make it out to be though! So I'll leave that!
Land management and general husbandry - if you've kept horses then you're already doing a lot of the observation. Poisonous plants, drainage and shelter, ahem, fencing. I found it really useful to go on a smallholding course, I was confident about my keeping skills but it really helped with working out land allocation, strip grazing, rotation and actually growing crops (which I wasn't that interested in at first) as part of a little self sustaining system. It's surprising what little nuggets you'll find invaluable. For example I didn't know it is illegal to feed catering waste to pigs, domestic or commercial, due to the spread of disease - that image of the swill bucket in the kitchen gratefully recieved by the hogs? Nope.
Guests - mine now know the routine, footbaths as standard, don't wear your fancy shoes here. No visits if you have been anywhere with other livestock (Ag show, petting farm etc) and No feeding lunch scraps to the pigs. You'll probably get looks but chum up to someone who looks likely to look after them or you'll never go away to anything! It doesn't matter if it's 'land' or a big back garden, blanket regulation.
Oh, and delivery/unexpected vehicles, not down my drive - can't disinfect them all properly.
Toys! Get toys, lots! They love them as dogs do. They're wonderful to watch and it makes them happy! But is really important if you are light on forage - they're made to forage and root, it's what they do, and its a huge part of their mental health requirement to meet this need. If you have a bad day then filling a treat ball with their favourites and chucking it in is great stress relief - a happy pig is a joyous thing. I love it.
I smell of pigs. Ok, actually I smell of pig shit. It clings rather. Where are you going to put that poo? You'll get a lot. I realised fairly quickly I'd sited the heap too far away. Your clothes, boots, trailer, everything will eventually smell of pig. Oh and possibly your guests. Have room outside the house to get undressed or your house will as well.
Be friendly - it's surprising how many people forget this. The best thing I've done is be relentlessly friendly to EHA, AHO, Council employees, Breed secs etc they can help you out massively. I feed my vet (ex vet nurse so a bit biased).
On the other hand - perfect the glare, if your pigs are accessible to the public, get signs. For everything. Think of the most stupid thing anyone could do then get a sign for it. Realise you didn't think of the most stupid thing when it happens, then get another sign.
Try them out. A course is good for this even if you think you can't possibly learn anything else. Pigs are individual, unpredictable, wonderful, bolshy gits. They can be affectionate and they can be a little scary and hard to handle. Initial set up can be expensive and the quantity, if not the heavy lifting, of the work involved is easily whiled away if you chat to them but if you don't like them (not everyone is a dog/cat person, not everyone is a pig person) or aren't confident you can deal with a hormonal charger safely then it can quickly cause resentment. Because you still have to do it. Or you find you've invested a lot and don't want to do it again - not a good place to be.
My personal experience is overwhelmingly positive. But it is relentless. Paper work must be done 1 pig or 100. Get organized fast or you quickly find yourself weeping over a medicine book. Illness, bad weather, money problems, any problems, emergencies - you still have to be there or find someone who can be. It can be cold and back breaking work, it can be expensive and it can be crushingly disappointing. But when you get to say goodnight and scratch a belly and have a little chat it really is worth it. Pigs are worth it, they're brilliant. They might even forgive you for worming them 