[gavin davies]

  hi everyone as my earlier posts says the pigs are totally covered in mud and really loving it from what I think but when I went up earlier it is getting really bad there and most of the straw I put down outside the sleeping area has basically sunk in I am thinking about putting some concrete slabs down over half of the area so they will have somewhere clean to walk it will also be easier for me to get to where there feeding area is as they tipped the container over with their food in earlier and it was a hell of a mess all over them by the time they finsished I was thinking about this before I put them in there as I am waiting for a fine few days to fence of the rest of the are they have so there will be no shortage of mud and dirt when they get to the other are in a few week what are peopled thoughts would it be worth doing or just let them roll around in the mud

[Tregwyr]

My concern is that they wouldn't be able to get enough of their feed if it sinks into the mud, so I think fencing the other area is worth it. Also, it might be worth making an untippable trough - my OH bolted 2 x 1 metre length pieces of tanalised decking board to each end of a galvanised feeding trough to make an H shape; they haven't managed to tip it over yet!

[P6te]

Hi Gavin,

Regarding putting slabs down ... personally I wouldn't recommend slabs unless you have some deep edging whether it be concrete or slabs on edge to prevent the pigs digging them up. I think in a previous post you mentioned the pigs were 8 months old. As that age slabs will be little more then a game of domino's .. see what was done to some slabs I had down last summer!

[Bionic]

Yep, my slabs looked much the same 

[Hassle]

Paving slabs are a nice idea 

[Button End Beasts]

Yes our slabs got chucked around and then buried in deep sticky mud. It was almost impossible to get them out again. We had to wait until there were no pigs and the soil had dried out!

[HappyHippy]

We've got some very successful 'slab installations' (and one that's not so successful - like the photo's  )
What seems to have worked for us is - once the ground is a bit sticky/muddy lay the slabs on top and squash them down so they're really well bedded in the mud and level, then you have to keep the pigs off them til the ground dries up and the result is absolutely solid, stuck slabs that can't be moved 

But, you do have to keep the pigs off the slabs and the ground does need to dry out for this to work - if not they get trashed (but with 8 month old Kunekunes they're not going to get that trashed  ) We've got 2 platforms of 6, 2x2 slabs which have survived for 3 years (even through the very wet year last year) with all sizes and breeds of pigs.
HTH
Karen 

[Marches Farmer]

Our farm was a small, intensive pig unit before we moved here and we have our pigs in some of the old housing, which has 1:20 sloping concrete runs draining into a slurry pit and they're brilliant.  I've seen pigs this Winter on what was once scalpings but their legs were pink and almost hairless up to their knees due to being in freezing mud for so long.  Money is always a consideration but I guess a sloping "raft" of concrete would do an adequate job for those in an earth pen.

[Fowgill Farm]

Hmm you think they like the mud   No they just put up with it becoz thats what there is.
Options nowhere you can bring them into(eg barn, stables etc for respite i take it or you would have done that by now
Straw as you have found soon gets churned in especially if your paddocks have turned to slurry which by the sound of it they have, pigs don't like wading thro cold wet dirty mud to do anything and will be miserable, contrary to belief pigs are very clean animals who only roll in mud when they are warm or they want to cleanse their skin of bugs.  If you can move them to new ground thats the best option though that will in the current climate quickly go slurry too. Your best bet is to keep piling in the straw if you can put it on top of branch cuttings/prunings (not thorny) this gives it a bit of a framework to sit on, concrete slabs as seen above soon get lifted thrown and broken leading to injuries either to you or your pigs feet, chippings further compound the slurry like soup. If you can let your pigs out of their mud hell for a while to another part of your holding even for an hour a day it will help. Its been an awful winter i know and i'm lucky my pigs come into the farmyard from the fields but i really do think pig keepers need do some thinking/planning and have a plan B in place for this kind of circumstance.
Mandy

[Bionic]

Yes our slabs got chucked around and then buried in deep sticky mud. It was almost impossible to get them out again. We had to wait until there were no pigs and the soil had dried out!

I've had no pigs since Sept and I am still waiting for the ground to dry out so that I can pick up the broken slabs 

[domsmith]

You defo need to have a dry standing. they will put up with mud but they cant be really happy. you will be wasting so much food feeding in mud.
we use the solway recycling stockboard. it comes in 8*4 sheets about 9mm thick. we put about 6 sheets down and then an ark on top. the whole lot kind of floats on the mud. they are really awkward to move so the pigs struggle as well. but we have never had them moved or flipped by the pigs.
the boards are in destructable, and thats true, never had one chewed or damaged. we use the boards for all sorts, lining cattle and sheep races etc

just an idea

dom

[Mrs Snoodles]

They don't like the mud especially when cold I'm sure ..... but then I don't really understand why they don't spend more time on grassier dryer areas within their paddocks.  We have sections that are horrible slurry like and really fine patches.  Guess where we find them?

[jellybean]

They dont mind the mud, but there is a limit when feeding. a trough suspended from the fence might be the option or some pallets with some strong tin (tech screwed on) on them added to the sloppy areas and raised by one or by two to allow feed to be put on the tin and for pigs to eat from there. You need to make sure they  cannot push them around by stabliizing them with posts and wire.   Pine pallets are fantastic for this and huts and anything else you can think to do with them.