Features of the floor device for pigs
One of the most important aspects in building a barn is a properly equipped pig floor. There are many methods on how to make a do-it-yourself floor in a pigsty, but for each of them it is extremely important to choose the right materials and perform work according to all standards. For the farm to generate income, it is very important to provide the pigs with comfortable living conditions, and for this they need a warm, well-air-conditioned room.
Pig floor
Varieties of flooring
The floor in the pigsty is made taking into account the size of the barn, as well as based on financial capabilities. Pigsty floors must meet certain requirements:
- be warm; waterproofed; safe; durable;
- the coating must be resistant to disinfectants and pigs' waste products;
Before you make a do-it-yourself floor in a pigsty, you need to look through all the options and choose the most optimal one. First of all, materials for flooring are considered. The pigsty floor can be slatted or solid. The second option is much easier to perform, however, from the point of view of hygiene, it is preferable to make the flooring slit.
The most economical and warmest coating is wood. But wood floors have many drawbacks. Wood quickly absorbs unpleasant odors and swells under the influence of moisture, as a result of which the process of decay begins, which can negatively affect the health of pigs. Disinfection and cleaning of the premises with such a coating is greatly complicated. Pigs have inherited from their wild relatives the ability to dig holes, such a coating they can easily tear off with their teeth.
A brick floor in a pigsty is the best option. The coating will not be too cold and the pigs will not be able to damage it. The bricks are laid with a herringbone, and the remaining space is poured with cement. The only negative is the high price. Although, given that the wood coating will have to be changed often, it is better to spend money once and make it solid.
Most often, pigsty floors are made of concrete. This flooring can last for at least 15 years. It is great for a large pig farm, but if a couple of pigs live in a pigsty, then it is better to prefer another option. The concrete pavement is very cold, so it is completely unsuitable for keeping sows with offspring. The heating problem can be solved by using layers of heat-insulating material at the filling stage.
How to insulate a cement coating?
When doing the floor in a concrete pigsty with your own hands, you need to make a depression in the ground about 40 cm over the entire area of the room. After tamping and leveling, about 10 cm of crushed stone is poured, then there is a sand layer, which is spilled with water. This is necessary for a good compaction.The sand is added until the distance between the pebbles is so full that no footprints remain when stepped on.
After careful compaction, a layer of waterproofing is applied. It can be a regular plastic wrap. Then comes thermal insulation in the form of expanded clay or granular foam glass. After tamping, make a concrete screed of at least 3 cm.
The concrete pavement should be made at a slight slope, and also equipped with a ditch into which the feces will drain. From the ditch, feces and urine will flow into the drainage pit. Such arrangement of the floor covering will allow you to easily clean the room from the watering hose.
To additionally insulate the room, you can make a slotted covering of boards over the concrete screed. Such a move will help not only solve the problem with insulation, but also automate the cleaning process.
Slotted coating
It is preferable to make the floors in the barn slotted. This design assumes the automation of manure removal. The bottom line is that through special holes, sewage enters the lower section. Pigs go to the toilet in one place, and not around the entire perimeter of the room, so this design is the best option. The bottom compartment must be at least 60 cm deep.
The slots can be placed not over the entire floor area, but only in the place where the pigs will go to defecate. It is recommended to make a continuous flooring near the feeders so that the food that falls out of them does not mix with the manure. The lower compartment should be made with a slope towards the drain pit. Slit floors can be:
- plastic;
- concrete;
- metal.
Plastic floors have been produced not so long ago, however, due to their reasonable price and practicality, they began to be massively used in private households. Piglets can be kept on such a surface. Features of the material allow you to make a full-fledged warm flooring in the barn with your own hands at a minimal cost.
The metal cover is preferable for the room in which the uterus and piglets will be kept. The coolness of the metal soothes the nursing sow. Better to use a combined metal and plastic flooring. First, a reinforcing mesh is put, and plastic panels are added on top.
Slotted flooring
Concrete flooring, although durable, is very cold and will require additional heating, as a result of which you will have to spend a lot of money on electricity bills. It is better to make a slotted coating of galvanized sheets or cast iron. The sheet thickness must be at least 5 mm. The number of blanks is calculated depending on the area of the room, taking into account the fact that the distance between the logs will be 10-20 mm, otherwise the limbs of the piglets will get stuck in the floor. Then it will be necessary to make a grid from the prepared strips, which can cover the entire area of the machine.
The pre-prepared strips are welded with an overlap, collecting all the parts into a single structure. In the area where the pigs will rest, it is best to use a warmer material such as plastic or wood. To avoid sagging of the flooring, you need to install at least 5 supports, or even a little more. At the end of all work, feeders are placed in one part of the room, and a warm bedding is placed in the other. On the slatted floor, the pigs will defecate. To simplify the cleaning of the room, you can make a removable flooring, and instead of a metal grate, use ready-made plastic structures.
Construction technology
What sex the pigs will have in the pigsty depends only on the efforts made by the owner. When performing work on laying the pavement, it is necessary to take into account the slope, and also calculate in advance the size of the gutter. If you do not follow these rules, then you will have to remove feces manually, which will take a lot of time and effort. In addition, you should choose a material that will be able to withstand all animals living in the room.
Before starting work on the construction of the flooring, it is necessary to dig a nutrient drain. To do this, a ditch is dug with the length from the room itself to the pit, making it sloping towards the pit. A drainpipe is placed in the moat, through which waste will flow. On average, the drain should be 5 cm below the floor level in the room. The pipe is covered with rags, covered with rubble and sand, and then poured with concrete.
During construction, the distance from the walls to the center of the building is measured and the amount of material for the floor covering is calculated based on these measurements. The best option is to make the lower compartment of concrete, and at a height of 60 cm from it, place a slatted floor from any material that is suitable for the price. To prevent the lags from sagging, you need to install as many support mounts as possible. When keeping piglets in a shed, the distance between the slots should not exceed 20 mm, otherwise the legs of the babies will constantly fall into the holes.
If only adults are kept in the shed, then the distance between the slots can be made 1 centimeter. The slotted construction is the most correct option from the point of view of sanitary standards. Plus, this arrangement of the flooring saves a lot of time on cleaning.
Final part
The pig farm is considered to be the most profitable today. For a pig farm to generate a stable income, it is necessary to provide adult gilts and piglets with everything they need. The most important thing is a warm house in which the pigs will not be cold in winter. One of the important points in the construction of a building is the foundation and flooring, because it is on the floor that animals go to the toilet, and inadequate hygiene and cold flooring can lead to infection of the livestock with infectious diseases. For more detailed information, you can watch the training video material.
Each breeder selects materials for flooring independently, based on their capabilities. Nevertheless, there are sanitary standards that require certain rules to be followed when laying the foundation and arranging the flooring. Warmer flooring materials should be used to keep the piglets together with the uterus. The safest option in all plans is a slotted coating made of combined materials: metal and plastic.
To begin with, they make a drain pit and dig a trench from the barn to the pit. A pipe is placed in the trench, through which the waste of feces will flow. The drain should be 5 cm below the floor. Then the lower compartment is poured with concrete and it is calculated how many supports are needed so that the slatted floor does not sag. For the upper part, you can use galvanized sheets, which are cut into strips and the mesh is welded from them.
Having laid the mesh on the supports, further arrangement is continued. Near the feeders, the floor can also be made solid in the place where the pigs will rest. The pigs do not shit around the entire perimeter of the barn, but they do it only in a certain place. At this point, you can make the floor slatted, and the rest of the space solid. This will keep the room warm without using additional heating.
Today, a flooring lattice made of plastic has become in demand. The material is warm, washes well and does not deteriorate from exposure to waste products of pigs, as well as disinfestants. Many firms offer a wide range of ready-made structures at an affordable price. There are a lot of options for making a floor in a pigsty, and each breeder can choose the one that suits him.