How to Build a Mini Pig Pen Using Pallets in Under 60 minutes
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The day we drove home from picking up our mini pig Bently I was filled with emotions. I’ve never had a baby pig in my house before. At the back of my mind was the ease of knowing if this doesn’t work out, he goes out to the barn.
Except our barn is super old. Crooked. And just may fall down today, or 10 years from now.
You can see a picture of it here, or Follow me on FB where I share pictures of the old beauty.
We have land, but we don’t really have a place for Bently to go.
Life with a mini pig is much like having a toddler. They want to explore everything and they want to eat all the time. A little bit here and a little bit there.
If they do not want to eat, they want to be cuddled up with blankets and a belly rub.
Many times of chasing my own kids and our pig in the house I find myself shouting frequently,
“THAT’S IT, YOU ARE GOING OUTSIDE!!”
So we decided to use some pallets my husband has collected along his way home from work for free and make a sturdy frugal quick pig pen. My husband had this up and ready in 30 minutes.
*Update- It’s been a year since we built this pallet pen and have expanded it. We now have two pigs inside. Check out our VLOG to see a video or scroll down for the pictures and explanation.
Related:
- The Truth About Raising A Mini Pig Indoors
- How to Keep your Mini Pig Entertained in Winter
- Check out our VLOG where Bently Gets the Zoomies
Here is How We Built A Mini Pig Pen Using Free Pallets.
- Figure out the size you would like for you pig pen and how many pallets you need. Ours is 7′ x 10 ‘
Frugal Tip: Check Craigslist for Free pallets or other online selling sites. - Stand the Pallets up on end starting in one corner and screw them together one pallet at a time until your perimeter is complete.
- Leave the last pallet loose as a door.
- Add two hinges to one end to create a door for your pig pen.
- Add a latch to keep your door closed.
Your pig pen is now complete. It is amazing at how strong the pallets are when secured together.
It’s been almost two years since we built a pen out of pallets for our mini pig Bently. Now we have added another pig Olive to the mix and expand it everytime we gather up pallets. The best part about this is it only cost time.
The time to find decent pallets for FREE. My husband wasn’t sure about the look at first but honestly, it doesn’t bother me. You could always paint/stain it. I don’t mind it. I love looking out there knowing they can’t escape and it was FREE!
We all know how expensive fencing can be so this is a great cheap solution. The pigs like it, I can see them and they use it as scratching posts too.
We created an outdoor covering when we decided to have Bently live outside. It was a cheap temporary fix. We used tarp and extra pieces of wood we had in the barn. We put his igloo under it to protect him from the wind and a little bit from the rain.
This set up worked because next to it was a little space for when we brought home Olive our adopted mini pig. I had the blanket draped over the top at night in winter.
Now that we have a barn built the shelter is quite an upgrade. The igloos are still out and the pallet fence has been extended. They are loving it outside.
We removed the outside door you saw above and now just bring the pigs out through the barn doors.
The pallets worked to fill gaps where we are going to make little swinging doors. There are so many amazing uses for pallets. We would drive around town looking for one’s businesses no longer needed. Stores closing are jackpots!
What are you using for your pigs outdoor pen?
