moving 300 lb pot bellied pig

Question
our pot bellied pig has gotten too large for us to keep in the shed we have previously housed her in.  A friend of ours has a farm where they have three other pot bellied pigs and are willing to take our pig.  problem being how to we move her from the shed into the horse trailer???She is very stubborn and will not walk.

Answer
Moving a large, stubborn pig can be tricky. I will be blunt - when any uncooperative animal weighs 300 lbs, moving that animal will require manpower. And when that animal is a pig, the job may require earplugs, too.

I am a big fan of crate training. When a pig learns that going in the crate = Really Good Food, the pig will almost always willingly enter a crate. Once the pig is in the crate, the pig can easily be moved anywhere.

If piggy has never been crate trained, And can stand and walk, it might be possible to get piggy into a large dog cage, the kind with a base bottom that's separate from the cage top. One method is to coax piggy to stand on the bottom, then plop the cage around piggy. Another method is to plop the cage over piggy, then have several strong people pull the cage over the base. As the cage moves, piggy must move, too. When piggy and cage are on the base, lock the two together. Note the bottoms of these cages can be weak, so avoid lifting it very high or carrying. Better options are sliding it along the ground (if possible, maybe not), or quickly lifting it onto a low wooden platform with wheels, like a furniture mover. Or you might be able to reinforce the bottom with a large piece of plywood, but this will add more weight.

If you can back the trailer up to the shed door and extend the ramp down into the shed, then you might be able to get piggy right into the trailer. Get several people and use sorting boards or large garbage can lids. Line the side of the ramp so that once piggy is on the ramp he can not turn and jump off the side. Have people use the sorting boards to push piggy onto the ramp, then up into the trailer.

If piggy can not stand or walk, a sling might work. Use a heavy duty canvas sling, add a blanket for comfort. An ordinary blanket by itself likely will not hold the weight. Slide piggy onto the sling, then quickly move the sling into a crate or cage. Piggy will most likely struggle and scream, so don't try moving piggy very far this way.