[Fowgill Farm]

I know a lot of you know what you're doing but just thought a few cold weather tips for newbie pig keepers would be advisable given the current temperatures. Minus 8c here this morning
 
Firstly look after you -  wrap up warm when you go out, wear gloves DO NOT touch metal with bare hands, washing up gloves over woolly ones is good. Wear a hat (80% of your body heat goes out thro your 'ead!) and good waterproof footwear.
 
Pigs - check they are warm enough by placing your hand in their armpit, if its warm there they're fine. If you have pigs outside the ground will now be solid full of ruts which they hate walking on this is when they are tempted to wet their beds coz they don't want to walk o the ground as it hurts their trotters so pull some straw out of their ark a to make a big doormat for them to come out and pee/poo on, refresh their ark with dry straw. Keep checking their bed is dry, you don't like a cold wet bed neither do they.
 
Check water as often as you can and try to make sure they get a drink after feeding(pig nuts are high in salt and pigs need to drink to dissolve it) offer a bucket of tepid water if your troughs are frozen and you can they will appreciate it.
 
After that for purely medicinal purposes treat yourself to a whisky infused coffee and a big lump of choccy cake to keep the cold at bay
Mandy

[Marches Farmer]

I offer them a treat at intervals during the day (apple, carrot, that sort of thing) - then they empty themselves while they're outside.  We have concrete runs and sties and I put down straw when ice is forecast, to give them better grip.

[Mrs Snoodles]

thanks FF. the washing glove tip is superb!  I have 3 sets of gloves drying off at the moment so will remember this for tomorrow.

-12 here this morning.  Despite precautions all IBC taps solid.  One has loosened up this afternoon in the sun and now has everything possible wrapped around it. 

Our pigs have been out and about today. It is sunny with no wind so doesn't actually feel too bad.  We've been topping up water from the kitchen sink, 9 buckets in total and a long trek.

We've had to move our  inpig (belly looking good but teats are a little small) Flame LB to a lean-to building.  bedding was sodden and cold and a no go for piglets.  back up tonight to rig up tarpaulin, add in more bale protection.  Hard work today but at least it is beautiful outside.

[P6te]

-12 here this morning.  Despite precautions all IBC taps solid.  One has loosened up this afternoon in the sun and now has everything possible wrapped around it. 

I can't remember where I heard / read it now but if you can get a small heater (typically for a tropical fish tank) and put it in the IBC near to the tap / valve it may keep the water flowing.

Pete

[Mrs Snoodles]

We've tried to heat up the IBC Tap mechanisms to no avail so we've now brought a water bladder that sits in the wheelbarrow.  We are piping hot water into it and pushing it up to the fields. takes about 80 litres which is just about enough for ours per day. Really quite impressed with it, cost about a tenner.

[hughesy]

The bottom wire of our electric fences has been buried in the snow. Not only is it earthed out but the pigs can't see where the normal boundary line is. Just as well they're not straying far from their arks at the moment.