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If the owner of a private plot plans to breed pigs and chickens, he needs a well-equipped barn. A temporary building for these purposes is not suitable, because indoors you need to create a favorable microclimate and comfortable conditions even in winter. However, you can save some money here. You can build a barn for chickens and pigs one common. It will only be necessary to properly plan and equip it inside. Now we will try to find answers to the question of how to build a barn for pigs with our own hands, and take a corner in it for keeping chickens.
What you need to know about the pigsty
The construction of a barn for pigs is much more complicated than for chickens alone. First of all, you need a reliable floor, as these animals are very fond of digging with their snout. And just a flat surface will not work. It is necessary to provide gutters through which waste will be discharged, and there will be a lot of them.
A lot of ammonia vapors are released from pig manure. It is impossible to get rid of it without supply and exhaust ventilation. Exhaust ducts need to be planned at the development stage of the pigsty project.
Now let’s determine the size of the barn. Here you must immediately take into account that the plan depends entirely on the costs that the owner can bear. Chickens do not need a lot of space, although it all depends on the breed. Average per 1 m2 You can keep two adult birds. But with pigs, the issue is more complicated, since they need a more spacious barn. Even the layout of the barn depends on the purpose for which you will grow pigs. For example, if it is supposed to keep a sow with young animals, then the machines should not be made of the same type with different sizes of free space.
When calculating the size of the corral, they rely on the following requirements:
- For a young pig without offspring, 2 m2 area. If the design of the pigsty allows you to take the pig 2,5 m2, then it will only be in favor.
- The pen for the sow and piglets is made spacious. They are given an area of at least 5 m2.
- If it is intended to keep a boar for breeding offspring, then the size of its corral will be approximately the same as that of a sow.
The walls of the corral must be at least one and a half meters high, otherwise the pigs will be able to jump over them. If it is planned to make stalls in two rows, then a passage between them is provided with a width of at least 1,5 m.
The layout in the pigsty must be done in such a way that it is convenient to remove manure. It is important to provide water supply and artificial heating of the barn for the winter. To avoid high heating costs, the pigsty must be insulated.
When drafting a barn, it is necessary to correctly calculate the size of the windows, and not their number. The sum of their area should not exceed the floor area. If a lot of light enters the barn, the pigs become irritable. If the territory of the yard allows the construction of additional buildings, then you need to make a summer paddock. Here the pigs will walk during the day, and enter the barn only at night.
Do-it-yourself pigsty construction
So, we figured out the requirements, now let’s look at how to make a barn for pigs and chickens on our site. To build a good barn, you need to develop a project, the basis of which is an accurate drawing of the building. In the photo, we gave an example of a pigsty scheme and its internal layout.
The barn is designed for keeping young animals, boars and sows. If it is planned to build a small pigsty only for raising piglets for fattening, then you will have to build another drawing with individually calculated dimensions.
Laying the foundation of a barn for pigs and chickens
The construction of a barn for pigs and chickens begins with laying the foundation. The construction will be capital, therefore, the foundation for it must be reliable. It is optimal to pour a strip foundation under the pigsty. Its device is not complicated, which is confirmed by the diagram in the photo, but it will take a lot of work.
Work begins with marking the territory, after which they dig a trench about 800 mm deep. In width, it should be several centimeters more than the thickness of the walls. Formwork is installed around the trench, a sand cushion 150–200 mm thick is poured, the bottom and walls are covered with roofing material, after which concrete is poured.
The construction of the walls of the barn is started no earlier than in two weeks. During this time, the concrete will gain strength.
Building the walls of the barn
Reliable walls of the pigsty will be obtained from cinder block, brick or rubble stone. Farms can build sheds from reinforced concrete slabs. For a small household, you can build a barn from boards and timber.
It does not matter what material was chosen, but the walls of the pigsty must keep the heat inside the room. To do this, they are insulated with foam or mineral wool. You can do this from the inside or outside. The first method is not very effective, since a lot of free barn space is taken up with an increase in wall thickness.
Windows are placed at a height of 1,5 m from the floor. At least most of them need to be equipped with loops. Through the opening windows, the barn is ventilated.
We equip the roof and ceiling of the pigsty
The optimal height of a home pigsty is 2 m. This allows you to conveniently clean the barn, as well as heat it up faster in winter. The ceiling in the pigsty is required. It is very convenient to use reinforced concrete floor slabs in the construction of such sheds. They simultaneously play the role of a ceiling and a roof.
If there are no plates, then the ceiling is knocked out with boards to the floor beams. From above it is insulated with mineral wool or foam. You can use natural material: sawdust, straw, hay. The roof of the pigsty is better to make a shed. So less heat will escape through the attic. If you decide to build a gable roof, you need to be prepared for additional costs. In addition to the ceiling, you will also have to insulate the roof, plus build a complex truss system.
Arrangement of the floor in the barn
The floor in the barn must be done correctly, otherwise the cleaning of manure will become more difficult and the pigs will always be dirty. The type of flooring depends on the choice of material. If a tree is chosen, then the floor is made in the form of a podium. Logs from a bar are laid to a height of 100 mm from the ground, after which a board 50 mm thick is sewn.
The concrete floor in the pigsty is considered the most reliable, but it is better to make it combined. Pigs, and especially sows, need warmth. Where they will sleep, a section of the floor is covered with boards, and the rest of the area is concreted.
The design of any floor should have a slope that makes it easier to clean up waste. Slotted floors are practiced on farms. For this, reinforced concrete gratings are laid on the concrete floor. Through the slots, the waste enters the lower floor, where it is discharged into specially equipped channels. However, for a home pigsty, this technology will be expensive.
The interior of the barn
So, the barn has already been built, now let’s look at how to properly equip it inside. Of the finishing works, only whitewashing of the entire room with lime is provided. Next, proceed to the formation of pens and the installation of feeders.
Installation of partitions and feeders
To make a pen for pigs, you need to install partitions inside the barn. For their manufacture, durable material is used. Most often, steel gratings are welded from a pipe, a profile and a corner. As an option, you get strong cinder block partitions. It is possible to pour monolithic walls from concrete. There are many options. It all depends on the owner’s budget. In extreme cases, pens can be fenced with wooden partitions, but their service life is limited to a few seasons.
The summer pen for pigs is a fenced area near the barn. It is equipped from the side of the front door. The simplest version of the corral is metal or concrete poles driven into the ground. A steel mesh is stretched between the posts. Moreover, it must be dug in from below, otherwise the pigs will dig and crawl out of the pen.
Feeders are placed in such a way as to provide free access for pigs and humans for maintenance. Bunker-type designs are very popular, allowing rational use of feed.
Pigsty ventilation
A lot of harmful fumes, especially ammonia, are emitted from the waste. If they are not taken out of the barn, the pigs will start to get sick. Part of the fumes can be removed by ventilation, but in winter a lot of heat will escape through open windows and the door. In addition, a draft is obtained inside the barn, causing colds in pigs.
The problem can be solved only with the arrangement of the ventilation of the barn. In a large pigsty, it is optimal to install an industrial forced-type ventilation system. All fumes will be pulled out by electric fans. In a homemade small pigsty, a home-made supply and exhaust ventilation of two pipes is installed.
Heating and lighting
The pigs themselves generate heat, but in cold winters it may not be enough. The temperature during the most severe frosts inside the barn should not fall below +5оC. It is optimal to maintain it within 13–22оC. In the pen with the sow must be at least +28оC. To maintain this temperature, potbelly stoves or electric heaters are placed inside the barn.
Be sure to take care of artificial lighting. The lamps are hung in protective shades so that the pigs cannot reach them.
A piggery shown on video:
Conclusion
That’s all the secrets of building a barn for keeping pigs. If chickens live with the pigs, a corner is set aside for them inside the pigsty. There you need to install feeders, perches and nests. It is important to ensure the safety of the bird by installing a mesh partition so that it does not get to the pigs, otherwise they can tear the chicken apart.