Time to fry up some bacon....

Lol. OMG, Lucille!

They did all that??!!! Hey, you could rent them out as Rototillers! I'll have a BLT, please.

wow. How long did it take them to do that and how many were there? Love your path and view of water. Really, you might as well plant some flowers there now! :)

They've got my chickens beat all to heck! I've got so many oven grates and grill grates decorating my flower beds and other places with soft dirt, it's an eye sore. I've given them 1/2 an acre of dirt. Dig anywhere you want. Stay out of my flower beds!

3 were out and we were in town 2 hours, I'm thinking it took them about an hour to do the damage. Lots more that isn't in the picture! We have been having so many storms, they got smart and know to just quickly make a dash for under the electric fence and it will only hurt for a second! They sure taste good, that is what we raise them for, but right now I'm so mad at them, they can ALL go to the butcher!

Not sure how to fix this mess

OMG....what have you not been feeding them ;)

I showed your photo to DH so he could have a good laugh too (his dad raised them from time to time). I know its not funny to you. As for fixing it, just about looks like start from scratch to me, level, seed.

My word! It looks like your pigs thought they were in a truffle patch.

The remaining grass roots will 'take' again if the roots are covered and kept moist.
To fix: Break up the clods with a roto-tiller, but do not grind into a fine particle size. Preserving the roots will speed up re-establishing sod. The object is to smooth the soil surface to make it mowable as grass has been established, Sow with lawn starter seed (or match the variety in the remaining lawn). Smooth flat with a roller and water. Don't have a roller, then improvise. A small area can be simply tamped by foot. Larger areas can be tamped by running over it with a garden tractor or self-propelled mower. A farm tractor is not recommended due to its weight and resulting heavy compaction. The object is to smooth the surface and press it a bit around the seeds.

If you have a bird problem, spread landscape net over the area until the seed sprouts and are rooted.

Now about those pigs: Those animals may not look it, but they are smarter than a horse, cow, dog or cat. You need to increase their confinement fence. When we raised pigs, we had to use three rows of barbed wire low to the ground. Since you have electrified fencing, I suggest doubling up. Use two rows of wire and two chargers. We are not looking to kill the pigs, just to make it very uncomfortable. Use a heavier than normal wire gauge. If the wire is too weak, a pig will break it on his first lunge at it. Weeds and grass will have to be kept cut under the lower wire else it will short out.

Thanks jimdandy

They have all been moved back to their normal pasture, every once in awhile DH moves them to clean up and with all the rain we have had they were in deep mud, which they like but we don't.

Yes they are very smart animals. These girls that got in trouble are a few of our sassy breeding stock, the other girls don't cause no trouble.

I'll be out there doing my best to put it back together, I'm just thankful they didn't plow up my rock sidewalk...yes time for grass seed, and a very hard task this will be.

That is pretty funny to see. I'm sure sorry that you were caught off guard. Rooting is as instinctive as breathing to a pig, and not even necessarily related to food. They root because they can; they were given snouts for that purpose.

It can become a challenge for pig owners to keep their pigs confined. That rooting instinct and the desire for a brand new territory to explore is hugely powerful.

Those pigs sure did find themselves some 'hog heaven'! :-)

Oh no! My sympathies, my goodness that would make my heart sink too.

so sorry that you have that mess to clean up!

Just think what wild feral pigs can do!

Oh no, I would be mad too. So sorry.

Pigs do that?? I am learning something every day. Actually it would make a nice flower bed.

Ouch! Oh that must have been hard to come home to see! I didn't realize pigs were that smart, sure sounds like they can be a challenge. I guess it's all part of owning pigs then, but sorry you're left with such a job to take care of now. Good thing they fill up your freezer in the end! And it does look so beautiful where you live!

How do you make the pigs sit in the "naughty corner" without them squealing. I feel bad for you, you had it so nice and now it's a mess. Like you needed another chore!!!! Good luck with the salvage job, I'm sure you're bring it back to it's glory. You have a beautiful view there, make sure you relax and enjoy it too.

LOL, dam pigs is right. Piggies are so destructive it's insane. We had two for 4 1/2 months. They were so tiny when we got them (30 & 35 lbs). They were monsters come butcher time. The Yorkshire was around 280 lbs!!! They broke 3 different gates in the barn (wooden & wire). Twice they even busted open their gate and busted into the sheep pen. They are so powerful and so smart. I saw them dig out a patch of dirt about that size in under ten minutes so I doubt yours took very long.
As far as electric fences go, some animals just don't care unless it's a extremely strong zap. We constantly have baby goats getting through ours, and a few of the older ones don't care either. Also my heifer (almost full height) would even go through it, but oddly enough my two grown cows won't.
Thanks for the laugh though, I know it's not funny to you though.

Also if it's any consolation, my goats and sheep have eaten all my tulips and iris' this year.

I feel your pain. Have the same trouble with them here. We have sold about 40, have two big sows and 11 babies yet to go.

OMG, the smoke house would have bacon and hams hanging in them right now, if it were me. Well maybe not quite, but I would have butchering day circled in mega bright red!! I would still be throwing a hissy fit though. (you should see what bulls will do to your garden! Darn near got the rifle and shot them all when they got out and tromped through it) I feel you pain!!!

I say..............

I would go get a whole bunch of packages of wildflower seeds and sprinkle it in there and see what happens. It might be the prettiest flower bed you ever see.

Sorry about the mess, though.

Cheryl, I'm sorry your pigs tore up the yard but I had to laugh out loud. My mom had a pet pig that dug up a huge flowerbed full of heirloom roses. I can still see mom sitting on the ground, crying like a baby and Gertrude rubbing up against her shoulder as if she was apologizing. ☺ I like Flamingo's suggestion of planting wildflowers and then you can enjoy the butterflies and hummingbirds.

I do not advocate it from a humanitarian view point, but it was a common practice, when I was a child, for farmers to use rings in a pig's snout to discourage rooting. In fact, we had a special pair of pliers called a "hog ringer" whose purpose was to clinch a copper plated staple in a pig's snout. The staple was similar in size to a fence staple. Not every pig needed to be rung, only the lead rooters.

Did it hurt? It must have from the squeal emitted by the animal when rung.

I'd guess it probably hurts the same as someone having their ear pierced. Pigs squeal for reasons other than pain. You should pick up a young pig and carry it. They DO NOT like that one bit and they let you know it too.
I do wish our pigs hadn't become so descructive, costing us in repair costs because I would have actually loved to use them to till the garden. They were our trial pigs and after having them, I have decided I could never breed our own, but I would get them again, perhaps just not let them get as big and powerful. Kudos to you that actually keep them for breeding.

This thread has been a real education about pigs for a girl who never spent any time on the farm. Really interesting.