Keeping conditions must be correct for the normal growth and health of the livestock. That is why it is important to know how to build a pigsty with your own hands. An ideal building of this type is a corral barn. Shed will be needed for keeping animals in the winter, while the pen is suitable for summer walks. If animals are locked in the barn, this will weaken their health, and during the repair they will have nowhere to keep.
Size calculation
Before you build a pigsty with your own hands, you need to determine how much space is needed for one animal. You must consider how many you intend to contain at the same time. For one pig, 5 square meters will be enough. It is best to keep individuals in separate groups distributed in boxes. For one box, the number of boars should not exceed 5 goals, while sows should not be more than 12.
Pigs that are supposed to be kept on different types of feed can be kept in sections of 25 individuals. This applies to young animals and small piglets. If you decide to build a pigsty on 2 heads with your own hands, then 10 square meters will be enough for this. The parameters mentioned above are designed to ensure that each animal will be in a separate stall.
Design
Walls should be built from sufficiently strong material, only then restless cattle will not be able to destroy them. The building must be equipped with a ventilation system and drains. The roof should have a slope, only then you will exclude the accumulation of precipitation on its surface in the form of rain and snow. The construction concept exists not only for the main barn, but also for the corral. Fencing should be made of wooden poles. The passages between them should be wide enough, only then pasture and cleaning will be convenient.
If you wondered how to make a pigsty with your own hands, then it is important to think about what the floor will be. It is one of the most important components of the building. It should be made as strong and durable as possible. An excellent option for this would be a concrete coating. Wood also works well, but planks must be strong. Concrete floors will be easier to clean. Ground cover is not suitable, as animals can destroy it. Among other things, the soil is not hygienic.
For reference
If you decide to build a pigsty with your own hands, the drawings of which must be prepared by you before starting work, you need to take into account not only the estimated number of goals, but also climatic conditions. It should be remembered that pigs are precocious animals, they grow quickly, so over time there will be a need to sort them by age and weight. For certain weight categories, a certain diet, inventory and place for upkeep is required.
Construction Features
After the general calculation of the area in the barn was made, it is necessary to make a project with some margin. Depending on what material will be the basis of the barn, a foundation should be selected. If you plan to build a pigsty for 2 heads with your own hands, and the walls are supposed to be made of wood, then it is recommended to form the base from the bars, moving the podium 10 centimeters from the ground. As practice shows, a wooden pigsty provides for not so high costs compared to other options. A wooden coating removed from the ground will protect the building from moisture and leakage.
In the event that you decide to opt for a concrete coating, then it should be combined. In the place where the animals will lie, boards should be laid, since pigs are thermophilic. As an alternative, you can lay the floor with bricks, as it is warm compared to concrete. As an additional plus, the brick is the ease of its laying. It is important to ensure the flow of manure and dirt, for this the floor is laid with a slope of 6 centimeters. In its coating, you can make a drain through which it is convenient to wash off dirt and waste. This method, according to farmers, is more practical, because cleaning the crib will be much easier.
Specialist advice
A pigsty with your own hands can be built according to a certain technology, however, it is necessary to remember the heat lovingness of pigs. For adults, the optimum temperature is the limit from +12 to +15 degrees. Whereas piglets should be kept at a mark of +19 degrees. It is important to consider the optimum level of humidity, which should not be more than 70%. To create a comfortable microclimate, a heating system should be carried out in the pigsty. It is best to lay it in an underground space.
Tools and materials for construction
Before starting work on the construction of a pigsty, it is imperative to take care of the availability of materials and tools. Among them: waterproofing, fasteners, drill, tes, cement, crushed stone, sand, as well as materials for walls. The latter may be brick or wood. You will need roofing materials, screws and insulation. However, you can build walls from any available material. The main condition for this is that they are durable. If the insulation is insufficient, then additional insulation can be done using insulating wool or foam.
Important elements of the pigsty - windows and roof
A pigsty with his own hands can be built by any farmer, for this he will not need to have additional knowledge and skills. But each master must know about certain rules in order to comply with them during construction. For example, windows should be 1.6 meters away from the floor surface. It is important to ensure that they can be opened to ventilate the crib. For fresh air will be enough if half of them will open. But drafts adversely affect the health of pigs, animals are susceptible to them, so you need to save the window frames from cracks.
It is important to consider another factor that will determine if a building is of good quality. So, the roof should reliably protect animals from precipitation. It is most often made single-handed. Choosing a roofing material, you can give preference to slate. You should not start construction if you do not know how to equip a ventilation system. Pipes should be led through the roof, through which fresh air will flow. To ensure traction, an exhaust device is installed at the base of the pipe.
DIY construction of a pigsty, the drawings of which are presented in the article, provides for the possibility of removing corrugation instead of a pipe to the street through a roof or wall. It is very convenient to use such a system in the cold season. If the draft is still quite bad, then an increase in its intensity can be achieved by installing a heating device at the base of the pipe.
A pigsty for 50 heads with its own hands will provide for the need to allocate an area of 250 square meters. This figure does not include passages between corrals and places for walking. Windows should not be made too large, otherwise pigs from too much light will be too active and excitable. The premises should be slightly darkened, this will make the animals calm and better affect weight gain. If the pigsty is supposed to be built in an area with a harsh winter, it is best to double glazing.
Seat selection
A pigsty with your own hands can be equipped in accordance with all the rules, but it will not cause inconvenience to a person only if it is sufficiently removed from the premises. This requirement is due to the fact that pig urine contains phosphorus, the vapor of which can adversely affect human health. In addition, the smell will be very unpleasant and noticeable.
Recommendations for the construction of the foundation, walls and roof
It will be easy to build a pigsty with your own hands if you first familiarize yourself with all the rules of the work. For example, the foundation can even be laid out from cinder blocks or pour concrete mortar. In order to extend the life of the walls, the upper part of the base is covered with roofing material. The walls can be built not only of wood and brick, but also of foam concrete, cinder block or sleepers. If the climate in your area is extremely harsh, then inside the walls they are finished with wood, which will become additional insulation.
There is no point in building an attic, since the humidity inside the room will be relatively high. The ceiling is best finished with a waterproofing film, since the effect of moisture on the beams will be fatal.
Internal arrangement
If you decide to build a pigsty for 10 goals with your own hands, it is important to correctly calculate the area of future construction. This can be done by considering the above recommendations. The pens should be partitions with a height of 1.5 meters. This will allow the separation of animals. For example, young animals should be separated to control diet. Sows also need a separate paddock, but boars contain up to 5 goals in one paddock. Most often these are wooden floors, which are cheaper than brick. It is important to fix them firmly, as adults are strong enough and able to break the wall.
When building a pigsty for 10 goals with your own hands, you need to take into account not only that 5 square meters will be needed for one animal, but also that the passage should have a width of 1.5 meters. This indicates that the minimum area should be 50 square meters. In the wall of the aisle, holes must be made to remove waste.
Conclusion
If you are thinking about how to make a pigsty with your own hands, drawings you can be made independently or borrowed from the article. They should definitely reflect the location of the feeders, which should be near the entrance to the pens. However, this is only a wish, not a requirement. It is desirable to make them from wooden boards, which are recommended to be finished with metal sheet.