PLANNING A PIGGERY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 39, 11 June 1947, Page 6

PLANNING A PIGGERY

GOOD ADVICE TO FARMERS GETTING PIG LORRIES IN “Only too often I see good, well-constructed piggeries, into which a lot of time and money has been put, marred by lack of thought as to how the lorries , were to get in and out.” This was the opening remark in the recent broadcast from IYA prepared by Mr A. F. Barwell,. Supervisor of the Bay of Plenty District Pig Council.

Many farmers who were unable, because of the power cuts, to listenin will be interested to read the text of Mr Barwell’s address, which was as follows: —

The subject of my talk tonight is “Points to remember in planning the location of a farm piggery.” I would like to point out some of the pitfalls into which the inexperienced may fall. To quote a case in point to illustrate my meaning, in a certain district a farmer had, his piggery situated on the far side 7 of a stream. He had carefully studied such points as prevaling winds, shade and shelter, plenty of clean running water, and open grazing. A major point he had entirely overlooked was that at times, the stream would have so much water in it as to be impassable by a lorry, and further that when the big “top-decker” was to be used it could not get near the loading race because of’trees and branches, while the trees couldn’t be felled without smashing the piggery. There have been times when the lorry has attempted to ford the stream and has been well and truly stuck.

You can imagine what would b.e the feelings of both the lorry-driver and the farmer when unloading pigs in mid-stream to lighten the lorry. Think of the useless energy expended andi the valuable time lost. Happily, that site has now been abandoned, but what apity the farmer didn’t foresee the difficulties of loading before building the piggery on the other side of the stream.

No matter how good the site may be in other ; respects if it hasn’t got an easy way in and out all the year round, forget about that site and look for one somewhere else; so be warned, and avoid at all costs creeks and drains that are ,subject to flooding. s ' Avoid the Cow-yard Another common failing along these lines is to have access to the pig-pens through the cow-yard. This is not quite so bad as having a creek to cross, but in the early spring months,, when the outside yard is a foot deep in mud, lorries are apt to get stuck, besides churning and cutting up I know of two farms like this where the lay of the land is such that it cannot be avoided, but when planning a new piggery try to avoid it, if possible. Sometimes, where there is a deep drain that worild need to be crossed, loading of pigs can be done by the use of a long loading ramp across the drain itself direct to the. lorry. This can be used at such advantage that the lorry does not have to enter the farmer’s property *at all, but merely pulls oyer; to the side of the road and the pigs are loaded on board from there.

Again, I have planned piggeries so that the lorry needs to cross one paddock only, with just the road gate to open. This is a decided advantage if it can be worked.

This opening and shutting of gates may appear a trivial business to some, but oh one farm where I worked there were seven gates to be dealt with on the way in and seven to be dealt with on the way out. Some carriers are better than others at closing gates, but I know the extreme annoyance that can be felt when gates are left open and stock of all descriptions'becomes mixed. So, another aspect of choosing a site for a piggery is to have it as easy of access as possible and to keep the number of gates down to the barest minimum. By the* way, this is a good time to count the number of gates tied up with wire on your farm that the carrier has to undo every time he loads a few pigs. Don’t Forget Drainage Well now, what about drainage? This is most important, yet in planning a piggery or in choosing a site it is something that is sometimes absolutely and entirely overlooked. Why this should be, I can’t fathom. All I know is that there are concrete fattening sties set down on dead flat ground a reasonable number of yards away from the cowshed and that there is no drain of any description to lead away surplus liquid. All drainage from the

sty is allowed to accumulate in a foul-smelling cess-pool at the edge of the concrete, and the means of disposal is evaporation. This should not be. Every place should be carefully examined with a view to obtaining a site that will give some fall, however slight. Where there is no convenient drain or running stream into which liquids can be run, provision in the form of a concrete containing-tank must be built, and a proper system of distribution by manure-cart put into operation. A liquid manure distributor, such as that used in the cow-shed, can often be worked in very successfully with the pig-pens, if only a little thought has been, given to their location. Sometimes I am asked to prepare a plan of a piggery suitable for a farm carrying 60 to 70 cows. This is by no means as easy as it sounds, because the shape of the layout is governed by such things as the lay of the land and proximity to a drain or creek. The proximity to live hedges or shelter belts, which may be running east and west, or north and south, often governs the shape of a layout. Closeness to a hill to break the prevailing wind may be a guiding factor, while, on the other hand, the same hill .may keep out the early morning sun in winter time. Warmth in winter time means the saving of food, while coolness in summer time brings contentment ..that means rapid growth.

Distance From Cow-shed Access, drainage, shelter from prevailing winds; what else? Well, after considering all these things, is there any. rule or guide as to where the piggery should go? Certainly not closer than 50 yards from the cow-shed to the nearest point of the pig-pens. One farmer who was planning to overcome the piping shortage, built* his concrete pig-house just the bare 50 yards from his cow-shed, and intended to run his pens up to within 10 yards of the separator-room and feed the skim-milk into troughs at the ends of the pens. Extremely handy, no doubt, but unfortunately for him very much against the rules.' Sometimes there is a choice of sites offering. Here, if it can be worked and other things are equal, choose a site that is between the farm-house and the cow-shed. The reason for this is that the pigs will then receive that little bit of extra attention that is so necessary and that results in extra profits. The farmer will see that the pigs are properly fed on his way to arid from the cow-shed. If possible, avoid putting the piggery too far beyond the cowshed, especially across a gully or down a steep bank.

It is just that extra distance to be walked that leads to neglect, and it may be that the sows will not receive the attention they should at farrowing time. This is an important, consideration when we are aiming at increased production, and increase our production we must if we are to have any further overseas markets for pigmeat.