The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: dixie on May 11, 2012, 09:18:35 am
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Here in the south east we usually miss out on rain until now! In the years I've had animals, pigs in particular I have never experienced the amount of rain fallen in the last month.
My pig pens are shocking, it's like mud soup, I am using more straw than ever to keep the arks dry and provide a doormat just outside, I feed in rubber skips, and put hay in the arks to munch on, but the whole situation is so unpleasant. I haven't been able to bring them all in as the barn has been used for sheep and lambs, and even that's flooded twice.
My saving grace is that we are supposedly heading towards summer rather than winter, and it will soon turn to concrete, but it's really getting me down, I didn't decide to keep pigs in these conditions, and feel they have such a naff deal at the moment, how does everyone else cope, as I know many you 'up there' have this bad weather to contend with a lot of the time. :-\
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Hi Dixie,
I am in Wales need I say more. Apart from the rain I also have clay to contend with, I cope very much like you are.
It bothers me more than it bothers the pigs to be honest and they are used to it now.
I have plans to build a row of arks with pens all on concrete so that when it is bad I can get them off the mud, hopefully that will be done this year ready for winter.
I wanted to get the empty pens sown with stubble turnip but I don't know when they will be dry enough, just one of those things.
As you say at least we are heading for summer and not winter so it should improve even here in Wales.
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Dixie don't kill yourself over this we're all in the same boat, pigs i've put into paddocks that are supposed to last them the whole of summer are already trashed into mud soup like BB we're on heavy clay too which will set like concrete if and when it ever dries out, like you we feed in skips(trugs) and going thro loads of straw keeping beds dry, do the best you can its all any of us can do and as you say none of us planned this!
I've evn been seen holding a large golf umbrella over pigs while they eat under it! ;D
Mandy :pig:
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I will run out of straw soon ??? I have moved the sheep outside today, they were sheared weds and had to stay in as the rain was torrential again that night. I am going to bring some pigs in, but 3 adults will have to stay out (no room at the inn), but I'm not even sure I can drive in and out without wrecking all the ground! I have to pick my boar up tomorrow to bring him home as he's needed here and we have a visiting sow too aaarrrggghhhh
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Ahh the joys of pigs in the winter. ;D
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My daughter came home from uni yesterday, and came over to find me feeding pigs, I dropped a rubber skip over the fence into the mud soup, SPLAT! All over her, oops sorry! ;D. You need a giggle at times!
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Just think of the money we're saving on expensive beauty treatments with all this free mud!! ;D
The other day i came in and OH said have you looked in a mirror today? You guessed it greatmud splodges all over my face!
Mandy :pig:
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Ha ha I always look like that! I used to be a girly girl! Still am sometimes ;D
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We don't keep heavy pigs but we do use plastic mesh around the goats house which really helps keep their feet unclogged - its the stuff you get from garden centres to make a fence for your veg patch or to wrap around young tree trunks to keep the animals off. It usually comes on a roll and you can get whatever length you like. The smaller gauge is the best (about 2cm squares) and as it's plastic it doesn't hurt their feet. Also haven't used but would imagine it would work too is those transparent plastic mat runners you get for your hall, may work for the constantly used paths by lighter animals (sheep/goats) or perhaps as a 'curtain' for a pig ark.
I think piggies would eat most things wouldn't they or at least use them as toys :D
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Mine all grew webbed feet last year because of the rain :D :D :D
It's hellish though, isn't it ?
The 'big' pigs are all in a 2 acre field, so although round the gates and feeders are trashed and muddy they've still got plenty of dry/solid ground and the arc is nice and dry and the Kunekunes are just getting rotated round the little pens til their big field drains and drys out. I'm resisting the urge to bring them all in now as they'll be coming in mid-June to get ready for farrowing anyway, as long as it drys up a bit soon hopefully we'll be fine :thumbsup:
Hope the sun comes out for you all soon :-*
Karen :wave:
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It was bad in May, but now it is ridiculous! We are really struggling round Margot's pen. She had a hissy fit a few days ago and reduced any last remaining tufts of grass to Somme-like soup. Being on a steepish hillside means we don't get as bad as it can get, as the run-off is fairly quick and we do not have clay-soil, so I feel for those of you who do. But still, the amount of straw it is taking to stop the pigs from getting damaged in the slippery mud is frightening. I am wondering what the long term effects on ground recovery will be like. I am guessing I am going to have to completely flatten and reseed the area when we move them on. Not that that will be for some months, as these are the arks where the weaners will have to live... Mehmeh!
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Its getting beyond a joke here to. All the pens are mud soup and no let up with the rain in the near future >:( Normally I would have some of the pens sown with stubble turnip for the autumn but they are all just slop. Don't you just love the British summer. :wave:
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Its getting beyond a joke here to. All the pens are mud soup and no let up with the rain in the near future >:( Normally I would have some of the pens sown with stubble turnip for the autumn but they are all just slop. Don't you just love the British summer. :wave:
Ditto here in North Yorkshire, i have one small paddock that is still green and i'm keeping it for Clover's piglets which will be Xmas porkers. The mud is slurry like in all the gate holes, trying to make straw lakes around ark doorways and feed under sun (ha ::) ha ) shelters to keep feed dry. Can hardly walk in my wellies with all the tons of mud clinging to them.
mandy :pig:
ps have to confess to having a week in the real sun last week but coming home to this has made me 10x as depressed about it!
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I seem to be lucky at the moment , the small field behind the pig sheds I am restricting the 5 weaners to isnt to bad
its on a slight slope so the bottom has mud although not deep the top however is still green
Sods law now that I have said this the weather will get worse
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Could it get worse? Down on the south coast here there is almost always a howling gale too which makes it even more gruesome. Poor pigs.
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I know we all like our piggies to have free range - but with younger pigs, especially if the mud is wet and cold, I think they are better off indoors on straw when it's like this.
If they are outdoors, as well as straw for them to walk on, I have to keep topping up the straw in the ark as it gets wet and cold from all the wet cold glopp they bring in on their bodies... ::)
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Agree Sally, all my weaners are in the stables, horses out in the rain. The adult pigs I'm afraid are having to put up with the glorious summer weather. ;D
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Our barn has the goats in it at the moment... Pigs are in farrowing arks, which are in turn in what were nice, green, gently sloping and therefore well drained pens. Were being the operative word. :( I dream of having concrete front door steps for them. Would we have to get planning permission for a hardstanding of, say, 6' x 8' outside the front of each ark do you reckon?
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My weaners have a stable full of straw with access to a field through a hatch , they hardly ever go out though
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It must just a highland thing, but although we have had some rain, we are actually quite dry (fishers complaining about lack of water in rivers) but I am happy. My two weaners have not done as much damage to the ground as I had hoped - for my polytunnel next year - maybe I could offer luxury piggie holidays to churn up a bit of my ground ;D
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Well im gonna bite the bullet and put most of my pigs in loose boxes,it really bugs me to see them wading through slop.BUT i need to muck the boxes out 1st as my mate had been keeping calves in them,its only a foot deep :'(
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Well im gonna bite the bullet and put most of my pigs in loose boxes,it really bugs me to see them wading through slop.BUT i need to muck the boxes out 1st as my mate had been keeping calves in them,its only a foot deep :'(
Some folks would use pigs to muck that calf muck out...
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When the rain does eventually subside, how long do you give it till we get a hose pipe ban!! ::)
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Well im gonna bite the bullet and put most of my pigs in loose boxes,it really bugs me to see them wading through slop.BUT i need to muck the boxes out 1st as my mate had been keeping calves in them,its only a foot deep :'(
Some folks would use pigs to muck that calf muck out...
If he was on the ball with worming etc then i would,but im taking no chances.Finnished 1 box off today and filled a 750 muck spreader TWICE turned out to be 18" deep but worst of all he had used hay for bedding on the last layer ooh my back and tennis elbow.Start the next loose box in the morning.
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who else keeps there pigs in woods? i find it doesnt get much mud at all, whereas the wee paddock is a nightmare sometimes.
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who else keeps there pigs in woods? i find it doesnt get much mud at all, whereas the wee paddock is a nightmare sometimes.
Ours are in woods sectioned into fenced pens, and you are right the only gloopy place is where there is a break in the canopy
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Overnight we have has so much rain, pig paddocks are just one mass of muddy slurry, concerned gilrs will get leg injuries as its so deep and sticky in places that i've made the descision to bring them back into winter buildings for the 2nd time this so called summer >:( ::)
Had to unblock drains this morning as bunged up with floating chuds & straw, lovely NOT, good job hadn't had my brekkie!
How long can this weather go on, i wonder if the paddocks will ever recover. Clay rain & pigs just don't work without some dry weather in the year!
Carol on the telly this am says we're going to get a months worth of rain in 12hrs, its thundering like hell and already underway here. Look out for floating pig houses and pigs!!
Mandy :pig:
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Its getting beyond a joke ... I'm in the process of building 'winter' accommodation but in the meantime the pigs are suck in the mud!!
Just trying to do the ground work in these conditions is extra hard work.
On a lighter note this was sent to me yesterday and is most appropriate ...
Flanders and Swann - A song of the weather (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eT40eV7OiI#)
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That sounds just about right Pete ;D
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I am in Essex clay, I bought the piglets in at 4 weeks because it was so bad I thought they would strain their joints.... their paddocks, which should have been rock hard is now 50% over water..... The sheep seem okay but it can't be fun.
Frankly, I want better weather for them to get on..... poor things its horrible out there for them.
I have 2 tams in my foaling stable (so they are easy to load for slaughter on Thursday) but I don't think I can put 8 11 week olds back in there!
I DEMAND SUN!!! Oh and we are on a hosepipe ban in Essex still!!! fecking ridiculous!!!
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Its really rotton here on our mountain in North Wales, we are up in the clouds and have had dense fog and torrential rain for ever!!!! Its really frustrating. :pig: >:(
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Would we have to get planning permission for a hardstanding of, say, 6' x 8' outside the front of each ark do you reckon?
I am not certain about this but I suspect not in your case. I've got a similar dilemma but am going ahead with the concrete anyway. My issue is that because the 'arks', in my case it will be a 20' X 10' twin 'Ark' standing on part of the concrete, I suspect planning may be required.
Does anyone else have a view on this?
Pete
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Would we have to get planning permission for a hardstanding of, say, 6' x 8' outside the front of each ark do you reckon?
I am not certain about this but I suspect not in your case. I've got a similar dilemma but am going ahead with the concrete anyway. My issue is that because the 'arks', in my case it will be a 20' X 10' twin 'Ark' standing on part of the concrete, I suspect planning may be required.
Does anyone else have a view on this?
Pete
well i would just do it and cover with a sprinkleof mud and straw if anyone comes to look
;D ;D :innocent: :innocent: :innocent:
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well i would just do it and cover with a sprinkle of mud and straw if anyone comes to look
;D ;D :innocent: :innocent: :innocent:
That is pretty much what I have in mind .... :innocent:
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just concrete it and if any sad person comes to inspect hope that they have to walk thru 2 feet of mud to get to see it.
By rights we should have a new EU conforming septic tank that requires 10,000 m2 ( well a lot) of sand and an array of pipes that feed foul waste in and a second array that collects "clean" water below. The outlet of the bottom array of pipes should yield drinking water. Cost 6000=8000 Euros. So if anyone actually comes to inspect then I will give them a shovel and point to a field.
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English Solicitor Speaking..... everyone has their own view of planning.... :innocent: but if you were (and of course you WOULDN'T) ever considering breaching and relying on lawful development (automatic entitlement after 4 years in breach)...... I wouldn't be posting anywhere it might be found that I was considering doing this because there is a "deliberate and knowing wrongdoing" criteria that the Supreme Court added about a year ago...... just saying like.....
*drafts bill* ;)
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It really is never ending, the long term forecast is still more rain, you know it's bad when the pigs s**t mud not poo!
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This gov site is quite good, and says that apart from front garden theer are no restirctions about what you can concrtet over "around your house".
Click the interactive guide and you get to a bit that says :
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/ (http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/)
If you have a field and land more than 5 hectare , this is agricultural, and you should be able to do an agricultural determination.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/annexepps7.pdf (http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/annexepps7.pdf)
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We are in Ottery St. Mary in Devon and were flooded out on Friday night in the flash floods - sooooo much water - even in the house. The pigs field has turned into a lake, but thankfully the stables are raised, so they stayed dry. We are lucky enough to have a high grazing area for them too, so that stays dry, but they have to cross the new"pond" to get to it, which they aren't liking, so they are sulking in their stable instead!! On the upside their stable is drier than the inside of our home at the moment, so we might end up living our there for the next week!! ;D
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Oh no Burrwoodfm, that's horrible :( At least if you do find yourself in the stables you'll be lovely and cosy with a pig to cuddle up to ;)
I hope things dry up for you soon, a wee indian summer would do fine, at least that way the water would come in handy as a wallow til it all dried up ::) :D
We're lucky (?) at 1000ft above sea level it'd have to be pretty bad before we were on 'flood alert' but the fields are wet, getting muddy and I'm glad the Kunekunes are soon coming in to farrow - hope the rain stops so they can get back out to the fields before winter though :-\ :fc:
Karen :wave:
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We are 439 ft above sea level, so reasonably high, and high enough not to be in a flood zone! It was just pure surface water from the months worth of rain that fell that one night- it just got trapped and had nowhere to go!! :-[
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This gov site is quite good, and says that apart from front garden theer are no restirctions about what you can concrtet over "around your house".
Click the interactive guide and you get to a bit that says :
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/ (http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/)
If you have a field and land more than 5 hectare , this is agricultural, and you should be able to do an agricultural determination.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/annexepps7.pdf (http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/annexepps7.pdf)
Very useful - Thank You.
Pete
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we had real trouble too, sent them to slaughter 3 weeks early in the end to solve the problem
We tried straw but it has created a mat under the mud and now it is a hideous mess out there
one thing that helped was grass clippings, soaked up some of the water and degrade well
good luck! ;)