I don’t have a picture to show you of our sow living in her new digs, but I will get one soon. As with everything on the farm this project took a little longer than expected, but the main thing is that it is done and she still hasn’t farrowed yet. She seems to love the little hut because she has only come out a few times a day since I put it in there on Sunday, of course she looks like she is about ready to pop so that might have something to do with the fact that she likes laying around and hanging out in the hut.
The hut ended up being a very basic A-Frame that is eight feet long and seven feet wide at the base. There is a door in the front that I can close and latch if I need to check the pigs and want her out, or if it is cold and I want her in. The back as a drop down vent that I can open to get some of the warm air out and provide some air circulation. Other than those details the entire thing is just covered with 1/2″ treated plywood and it stays dry inside (I know because it rained quite a bit last night).
One thing that I already know I’ll probably change in the future is to put it on some skids that are a bit more substantial that pine 2×4’s and maybe even try to use oak instead of the pine period. I had also looked at the possibilities of making one of the sides hinged so I could have easy access to the pigs, but with the materials that I had at the time I didn’t like any of my options.
The great thing about this design is that I can use it as a test. I can see what works and doesn’t work and then I can make whatever improvements I need to make on the next one. Now, all I have to do is wait for some pigs to be born … we just keep checking.
