The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: laurelrus on August 06, 2014, 04:17:00 pm
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We've decided to get 3 young pigs (as pets and maybe to breed later) and first we need to sort their housing.
I've read that it's best to have a wooden ark without the corrugated metal roof as this is too hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
Is this correct? What is the best house to get? Should it have a floor? I've been googling pig arks for a while and seen so much conflicting advice so I'm more confused than when I started.
Also, what size should the house be for 3 Kune Kunes or possibly 2 Kunes and 1 Mangalitza but thinking ahead to breeding in the future.
Thanks very much for any advice and input!
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My recommendation would be, buy a cheap horse trailer on zbay. That way its easily movable and its tall enough to walk into. Or if you want to do it on the cheap, get an old oil tank or IBC and cut a hole in it.
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Hi laurelrus
Welcome to the mad world of pigs! ;D
yes the internet is a confusing place, lots of different ideas & suggestions so much so you can be overwhelmed.
Start by getting a good pig book, lots out there National Trust do one by Richard Lutwyche, its pink so check their website for it or an Andy Case book which you may find on Amazon.
The other thing you can do is check the GOS website, although its for GOS pigs the info therein can apply to all breeds
www.gospbc.co.uk (http://www.gospbc.co.uk) look under the pig management tab for some getting started articles.
You could also go on a course Oaklands in Sussex does a rather good one I understand and you get a pig keeping manual too
HTH
Mandy :pig:
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Hi!
We use wooden arks with an insulated corrugated iron roof, from Animal Arks. They're more expensive than some others, but they're warmer in winter and cooler in summer than many others. The arks made from recycled plastic are OK, and fairly well insulated. Many are lighter than the wood/iron arks: this makes them easier for you to move, but also easier for your pigs to move!
If you are keeping pigs all year round, I would advise you to use a floor. You can get away without one on really well-drained, sandy soil, but it makes their life a lot more comfortable, especially in winter. It also makes the arks less prone to being moved by pigs, or even by the wind: we've had heavy pig arks blown about by gusts before now!
All-wooden arks are also good, and if you are reasonable carpenters there are plenty of plans for building them available. They're well insulated, but you may need to put some metal edging on the doors to stop the pigs from eating them! Whatever sort you go for, a 6x8 foot ark or thereabouts should do for what you want.
If you're thinking about breeding pigs, a word of caution: you really do need a business plan before you start doing this as it's all too easy to end up with a load of pigs that you can't sell. You get peanuts for them at markets and it's heartbreaking to send your precious pigs off at a loss that way. Go on a pig-breeding course, or speak to some more established breeders in your area.
But yeah, keeping pigs is great! Hope you enjoy them when you get them :pig: :pig: ;D
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Don't get the recycled plastic type. They look great but the plastic isn't waterproof, more like compressed, shredded plastic and it leaks. We have a field shelter made from it, which we use for poultry growers, and wondered why the bedding was always wet. Crawling in during a heavy shower showed me the reason. Roof works fine now it's covered with a plastic sheet weighed down with bricks, though!
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That depends on the manufacturing method. We have a couple of plastic arks made by Carberry. They're completely waterproof, warm (but not as warm as the wood and double-skinned corrugated iron ones) and light enough for 2 fairly strong adults to manhandle. We use one as a portable lambing shelter and move the other around some of our "summer only" pig paddocks. You do definitely need to fix these to a floor or to the ground, though, as otherwise they get blown about.