When I keep my sows in the electric fence, they will respect the hotwire very well, except in the case that you wean one and immediately put her back in the hot wire, she will bust out. I also reccomend using a good fence charger, I have a Gallagher and it costs more than some others, but it is worth every penny. I really don't worry about manure removal since the lots are large enough that manure is distributed over a large area it never really becomes an issue. I would recommend making a more permanent pen with gates and panels at one end or corner of the electic fenced lot. I usually feed mine here, because if you just put them in a total electric fenced pen, you will have hell getting them to leave the pen whether the wire is there or not! I just feed them in the panel pen, close the gate and I can sort them, or move them wherever I need to without a huge hassle. As far as bedding goes, I have good sheds and only provide bedding for them when it is cold. They do fine the rest of the year. I always use straw or grass hay. The grass hay actually works better and is much more effective in my opinion than the straw. Woodchips for sows would be way too expensive in my opinion. It would definately become cost prohibitive very quickly, I would save the woodchips for your pigs when you are trying to sell them. Woodchips dont have much insulation value, they are expensive, but they are clean and make baby pigs look good! Jsut my opinion though
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