We are really pleased to get pigs out of the pig shed and into some fresh woodland. They are just getting to explore their new surroundings and be able to make themselves at home. We have moved a pig ark and piped in a water trough. The biggest challenge though was removing a huge amount of Rhododendron which was well and truly rooted in. It is not native to Scotland (originally from the foothills of the Himalayas). It’s an ericaceous species (which means it likes acid soils) and likes a damp climate so very at home in Scotland. The problem is that the leaves are poisonous and that nothing will grow underneath it. The pigs will now do some rooting, disturb the native ground flora and hopefully this will generate more plant diversity. Watch this space!
Pigs are just very at home in woodland, they like the shade in summer as pale pigs can suffer from sunburn even in a Scottish summer! They do like a wallow in summer too as the mud acts like factor 50!
