[Pasture Farm]

This is the first time i have ever kept pigs through the winter and NEVER again

No matter how much straw i put down within a couple of days it a bog. The pigs dont seem to mind but i feel so sad for them up to their belly in mud       Never again

[Berkshire Boy]

my pigs are out all year round and I to feel sorry for them in the winter in all the mud but I honestly think it bothers me more than them, 95% of the time they are quite happy. As long as they have somewhere dry and warm to sleep they are OK.
I must admit that in the spring I plan to put a large concrete slab down with 8 arks and runs so that next winter I can bring them in if it gets like last year, I also farrow all year round and mud and piglets don't mix well.

[welshlass181]

This is my first winter too and my field is like a bog lol i've put a hard standing down for the arks so they are dry underneath and they have lovely beds ontop.  They are out and about during the day so stinking with mud but they all seem happy enough.  In spring we intend on putting a roof over the hard standing so it keeps the weather off them

[Sylvia]

I am amazed at how two-week-old piglets know to go around the worst of the muddy bits and find alernative ways whilst the sow is wading through mud.

[Tiva Diva]

Our pigs are outside all winter and don't mind the mud so long as they have a dry ark with plenty of straw. When we muck the arks out we put the old straw out the front of the ark where it acts as a doormat. We also scrounged some straw from an old heston bale one of our farmer neighbours had: too damp for him to use but just fine for us! If we had enough building space I'd bring them in - but for our sakes not theirs

[HappyHippy]

We had the Kunes out last year without too many problems, but it's definately been a wetter autumn/winter this year. That and the fact the 'big' pigs are harder on the ground means they've all been brought in this year.
As everyone else has said, it's more for our benefit than theirs as they really don't seem to mind - in fact, we've 2 Kune Kune gilts who keep breaking back out to the field   ( Last year we had 6 pigs through the winter, this year it's 29 !) It's easier to feed, water, replace bedding, check pigs & piglets from the (relative) comfort of the shed - at least it has lights and level floors  Plus when the spring does finally arrive the ground will hopefully recover more quickly 
Karen 

[Roxy]

This is my first winter with the kune kunes.  The mud is terrible - how they walk round on their little short legs is beyond me ....but they do not seem to bother about the mud.  I struggle walking through it with their feed and fresh straw.  I put new straw down twice a day, and put the old bedding round the door to try and soak the mud up.  By the next feeding time the straw is black again, and  I do feel sorry for the girls, but like I said, they seem happy enough.

Two smaller ones are on hard standing, in their big dog kennel, and thats so much better (for them and me!).

[chickenfeed]

This is the first time i have ever kept pigs through the winter and NEVER again

No matter how much straw i put down within a couple of days it a bog. The pigs dont seem to mind but i feel so sad for them up to their belly in mud       Never again

we brought the last of the cattle back last weekend to over winter in the cattle yard rather than the field, before they ended up to their necks in mud. makes life so much easier.

[SallyintNorth]

we brought the last of the cattle back last weekend to over winter in the cattle yard rather than the field, before they ended up to their necks in mud. makes life so much easier.

Our cattle make it very clear when they want to be in and when they want to be out.  Those that are in are loving their comfy cow mattresses and on-tap silage!

Meg-pig never seems to mind the mud except when it's very cold as well - cold and frozen is fine, muddy and not cold seems to be fine, but muddy and cold she seems a bit miz and may just stay in her ark most of the time.  After watching me take dirty straw to make a doormat, she now does that herself, clever girl.  All I have to do is make sure she has plenty of straw to make windbreaks inside the ark as well as a mattress (she sleeps in a deep furrow surrounded by straw walls), and most importantly make sure she has dry straw to lie on - it soon gets damp and cold when she's in and out with wet muddy feet and belly.

[Cinderhills]

After watching me take dirty straw to make a doormat, she now does that herself, clever girl.

That is amazing! 

[Barrett]

We used to have a scaffold business and still have some stock left my OH has build me 1 shed that I use for farrowing, I am after another in the field so my boar (Bob) and the other girls can come in for the winter next year and fatteners left will be fine outside, and as you say it does give the pens a really good rest.

[sausagesandcash]

If you get pallets and some cheap ply, assemble on the ground and place the arc on top. It raises the arc off the ground and saves a fortune in straw. Make sure all of the pallets are covered so a pig can't catch their trotter in it.