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Author Topic: converting old buildings to pig housing  (Read 3581 times)

violet

  • Joined Jul 2009
converting old buildings to pig housing
« on: September 11, 2011, 03:53:41 pm »
I would really like some advice please folks.

I have an old croft house on our croft, which though uninhabitable is water tight ( just)
It still had the original earth floor when we arrived, though one end had been concreted.
We've cleared it out and put in floors and we're using it as a feed store right now. But this should change & the space would be freed up and TBH the floors didn't cost so much time or money that I would be greatly concerned about taking them out again.

I've visited a couple of breeders who use indoor housing and integrate in different ways with their outdoor facilities and at the moment I'm having serious thoughts about how I could do something similar myself.

I guess the issues would be runoff and how to drain it somewhere, floor - should it be concreted or what? and suggestion for pennings - I guess they need to be quite robust! Are there any regulations that I should know about etc.

any suggestions, ideas, experience etc. would be welcome. Thanks folks

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: converting old buildings to pig housing
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2011, 04:13:32 pm »
without seeing your buildings it would only be a guess as to what you could do
it all depends on what you want how much you want to spend and how many pigs you are going to keep also what size they are going to be
concrete is a must unless you have free draining soil and that is in short supply in Scotland
are they still going to have access to outside
there urine is highly corrosive (our metal pens are showing signs of old age after 10 years)
what water courses are near you       for run off you will get busted by sepa if urine enters the watercourse
what bedding material are you going to use and how are you going to dispose of this spent bedding
if you contact your planning department  it will never get of the ground
block built pens have to be secured to the floor with steel re-bar       frustrated pigs or hungry pigs can cause a lot of damage
handling facility's have to be built in as well just to make your life easy
others will come up with more info :farmer:

Barrett

  • Joined Jun 2011
  • North Somerset
Re: converting old buildings to pig housing
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2011, 08:52:08 pm »
Hi Violet, I have found myself pondering the same issues as you, My scaffolders built me a cow shed that I have converted into pens for my finishing pigs, I do live in a area that does flood easily not badly but your field can get very boggy quickly, my husband did install a pump well for me so it does drain the moisture from the field very well, I have thought about concreting inside the cow shed for the pens though again I would have no ware for waste so I have just left it on the soil the pigs have straw bedding and it seems to work a lot better, many pigs are kept in worser places than what you would offer them, should they have access to outside you would have to make sure that it is pig proof, that means when you go to somewhere to buy your pig proof wire make sure you double up as they are little escape artists or some good electric fencing. if you have drainage issues then soil floor is your best bet with straw as there bedding so the waste can be absorbed by the soil will produce fantastic compost.  I have used sheep hurdles for mine though have had to double up hight wise as they will jump out.  hope this helps.

violet

  • Joined Jul 2009
Re: converting old buildings to pig housing
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2011, 06:49:28 pm »
That is very helpful both of you, thankyou.

OH though thinks that if we ever wanted to convert it to a dwelling that we'd never get rid of the smell.
Personally I don't think that's a problem, as I smell of pigs &/or chickens most of the time ;D

Do you think he's right though?

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: converting old buildings to pig housing
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2011, 07:01:08 pm »
OH though thinks that if we ever wanted to convert it to a dwelling that we'd never get rid of the smell.
Personally I don't think that's a problem, as I smell of pigs &/or chickens most of the time ;D

Do you think he's right though?

I think there are plenty of converted pig sheds now des res's.  I don't have any personal experience of converted pig sheds but did own and live in converted cow byres for some years.  No smell but it took a while to get used to the floors sloping towards the door!  We did think maybe we should position the beds so that the feet end was higher than the head end, since they always tell you to have your feet higher than your heart - but of course you put the bed where it can see out the window.  (Not the bed, the person in the bed.)

Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: converting old buildings to pig housing
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2011, 08:04:59 pm »
any stinking old building can be converted if it can be steam cleaned first there will not be a smell we steam clean our pig pens and buildings and no smell lingers :farmer:

violet

  • Joined Jul 2009
Re: converting old buildings to pig housing
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2011, 10:05:26 pm »
That's great to know folks  ;)
He's a blinking chancer sometimes  ::)



 

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