Breeding pigs is quite profitable, but also troublesome. The farmer, among other things, should think about building a suitable room for animals. In most cases, at first, budding entrepreneurs acquire no more than 50-100 pigs. To build a pigsty for so many animals is not too difficult. At the same time, construction costs pay off quite quickly.
Where to build a pigsty?
According to the regulations, the construction of pigsties is allowed no closer than 15 meters from residential buildings. But it is better, of course, to erect this structure even further. After all, the smell from the pigsty, even regularly cleaned, can be very strong. Among other things, when choosing a place to build such a destination, one should also take into account such factors:
- The pigsty should be located on a hill.
- You can not build such structures near water bodies.
- There should be a convenient access to the pigsty.
Of course, such a structure should be built including near the power line. Also, next to the pigsty there should be enough space for installing a septic tank under the manure and drilling wells for water supply.
Layout Features
The construction of pigsties should be carried out with the preliminary preparation of the project. When developing such a document, first of all, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the content of this particular variety of farm animals. If the farmer intends to raise pigs not only for meat, but also for the purpose of selling pedigree producers, the construction will have to be divided into two parts - breeding and fattening. In the first, it is necessary to equip places for cows and queens with piglets. In the feed zone, machine tools for animals and feeders are installed.
In addition to pens and areas for breeding, the following should also be equipped in the pigsty:
- The room for staff.
- Warehouses for inventory and feed.
- A platform for weighing animals.
- Boiler room.
- Feed preparation room.
Pig machines should be spacious enough. Ideally, if one animal has about 2.5 m 2 of free space. Given the walkways and utility rooms, farmers usually practice the construction of a pigsty for 100 animals with an area of at least 300 squares. About 50 m 2 will be sufficient for 50 piglets.
Machine Tools
Pigs are traditionally considered not too clean animals. However, to a greater extent this is a fallacy. Piglets, like other farm animals, prefer to live in clean and dry rooms. Even pigs defecate always go to the same place. In any case, the machine should include: a feeding area, a den, a section for defecation.
Do-it-yourself pigsty construction : what walls should be
Of course, when drawing up the project, one should also determine what materials will be used for the construction of the structure. The walls of the pigsty can be built, for example, of wood or brick. But most often, such buildings are still built from blocks. Using the material of this variety, you can get the most durable and at the same time not too expensive construction.
A pigsty built from blocks is preferably insulated with mineral wool or expanded polystyrene. As an external casing, it is cheaper to use a professional sheet.
Foundation construction
In order for the pigsty to serve for a long time, of course, a reliable foundation should be built under it. The choice of the type of foundation for such a structure, as for any other, depends primarily on the characteristics of the soil in this particular area. Most often, the construction of a pigsty for 50 goals or more involves pouring the base in the form of a powerful reinforced concrete tape. Sometimes columnar foundations with a grillage are also arranged under such structures.
Roof
Roofing on structures of this specialization is usually arranged on a pitched roof. Building pigsties is quite expensive. But if you wish, you can save a little by choosing not too beautiful, but rather reliable materials for such a building. If it is best to use inexpensive blocks for walls, then for roof sheathing - slate. You can also paste over the roof and just roofing material. But in any case, like walls, the roof of the pigsty should definitely be insulated.
What material to choose for the floor?
Piglets do not tolerate cold well. Therefore, in small pigsties for a couple of heads, warm wooden floors are usually arranged. However, unfortunately, for buildings with a significant area and designed for the maintenance of a large population, this option is completely unsuitable. The fact is that pigs really love to gnaw wood. At the same time, in the pigsties themselves it is usually quite damp, which is why the surface of the boards softens. And this, in turn, greatly facilitates the task of animals to destroy them.
Therefore, in large pigsties, designed for 50-100 heads, the floors are usually poured with cement mortar in the sand (with reinforcement). But since the material is cold, wooden shields are additionally laid in the dens of the machines on top of the concrete in the dens of the machines . Their pigs, of course, can also hurt. But at the same time, replacement is much cheaper than repairing the entire floor. Actually the concrete coating in the machines should be poured with a slope of at least 5 degrees towards the aisle.
Pigsty windows
The premises for pigs should not only be clean and dry, but also sufficiently light. The optimal window size for such a structure is 1x1.5 m. In this case, the glazing in the pigsty should be double. Otherwise, in winter, the farmer will have to spend heavily on heating. Position the windows in the pigsty at a height of about 1.2-1.5 m from the floor.
Features of the arrangement of ventilation
The construction of cowsheds, pigsties and poultry houses of a large area is rather complicated, because such buildings need to be equipped accordingly. So, for example, the biological feature of pigs is that they produce a lot of gases during fattening. But at the same time, they themselves do not tolerate polluted air too well. In such conditions, piglets gain weight much worse and get sick more often. Therefore, when drawing up a pigsty project, you should also consider the ventilation device.
In a room designed for 100 heads, 5 shafts with a diameter of 60x60 cm are usually made along the perimeter of the ceiling. In this case, the ducts are led to the roof - into the ventilation gap. The recommended diameter of the sleeves for such systems is 20x10 cm. In a pigsty for 50 heads of supply shafts, you can, of course, make it smaller.
Heating
If the air temperature in winter at the location of the pigsty drops below -25 C, additional heating must be provided in the premises. To do this, you will need to equip the boiler room. As for the wiring, then in the pigsty you can equip the usual inexpensive single-tube system with natural circulation.
Water pipes
The construction of pigsties, convenient and durable, involves the arrangement of this variety of engineering systems (for watering animals and cleaning with a hose). Unfortunately, centralized networks near the facilities are rare. Therefore, to provide them with water, a well is usually drilled. Sometimes they are equipped with several. Of course, it is not necessary to equip a hot water supply system in a pigsty. Cold will be enough.
Sewerage
In a 50-head facility, manure can be removed manually. In the building, designed for 100 pigs, it is better to install special conveyors - scraper and inclined. With their help, manure can be fed directly to the tractor trailer. Farm waste can be stored simply in a large pit. But it is better to equip a septic tank with bacteria near the pigsty.
What other materials can you build from?
Recently, in the assembly of structures of this specialization, various modern technologies are often used. For example, the construction of pigsties from metalwork is practiced. Buildings of this type, in addition to not too high cost, also have the following advantages:
- Convenient distribution of internal space.
- Long service life.
- Easy installation.
- Good microclimate.
Among other things, pigsties from metal structures pay for themselves pretty quickly.
Conclusion
Of course, building a large pigsty for 50 or 100 goals with your own hands is quite difficult. In any case, one person will certainly not cope with this task. Therefore, most often novice farmers still prefer to hire specialists and order the construction of turnkey pigsties. In this case, of course, you will have to spend more, but it will be possible to do the actual breeding of animals much faster. Moreover, in fully equipped rooms.
Of course, when choosing a company carrying out such work, first of all, you should make sure of its good reputation. Entrusting a company with such a thing as building pigsties, you should definitely read reviews about it on the Internet beforehand. For example, farmers have a good opinion about companies such as AgroProm Konstruktsiya and RosAgroStroy.