Pig Barn > Goodheart Animal Sanctuaries

Our wonderful new Pig Barn was built in spring 2022, and thanks to our generous supporters, over £28,000 was raised of our original £20,00 target!

The Pig Barn is located next to our Pig Woodland, in a tranquil part of our sanctuary, a short walk from our main yard. Filled with cosy straw, the barn is a place for our rescued pigs to relax with their friends and practise natural behaviours such as rooting and nest-building (more on this below)!

The barn includes spacious enclosures undercover, a hard-standing outdoor area, and a specific area for animals that may need to be brought in or separated from others temporarily due to illness. It is also divided into individual sections, which house our various pig groups. These sections can be moved to make introducing new pigs or combining groups a lot easier.

Your generosity supports moments like this.

Watch our rescued pigs explore their new barn for the first time…

The history of the project

After the successful completion of our woodland, the next project on our list was a neighbouring pig barn and in December 2020 we were delighted to have planning permission approved!

The barn also performs the following important functions:

Provide a cosy and spacious environment to house our pigs during the wetter, colder months of the year. Due to the heavy clay soil we have here at the sanctuary, it’s important that we reduce animal footfall within some of our paddocks during the wetter months to avoid the ground becoming too churned up. The barn will have the added benefit of allowing us to rest some of this land ready for the summer months, while still providing our pigs with a safe and comfortable space.

Allow visitors to get up close and personal with our rescued pigs all year round, and observe them practising behaviours such as nest-building, as well as relaxing in their surroundings.

A natural habitat for our pigs...

Nest building

Yes, you read that right…pigs really do build nests! Many pigs will gather materials such as straw, grass or leaves and carry them back to their sleeping area in order to build a cosy bed. This is sometimes carried out by sows (female pigs) who are about to give birth, but we have spotted boars (male pigs) and piglets carrying out this fascinating activity too.

Rooting

Rooting is a natural behaviour where a pig uses their snout to nudge or push into something repeatedly. Pigs root in different ways for a variety of reasons such as to search for food, to communicate, cool off and sometimes simply for comfort. When you visit our Pig Barn, look out for our pigs using their snouts to search in the straw for treats!

We kickstarted this project with a promotional all about our Pig Barn and why it was such an important project for Goodheart.

Our fantastic patron, the actor and animal conservationist, Dan Richardson, filmed this short message about the project, helped along by Pickle the pig!

Support our work

Make a donation

Although our Pig Barn has been built, there’s still the daily care of our rescued pigs, which includes feed, vet’s bills and enrichment. All donations great or small are hugely appreciated.