Varieties of bedding for pigs
Pig raising is one of the most profitable businesses. Successful breeding of animals is based on providing the most comfortable living conditions for piglets and adults. It is recommended to use natural pig bedding in the pigsty. This option is considered the least expensive.
Pig bedding
Technological side
The content when using litter for pigs is similar to the principle of the dry closet. Special bacteria are placed directly into the layer of sawdust or other biomaterial, which break down the waste products of pigs, as a result of which the required amount of heat is released into the atmosphere.
The use of litter for pigs involves a number of rules:
- the room must be well ventilated;
- the use of concrete flooring is not allowed;
- it is necessary to exclude the appearance of drafts;
- it is important to ensure proper drainage of the soil;
- the air temperature in the room should not fall below zero.
Fermentation litter for pigs avoids the need to build a solid building. It can be made from a conventional metal frame and covered with an awning. An important point in the application of the method is the diet of the pigs. The feed should contain at least 50% fiber. It is this percentage that increases fermentation, which in turn enhances heat transfer.
What is bedding material
Bio litter for pigs is a flooring of various types of natural materials, such as:
- straw with all kinds of cereal plants;
- hay;
- sawdust.
To ensure the desired effect, special preparations containing coprophages are placed in the dry layer of the biomaterial. These are special microorganisms that are able to process the waste products of animals. This method allows you to eliminate unpleasant odors from the room and heat the barn in the winter without using additional electrical devices.
Keeping pigs on a deep bed is the safest method of raising pigs. The principle of its operation consists in an uninterrupted chain of chemical reactions, as a result of which the fermentation process is activated. The permanent bedding always stays dry.
The deep litter for pigs is placed on a clean, disinfected floor. Initially, a layer of biomaterial is laid (approximately 20 cm). Coprophages are poured on top of the drug. Fermentation permanent bedding is laid at a temperature of 5 to 10 ° C. As the flooring gets wet, new layers are added and the preparation is poured in.
Features of use
Fermentable non-replaceable bedding can last about 4 years, provided that the pigs are constantly in the barn. If the animals are not in the pigsty for 3 weeks, all bacteria will die, because they will not have a food source.
After laying the layers, the litter for pigs with bacteria in the pigsty starts working after 3 days.
Farming livestock requires much more flooring than poultry. In a pigsty, the layer thickness can be from 50 cm to a meter. One of the main advantages of the method of breeding pigs on an irreplaceable bedding is its availability: you can buy drugs in any store, and their price is more than democratic.
How to grow pigs using the presented method
Raising pigs using bionastil implies their constant presence in the room, otherwise the bacteria will have nothing to eat and they will die.
Keeping pigs on deep litter offers several options:
- walking;
- pasture;
- stall.
Breeding by pasture is practiced mostly in summer. The herd is formed from same-sex individuals of the same age. In large farms, free range is automated. In addition to juicy green pasture, the diet of gilts should contain dry compound feed containing a large amount of fiber.
The stall method is used during the cold season. With this method of keeping the room, you need to install a dehumidifier. The barn should be equipped with a ventilation system so that waterlogging does not cause infection.
Deep bedding has a huge number of advantages:
- saving financial and energy costs on hygiene of the premises;
- dissolution of waste products in 24 hours;
- elimination of unpleasant odors, preventing the appearance of dirt and increasing air humidity;
- maximum approximation of the conditions of detention to the natural habitat;
- reduction of emission of ammonia vapors into the atmosphere and pollution of groundwater.
When to clean and what to do
When keeping on non-replaceable bedding in pig breeding, it is also necessary to take care of stable room hygiene. It is necessary to do the cleaning of waste materials on time. On average, the bacterial litter lasts 4 years. The final stage of its use is very easy to determine by its appearance.
At the end of its service life, the biomaterial poorly absorbs moisture and does not process feces, as a result of which an unpleasant odor appears in the room. In 4 years, the compost layer in a pigsty reaches a meter height. This amount of waste material needs to be disposed of somewhere. Unsurprisingly, many breeders ask if it can be used as a vegetable garden fertilizer.
In the manufacture of preparations, natural bacteria are used, therefore, all compost can be used as fertilizer. Even if someone is embarrassed by the presence of bacteria in the waste material, after 3 weeks they will still die, because they will have nothing to eat. This compost is excellently stored.
What the townsfolk say
Feedback from those who keep pets on non-removable flooring is mostly positive. Growing on deep decking offers many benefits. For example, it is not at all necessary to spend a fortune on equipping a solid building, you can build a metal frame and cover it with an awning. The size of such a room can be freely adjusted.
You need to change the litter every 4 years or when a new livestock settles. It is not necessary to constantly remove the waste material, it is enough to underlay a small layer of biomaterial when wet. The litter is always warm and dry, which helps to increase the immunity of the gilts. Due to the processing of the entire volume of feces and urine by bacteria, there is no characteristic unpleasant odor in the premises. Inside the litter, a high temperature regime is constantly maintained within 40 ° C, therefore, rodents and insect pests never start in such rooms.
On such a bed, you can keep not only adult animals, but also piglets.Breeders note that the price of preparations for creating fermentation bedding is more than acceptable, which is good news. The whole process is based on the natural reaction of biomaterials with bacteria, so the compost can be used as fertilizer after the expiration date. In addition, due to the presence of bacteria, fertilizer can be stored for much longer than ordinary manure.
Final part
Pig breeding is often costly, especially when it comes to building and setting up a pigsty. Not so long ago, the technology of keeping pigs on deep non-replaceable bedding came to us from the East, which allows us to significantly reduce costs and simplify maintenance. The essence of the method is to lay a layer of shavings, sawdust, straw or hay on the disinfected floor covering mixed with special preparations containing coprophagous bacteria. Reacting with feces and urine, bacteria completely break them down in a day, releasing heat into the atmosphere. In the deepest layers, the temperature remains at 40 ° C.
The chemical process allows pigs to be kept indoors even in winter without special heating. Warm bedding can last for several years before needing to be completely replaced. The high temperature inside the fermentation bed allows you to forever forget about the appearance of rodents and other pests that carry all kinds of diseases. The main thing is that animals are periodically in the room, otherwise the coprophages will die, and the bedding will have to be replaced ahead of time. Almost all breeders who have tested the drug unanimously say that there is nothing better than keeping on a deep litter. The video explains in detail how to install deep flooring.
Agriculture is a waste-free production in which everything can be used, but many breeders, not having enough information, are worried about what to do with the waste biomaterial. The answer to the question is very simple: compost can be used as fertilizer, because coprophages do not harm the environment.
When using the method, pigs need to be fed concentrated feed with a high fiber content to maintain the heat effect when the waste reacts with bacteria. A lot of advantages make the method of keeping more and more in demand every day.