How to Build a Hog Trap With Sheep Panels

Corral traps, made with sheep panels, are an effective method for capturing hogs. Sheep panels are 5 feet high, which is tall enough to keep mature hogs contained. The 4-by-4-inch mesh prevents small pigs from escaping and mature animals from wedging their noses through the squares injuring their snouts and mouths. People sometimes use cattle panels to build hog traps because they are cheaper. The wire mesh openings, however, are large enough to allow small pigs to escape and mature animals to injure themselves. Cattle panels are only 4 feet high and a top is required on the trap to keep hogs from escaping.

Things You'll Need

  • Cutting torch
  • Arc welder
  • 2-inch-by-2-inch angle iron
  • 2-inch-diameter pipe
  • 1/8-inch thick flat steel
  • 13 6-foot T-posts
  • 4 16-foot-by-52-inch sheep panels
  • Roll of tie wire
  • T-post driver
  • Lineman's pliers or fencing tool
  • 4 feet of two-by-four
  • 4-inch hook and eye latch
  • Four warning signs
  • One-by-twelve, twelve feet long
  • Roll of piano wire
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Instructions

  1. Rooter Gate Fabrication

    • 1

      Fabricate a rooter gate using a cutting torch and arc welder. A rooter gate requires a hog to use its nose to lift, or root open, the door.

    • 2

      Build two right-angle triangles using 1-inch pipe for the straight sides and 2-inch-by-2-inch angle iron for the bottom and 45-degree side. With a cutting torch, cut the bottom of the triangles 18 inches long and the straight sides 5 feet long. Weld a bottom and side together for each triangle and then measure from the bottom of the triangles along the sides to distances of 34 inches. Mark the distance and then measure the length of the 45-degree sides.

    • 3

      Cut the 45-degree sides to the measured length and weld them between the bottom pieces and the marks on the straight sides. Using lineman's pliers or a fencing tool, measure and cut a sheep panel to fit against the open sides of the angle iron and then weld it to the triangles.

    • 4

      Attach the bottom toes of the two triangles with a piece of angle iron 38 inches long. Attach the connecting piece with the open side of the angle iron facing outward.

    • 5

      Fabricate a gate panel that is 24 inches high and 38 inches wide. Cut 1-inch pipe at 45 degree angles and weld them together for the panel frame. Weld pieces of 1-inch tubing, 1 foot long, in a vertical position in the bottom corners of the frame for added strength. Cover the frame with sheep panel.

    • 6

      Cut two hinges, 3 inches wide by 3 1/2 inches long, from a flat piece of 1/8-inch thick steel. Drill 1-inch holes at the bottom of the hinges 1/2 inch from the edges. Wield these hinges to the bottom of the fabricated frame, 13 inches from the corners and 12 inches apart.

    • 7

      Cut 1-inch pipe long enough to fit across the tops of the triangles. Thread it through the panel hinges and weld it to the triangles. You may need to ream the holes in the hinges so that the gate panel swings easily on the pipe. When closed, the bottom of the gate fits in the angle iron at the bottom of the triangles. This allows a hog to lift the gate with his snout to gain entrance into the trap. The vertical side of the angle iron prevents him from rooting his way out.

    Corral Construction

    • 8

      Select a trap location upwind from areas frequented by hogs. These areas are usually watering, bedding or feeding places or primary trails between the areas. Decide where the rooter gate will be placed.

    • 9

      Stand the rooter gate upright and secure it by driving a T-post on each side. Tie the gate to the posts with doubled tie wire.

    • 10

      Form the trap shape and size by laying sheep panels on the ground. Avoid square corners in your design to prevent hogs from escaping by climbing on top of each other.

    • 11

      Tie the panels together with doubled tie wire overlapping the ends by at least 6 to 8 inches. Drive T-posts along the inside of the panels about every four feet. Tie the panels to the post with doubled tie wire. Hang warning signs on each side of the trap that explain hog trap safety to people who might walk by the location.