Chilly weather and Pigs

[bonniethomas06]

Our poor piggies, I just clocked the weather forecast for the weekend - down to -10 at night.

Has anyone kept pigs in the freezing cold before? I hate to think of them down there, shivering in their pig arc - any tips (other than lots of warm straw) to keep them nice and warm in their pig arc when it is freezing outside?

[oldjerry]

Why didn't you ask before?.........Move them in your living room.

Seriously, if the arc is corrugated, or come to think of it ,even if it aint,Small straw bales,side by side on the roof(if it's a classic semi circle roof start at ground level and go right round)Cover with a tarp.I've always done this,you may need up to 10 or 15 bales,Bon but as your'e going to cover them,you can later use them as bedding. BW.

[bill1953]

Failing that good advice old duvets, coats etc will keep some of the cold off. Bring em in! Sure there's nothing better than a roaring fire with a couple of pigs in front of it!

[bonniethomas06]

Hehe, thanks OJ.

The living room would be good, but come to think of it the landlady got a bit annoyed when we had the turkeys in the guestroom that week....(no, really).

I was half tempted to move them to the garage, but they are going off to slaughter on the 13th so they are now too big to risk moving them about, especially as it is near the road! For that reason we only have a few bales left, and I wasn't going to get any more as we are having a little rest from livestock. But I suppose we can use them for something else, they are always useful. Will get some on Saturday. Meanwhile have thrown some old duvets over the top for a bit of insulation.

Bill, do you mean coats for the pigs? I have a few that might fit...could be interesting. Have some old socks as well!!

thanks both.

[Green Aura]

Sure there's nothing better than a roaring fire with a couple of pigs in front of it!

Works for us, and we don't keep livestock

[oldjerry]

Bon,save your dough,take the last couple of bales, open them up and fill the floor of the ark as high as you like,they will borrow right into the middle and completly cover themselves(first time I saw mine do this,I thought they'd run off till the big pile of straw started moving!).This should be ok for a couple of weeks however cold it gets,as long as they can bury themselves and the straw stays dry.BW

[bonniethomas06]

OJ - we scrimped the last of our cash, loaded up the Vauxhall Astra with bales and stuffed the arc full - they loved it!

I took a picture - would upload but the upload thingy thinks they have the wrong file extension, but I did blog about it if you wanna see them in their snuggly glory. I almost got in there with them!:

http://theparttimesmallholder.blogspot.com/

[oldjerry]

Looks just right....save the straw forthe next lot(if your a bit flush around harvest the bales 'll be cheap,and you can always get say100 and build an outside stack on pallets with a tarp over the top).

They look ready to go 60-70 kilos?, good strong animals. BW

Quite like the woolly foot hats too!

[Thomzo]

They look very happy pigs. I bet they'll make lovely bacon.

Zoe

[bill1953]

They look very happy pigs. I bet they'll make lovely bacon.

Zoe

Good job they can't read!