The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: yankieGirl on March 07, 2011, 10:28:32 pm
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How do I keep an 8 to 10 week old pig (30 pounds) warm enough. She will be on concrete with straw. Do I need a heat lamp? will she be ok alone or should she have a friend. I could put some chickens in with her.
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Hiya :wave:
Not sure what breed your little piglet is, but she should be ok as long as the straw is thick enough & dry & she is not in a draught. If it gets very cold I would use a heat lamp though, as she has no company to snuggle up to.
Just a tip - we use rubber stable matting under our pregnant sows & young piglets (Kune Kunes) when they are inside on concrete flooring, with wood shavings & straw on top.
Not sure about keeping her as an only pig though :( :pig: & you'll probably get lots of comments from others about this subject!!! Pigs are by nature herd animals & should be kept with other pigs, a castrated boar would be good company for her if you don't intend to breed. Our pigs tolerate the chucks at best, usually they ignore them unless they lay in their byre - them the hens are lucky to escape in one piece when the "free for all" starts over who is going to get the egg!
:pig: :chook: :dog: :bee:
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I agree. We've got three Kunes. We got them at about 10wks but they've not had anny problem even with the Highland winter.
With three of them they can keep themselves amused when we're not around. I could quite eaily see a single one going stir-crazy.
They're lovely, though.
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PLEASE don't consider keeping a lone piglet.
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Yankee girl don't know whereabouts in the US you are but i do know it can be very cold even in spring.
Plenty of straw and make a wall with bales of straw to keep the draughts off her. A heat lamp would be great if temp drops below zero (don't know what that is for you coz you lot still do fahrenheit!)
Try to find a piggy friend of the same sex for yours as as previously mentioned they shouldn't be kept alone. Wouldn't put the chickens in with it as pigs have been known to chase and eat them!
HTH
Mandy :pig: :wave:
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How do I keep an 8 to 10 week old pig (30 pounds) warm enough. She will be on concrete with straw. Do I need a heat lamp? will she be ok alone or should she have a friend. I could put some chickens in with her.
dont put the piglet with chickens, not good from a disease point of view. YOu should have two piglets ins tead of one for company and for shared warmth.
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our piglets were about 14 weeks when we had three feet of snow and temperatures down to -18 C, for a fair while.
however, there were 5 piglets & three adults to keep each other warm.
you shouldnt need a heat lamp for a weaner (8-10 weeks)
and as as I'm sure you're beginning to understand.... she will definitely need a friend! for social reasons & warmth...
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Thank you one and all.
Cold can be managed. Stable mat is do-able. straw. heat lamp. More than one girl on her own. got it!
2 years ago we started with 3 weaners. Last year 5 to start. We want to breed our own. Keep what we want sell the rest as weaners.
We learn as we go and this site and you folks are a great help.
By the way, I am amazed at the hoops(regulations) you have to jump through in the UK. How do you stand it?
Thanks again!
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By the way, I am amazed at the hoops(regulations) you have to jump through in the UK. How do you stand it?
Generation upon generation of conditioning... :)
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Try living in France its not hoops but paperwork, so much paperwork that even the paperpushers dont know all the answers
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I consider pigs little hot boxes. The dont sweat to keep themsleves cool, hence a wallow, but they do have to reulate their heart beat to allow for the cooling to go on, Water is also a necessry part of this. a light for 8 - 10 week old weaners i a waste of time as they have at least a layer of fat inside to know keep themsleve warm. Hay is good and they will utilise it in their own way.
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thats so true blonde! pigs always feel toasty-warm ::D
yankie, its not English regualtions that are saying keep two or more pigs - its common sense & kind, as they are herd animals & so would be cruel & detrimental to their health to keep a pig alone.
(that may not be what you meant, if not, I apologise :) )
to add to blonde, straw will help dry off a wet or muddy pig more than hay, which is better for eating...
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yankie, its not English regulations that are saying keep two or more pigs - its common sense & kind, as they are herd animals & so would be cruel & detrimental to their health to keep a pig alone.
No, I understand the common sense of raising more than one....the hoops I was referring to are the one's I have seen mentioned since I first started visiting this site.
I get a goat(or 4) or chickens(or 12) or pigs (started with 5 last spring) or cows(2 last spring), unless I intend to get into business in a substantial way, no needs to know what I am doing. As long as my area is zoned agricultural or at least isn't residential only.
Herd numbers, govt required vet inspections.....
Don't tread on me
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there are plenty of rules here, for the good, but sometimes abit over the top for a small-scale keeper. then in other areas, ther seems to be no appropriate rules at all ::)
is there a zoning between agri & residential only then? like "smallholder" ?! ;)
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Smallholder seems to be a term not used here.
ordinances within the zoning of agri and residential limit what you can do to some extent. We have 2.5 acres and are surrounded by 3 one-hundred plus acre dairy farms.