The importance of pig bedding

When prospective buyers of weaners contact us about keeping outdoor pigs for the first time, they often focus how they should feed them and fence them in.

They are often surprised when I tell them after feed and water (more on which another time), the most important routine job is ensuring the pigs are well bedded — day in, day out.

Cold, wet pigs are not happy pigs, healthy pigs or growing pigs. They also need to eat more as they’re burning energy to keep their internal body temperature sufficiently high to survive.

Pigs, and particularly piglets, must have a warm, dry environment where they can escape wind, cold, rain, sleet and snow.

The best way of finding out if your arcs and huts are warm enough, dry enough and draught free is to strip off all your cold weather clothing — down to your underwear if you dare - and get inside.

Ask yourself if the arc feels noticeably warmer than outside? Does it warm up reasonably quickly from body heat alone? Are there breezes blowing over your skin?

When you went inside the hut did it feel noticeably better than the outside environment?

If it doesn’t feel comfortable, the first thing to do is close off any holes to prevent draughts.

Our arcs have skids to the sides, which means the end crossmembers are four inches off the ground and allow cold air to blow in under the end panels.

We pack large stones under the crossmembers, then earth them up. But pigs will nose these out of place so you have to check at least once a day and close any fresh gaps up.

Some arcs have air vents, which need to be closed in cold, windy winter. Always check that they are indeed closed — never assume that they are.

Our arcs have lifting holes cut in the front and back walls. These also need to be blocked and checked daily.

Make sure the arc is correctly sited.

In the northern hemisphere, try to position arcs so the entrance is facing at least partially south with the bulk of the hut backed into the prevailing wind.

Our prevailing winds are from the north-west, so we position the huts with the back wall into the breeze and the entrance facing south-east.

On a cold, windy morning, the pigs like to lie in the entrance with the sun shining on them and watch the world go by.

Again, check the positioning daily. Our boar and his sow/s of the moment often have a bit of argy-bargy and move the hut around.

In more northely and exposed parts of Britain, I think insulated arcs are a must, particularly for sows with piglets.

The inside temperature is more easily maintained at a comfortable temperature and much less bedding is required.

Less bedding is not only a cost saving, but it can also reduce the chances of piglets being crushed as they can more easily scamper out of the way when the sow lies down.

I prefer straw for bedding in arcs as the airspace between the stems and inside them adds enormously to the insulation value.

Wood shavings are fine inside hard-floored, warm buildings — and much easier to muck out — but straw is much better in an arc, especially one without a floor.

We use a whole, small square bale of straw in a 6×8ft arc, breaking it up with a muck fork and building it into a nest.

The straw is packed high against the side walls with a hollow in the middle where the straw is about four inches deep, which quickly packs down to an inch or so under the weight of a pig.

If you’ve reached this point, hopefully you’re still in your thin boilersuit (or skivvies), crouching inside your arc, because now you have to carry out your next assessment.

Sit on the bed of straw or, better still, lie down on it for a few minutes.

Do you feel damp? Are your clothes developing wet patches?

If so, your pigs will be getting wet and if they’re getting wet, they’re getting cold.

The next step is to identify the cause.

If the dampness is simply from a wet pig, all you need to do is remove the wet straw and replace it with fresh, dry material.

If it’s seeping up from the ground, then you need to consider the position of the arc, which should be on slightly higher ground than the surrounding area to encourage drainage.

Arcs should never be at the bottoms of hollows or slopes.

If the water is coming in through the roof, then you need to either find and fill the holes, put sealant or waterproof washes under the fasteners, or re-roof with good overlaps between the joints of roofing panels.

And once again, check daily and check again.

Next, safety. Remember that if your checking or working on an occupied arc, especially one occupied by a sow and piglets, play safe.

You should have someone else around if at all possible, you should have your pigboard to hand, you should have escape routes mapped out, and you should do your checks when the pigs are feeding.

We use a minimum of a square bale of straw per week for an 8×6ft arc, and two bales for 8×10ft arc.

This rises dramatically in wet weather as the pigs tramp mud and water into the arcs.

It rises dramatically with certain sows who are found of “housekeeping” — they like to throw all their straw out every few days.

It rises dramatically when Graham and his sows have a tiff, moving the hut 10 feet or more and leaving the straw exposed to the rain.

It rises dramatically when the lazy Dolores decides to pee in the doorway, instead of going out in the cold and rain (which infuriates the other sow and/or gilts sharing the hut with her, so you then have a lot of biting and biffing to content with as well).

Pigs deserve good bedding and it doesn’t come cheap. We spend at least £15 a week on straw (at £2.50 a small square bale) on average, higher in winter, lower in summer, so this has to be factored in when doing your costings.

It’s not area for shortcuts and it’s the pigkeeper’s responsibility to give their animals a warm, dry environment in which they can thrive, be comfortable and, pragmatically, perform well enough to pay the bills.

If you can’t spend a comfortable 15 minutes in minimal clothing in their arcs, then neither can your pigs.