[thedoc (OP)]

Margaret asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Can you tell me if the pigs that you see dotted around the countryside go back to the same little hut each evening.

Margaret
What do you think?

[chris]

I don't know if pigs are territorial; anyone know? They are pretty intelligent animals, and even our cats know which bed is theirs, so I'd suspect that pigs probably do have their own hut each...

[SquarishTriangle]

They probably tend to return to the same hut, as creatures of habit. However, (without knowing the specifics of the farming practices in the the country that Margaret is in), it is likely that the free-range pigs are rotated onto different pastures periodically. This is because pigs can graze an area of pasture heavily and deposit a very high level of nitrogenous (nitrogen-based) waste onto the ground, which makes it very difficult for the grass to recover and grow back while the pig continues to live there.

Here in Australia, free-range pig farms are usually sub-divided into small plots, like a rough grid, with some plots containing pigs and others left to allow the pasture to recover (which can take months to years). I've seen some aerial photographs of these farms, which spectacularly show lovely, green, unused plots, contrasted against the bare dirt of the ones that have housed pigs. So, within the pig's lifetime, it will probably live on several different plots of land. Presumably, the farmers also move the hut(s) to the new plot, unless it's easier/cheaper to construct a new one.

As for territorial, wild pigs are quite territorial. Domestic pigs seem to (mostly) get along or at least tolerate each other. They can do some pretty serious damage to each other when they decide to. They might get along with some individuals more than they do others.

[atrox]

Pigs are somewhat territorial but especially quite hierarchical.
In an animal shelter I used to work at some years ago we had domestic pigs but also wild boar piglets. The dominant pig in a group would always have a special spot where it would rest and would not allow any other pig to occupy the space. At some point all pigs would know that and the lower ranking pigs would not even try anymor to use the spot. At some point everybody had their own space they would usually rest in. I think it would be the same in those free roaming pigs.

Also the wild ancestors of our domestic pigs will spend the time they are not foraging in special resting places (in german we call them "Kessel" but I did not find a special english term for those?) that they will use days and weeks in a row. They are very intelligent and know exactly where their resting place is.

[SeanB]

Burrow is the work I think, and yes, pigs are both territorial and will tend to use the same spot as a sleeping area, plus will also have a similar spot far away used as a toilet area. In a pen they are restricted space wise, but in a larger area they will have separate areas for each pig, and a separate toilet area far away from the sleeping and feed areas. Pigs do tend to want to keep clean, it is just if you crowd them ( like humans) that they become dirty, as they have no way to keep clean in a limited space.