[HappyHippy]

Here it is, shown off to great effect by the Kunes 
There are more/better photo's on my facebook profile (easier to post them there )
Any questions, ask away !
Karen x

[robert waddell]

well done bruce

[Sandy]

Great stuff, nice piggy homes, I suppose you could adapt to other animals or humans!!!

[HappyHippy]

lol! Sandy - you looking for one for Steve already 

Thanks Lillian/Robert - I'll pass it on, he's a clever boy - especially when I'm there keeping him right 

[Sandy]

THat would not be a bad idea for our dogs!!!!!!!!! seriously!! I rely on Steve to keep me warm and comfy in this house when its cold so no pig house for him!!

[HappyHippy]

The place I got these from would be able to do other sizes Sandy. These are 8ft wide and 4ft high and a meter long, they could probably do a 6ft x 3ft or smaller ?
They're called Cladco http://www.cladco.uk.com/ give them a phone, speak to Lewis Davie (I think he's the boss - he certainly know's his stuff) and tell them the mad pig woman out in Lesmahagow recommended him 

[Pebbles]

Great job Karen! We've made all 8 of our arks using Cladco materials (Ewen is the boss by the way ) and the team are always so helpful! They're wasted producing roofing materials - pig arks is the way to go!
Did you make a base too or does it just sit on the ground? Are you going to send the kids in to clean it out?
Pebbles

[HappyHippy]

Pebbles - have you not seen the fb photo's ? lol! I had to beg Becca to come out long enough for a photo Just as well the doorway's quite small or I'd be in there getting piggy cuddles too
We made a base from really heavy duty pallets with some OSB board on top. The top fits really snugly onto it - we were going to screw/shackle them together but to be honest the top is very, VERY heavy, there's little chance of it going anywhere (well, that's the OH's theory  )
Sorry, wasn't sure if Lewis was the boss  I'd spoken to a few different folk there and he was the one who seemed to 'get' what I was talking about 
I meant to say too - the sheets have got a no-con drop lining on them, which will hopefully mean that in the depths of winter there'll be no icicles forming on the inside from condensation - but it's a definate trial run cos they've not done it before - so might not work

[Stevie G]

Looks good, will when I get time look at face book.
Does this hut have a floor?(never used one with), does it have vents at the back???
Doesn't look like you are able to shut your kunes in if they are unwilling to farrow in the hut??
Can you put fenders on the hut?
Maybe if iI give you lots of questions you won't get time to get angry!!!!!!!!!!
There are lots more things to consider in the purchase of a hut than just going and buying one.
So give me your thoughts.

[blonde]

Dont have to buy one Stevie, just make one..... patio tubing, corrugated iron and some tech screws and some knowhow and time and "bobs your uncle" one hut. 

You want it warm

You want  it dry

You need a door small enough to keep the weather out but big enough for her to get through

You need it to face out of the weather

You need it to last more than a season

In the heat (Oz Heat) you need a wallow in the paddock

You need a piglet  box out the front of the hut so that piglets stay in and the sow can get away from them for a bit of time to herself.

They need to be easy to shift and clean out.

They need only to house  one sow
.
They need enough room to turn around

They want sides  slanting in like an 'A' frame to stop   lay overs from happening

dont or cant think of any thing else.....

[HappyHippy]

Looks good, will when I get time look at face book.
Does this hut have a floor?(never used one with), does it have vents at the back???
Doesn't look like you are able to shut your kunes in if they are unwilling to farrow in the hut??
Can you put fenders on the hut?
Maybe if iI give you lots of questions you won't get time to get angry!!!!!!!!!!
There are lots more things to consider in the purchase of a hut than just going and buying one.
So give me your thoughts.

I'm not an angry person - honest  Defensive, tired & touchy perhaps ? But let's start again ? 

To answer your questions Stevie G - yes, it's got a floor. We're 1000ft above sea level on a south east facing site in southern Scotland - it gets pretty cold and pretty wet in the winter (and the spring, summer and autumn too  ) So I prefer to give them a floor, this way I know they'll always be dry and warmer than they would be without one.
It's not got vents yet - we're planning on cutting some small hand holes back and front so that it can be moved around, but haven't done that yet - again, being in Scotland, they're highly unlikely to get too hot in there 
This isn't where farrowing happens. This arc is for raising weaners and permanent accomodation for adult pigs only. I'm one of these terribly over-cautious people who bring's her pigs in to the shed when farrowing is approaching. They get a 12x20ft 'pen' in there, where they stay until the piglets have arrived and are up and doing well, before going back out into the field - I suppose we could make a fender to fit also, but given our current farrowing set-up, don't really have a need at the moment.
We didn't buy this one - we MADE it ! I found a company locally to curve the steel and apply the no-con drop coating, but everything else is our own handiwork (well, hubby's brawn, but my brain ) we've still another 5 or so to make, I'm sure there will be future adaptions, depending on our needs at the time We could make the one with farrowing rails, door, fender etc if we intended farrowing outside - but we don't, so there's really no need.
Next question 

[bloomer]

roughly what does something like that cost

buying the metal and timber etc but assuming you have the skills to build it your self from there (which i do)?

pm if not info for an open forum

[blonde]

roughly what does something like that cost

buying the metal and timber etc but assuming you have the skills to build it your self from there (which i do)?

pm if not info for an open forum

I sometimes visit the local tip and pick up all the tin i can find, just done it on the week end.   Generally here it is free and then if I cannot get the patio tubing from the tip I buy seconds tubing and make my hut out of these.  I tech screw them together   

[HappyHippy]

Bloomer, to buy one like this, with a floor would cost around £600. But tbh I doubt it'd be as heavy duty as ours, honestly, you'd think it was elephants that were going to be staying in it as it's all 6x2 inch timber (but that's what we had here ) we had to buy the curved steel, but as Blonde say's you might be able to pick it up 2nd hand - just don't buy any with holes cos you'll never be done changing their bedding (I find if/when it gets wet, they're more inclined to use it as a toilet )

Rough costs (for an 8x6 arc) with floor
2 sheets of curved steel @ £40 each
   (give or take, you could probably get them cheaper if you didn't want the no-con drop lining and green paint)
3 and a half sheets of 18mm exterior grade ply @ £25
   (again, room for negotiation on prices) 1 for each end and 1 and a half to cover the 8 x 6 base.
Our base was made of old heavy pallets (got a pallet place that puts out piles of free ones near to us ), screwed together with the ply screwed down onto it
7 lengths of timber for the frame (2@8ft + 5@6ft)
tex screws £20 (again, we used super heavy duty ones for elephants  )

So around £180 plus your lengths of timber, pallets and time. If you pop in when you're up with the family we can show you the construction, but I'll take step by step photo's of the next one too and post them on here.
HTH
Karen x

[bloomer]

thanks

i know about using timber left layin around my current chicken residence is made of it :-)

it was the sheet metal prices etc i was interested in, even buying timber thats deffinitely a good deal for what you get at the end, had seen the prices of ready made ones and got scared, but the good news is theres nothing i can't build!!!