This summer was all about getting to know our land. Having moved to our current smallholding in North Yorkshire at the end of 2024, this was our first year, through the seasons, and it was an important time to get to know what worked and what didn’t. One of the things we did notice, during the long hot summer, was the lack of shade in the pig pen. This was dealt with temporarily with the use of tarpaulin ‘sails’ that were erected using fence posts and, whilst they did provide shade to a certain degree, they were not a permanent solution and, once the pigs realised they could pull on the ties, they didn’t last long at all!

Pigs cannot regulate their body temperature easily. They do not have the capacity to sweat like other animals and therefore they cool themselves down by ‘wallowing’. Wallows are dug in the ground and filled with water for the pigs to bathe in. The evaporation of the water from the pigs body allows their body temperature to cool and the dried on mud acts as a protective layer against the sun. However, we decided that in addition to the wallow, it would be nice for them to have some trees in their paddock which will provide shelter from the sun’s rays, as well as giving the pig paddock more interest.

October through to March is the best time of year for planting trees, when they are in their dormant stage, and therefore I set about researching the most suitable varieties, which are pig friendly, and will provide some much needed shade in the summer.

Dragons Claw Willow

I choose the following varieties:
• Himalayan Birch
• Dragons Claw Willow
• Hazelnut
• Wellington Mulberry

It is important to ensure that trees chosen with animals in mind are not poisonous or dangerous in anyway. For example, pigs can eat apples however, the amount of apples fed to them needs to be carefully monitored so that they do not gorge and become obese. Therefore, planting an apple tree, or in fact any fruit tree in their enclosure needs to be carefully thought out. How will you make sure the pigs don’t over-indulge on the fruit? Do the fruits have stones, such as cherry or plum trees, that can be dangerous to the pig? It is all well and good making sure that the fruit is collected often but what about ‘windfall’ how will you monitor how much ‘windfall’ your pigs have access to? Remember, fruits should be fed to pigs as treats and not be a constant source of food.

Each of the trees I chose are suitable to plant around animals and their fruits are edible. As I am around the smallholding all the time, I feel confident that I can monitor how much access my pigs have to the fruit and I am able to fence off the area where the trees are planted, if necessary, to prevent the pigs from accessing and gorging. I opted for three year old trees so that they wouldn’t take as long as saplings to become established and, more importantly, they wouldn’t be devoured by the pigs the minute they were planted!

Drees delivered

Trees

Trees planted

The trees have been encaged in robust tree guards to hopefully keep the pigs snouts at bay. The added bonus of the colder weather means my three little pigs spend most of their time in their arks, in the warmth, so hopefully the trees will have bedded in before they are discovered!