The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: sophie on November 30, 2015, 07:10:36 pm
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Hi Has anyone any ideas of how to feed the pigs in mud? They are outside in the woods where it is dry on the hill and away from the feeding area, bed is lovely and dry, but where they march up and down waiting for food it is very muddy. We keep moving the 1-2m metal trough up the hill, but the mud gets bad instantly! Has anyone any tips or is the only option to create a hard standing area?
Thanks
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Nope wish I did"
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Ah the holy grail of winter pig keeping!
I haven't got a hard-standing either as mine are in woodland.
I tend to rotate two metal troughs - one in at any one time and one out to allow a hosing down and replacement when things are really wet and muddy.
Mind you I'm not sure the pigs are so bothered, it's mostly me!
Martha R
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We used old slabs to make feeding platforms in the fields (they're a blessing in muddy weather)
If you squash them down onto the mud then keep the pigs off til the ground has dried they get sucked in almost as much as if you'd concreted them in ;)
You do need to keep the pigs off the slabs though until the ground has all dried up, otherwise they'll just root them up and wreak it (ask me how I know ::) ;))
HTH
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Mud mud and more mud!
When building / repairing pens I stone the gateways and the base for the arks but one day I'd love to have the time (and money) to concrete them plus a feed area. I just keep moving the troughs around but this time of year its just going from one really muddy area to one slightly less muddy.
If things get really bad I dump some wood chip in the middle of the bad spot and let the pigs spread it about.
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Thanks for the ideas, and didn't think there was solution. The spring at the top of the wood has started to complicate things even more today due to all the rain we have had. Its much drier up the hill, its just a challenge getting the food up there with two hungry pigs. Will maybe have to put another gate in to help. May try some concrete slabs, but not sure they will stay on the slope and the pigs will probably want to see what's underneath them!!!
Thanks for the replies
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We are in the same boat, so to speak, my girls are wading through liquid mud, we feed in rubber bowls which they frequently bury in the liquid by treading in them. have tried moving the feeders around the pen but its only going from one quagmire to another. :raining:
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We abandoned metal troughs when the mud got really bad and used those cheap lightweight rubber feeding trugs with 2 handles. They can be placed anywhere, ie. a different place each meal along the fence line, or anywhere else in the pen vaguely dry. They are very sturdy, even when the pigs squabble over the nuts and flip them over. It will all get eaten regardless, whether from the dish or the mud. Also very easy to remove, rinse out and dry somewhere else, especially if you have a double set of trugs.
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If you have the technology to deal with round bales of straw, roll one out on the ground to form a pathway. That's what I do for our cattle, round the feed rings. Obviously it doesn't last for ever, but it makes things a lot more pleasant for them, and with pigs being significantly lighter than cattle, it should last a fair time before you have to redo it.
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I have the same problems - liquid mud. What I've done is to put the old mucked out straw bedding and any bad bits of straw from bales on the ground around the entrance and feed area then trod it down into the mud. So far it's worked and made life a little easier but needs topping up after heavy or persistent rain.
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You don't say how old your pigs are but the bigger the nut you use the longer in takes to break down so if they spill it in the mud they will still find them and eat them.
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We only use nuts as apposed to the larger rolls as we don't have the facility to keep two types of feed in sufficient quantities, so generally speaking what goes in the mud is lost.
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I very much doubt it. I reckon they find and eat every last nut deep in the quagmire, completely unbothered by the muddiness!
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We have concrete pens so are a mud-free zone but I wonder if those rubber mats they use in stables would be useful? We once tried using a big Butler sink as a drinker in freezing weather and a grower tipped it over and it broke in 17 pieces. Must've weighed over 45kg when full. We used to buy weaners from a lady who'd made her own Winter feed troughs by filling a square wooden mould with cement then sinking a large round washing up bowl in it up to the rim. When the cement set she hoiked the bowl out. The trough weighed about 60 kg.
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, its just a challenge getting the food up there with two hungry pigs.
Seriously you don't have a problem. Wait until you've got 60 or 70 in groups of 12 or 15 penned together. If I only had two it'd be like a holiday.
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I very much doubt it. I reckon they find and eat every last nut deep in the quagmire, completely unbothered by the muddiness!
Every now and again I find the odd apple or carrot deep in the mud and they love those so don't see pig nuts being much different?
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Thanks again, think I will just put the food on the floor in different places. Like you say, they will eat anything. The hill is steep and slippy as its a wood but they love it there. Although they are a little naughty at the base of some trees. Its better than being inside, they hate that as not good at going to the toilet indoors! Could always put some of the bracken on the ground that they picked to turn into a den!!