How to Build the Best Pig Pen? Detailed Guide to Considerations and Disinfection Methods

To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools. In pig farming, if you want to raise pigs well, a well-equipped and rationally designed pig pen is the first step to successful farming. So how do you build the best pig pen? What issues should you pay attention to? How do you do a good job of disinfection?

1. How to build the best pig pen

Pig pens can be built as open-front, windowed or enclosed types; roofs can be flat, single-slope, double-slope, etc.

1. Open-front pig pen

Facing away from the wind and toward the sun, with walls on three sides and one side open or semi-open. An exercise yard is often set up on the open side, where pigs can also be fed, drink water and defecate. The inside of the pen is used only for lying down and resting. To keep warm in winter, temporary windbreak facilities can be added.

2. Windowed pig pen

Summer ventilation must be considered, and the ventilation route should be well organized. To prevent direct sunlight from entering the pen in summer while allowing sunlight to reach the pig bed in winter, the height of the upper edge of the windows and the eaves should be rationally designed. A naturally ventilated pig pen should be about 10 m wide. A pen that is too narrow increases the footprint and the area of the enclosing structure, while one that is too wide affects ventilation inside the pen. Generally, pig pens in southern China should be narrower, while those in the north should be wider.

3. Enclosed pig pen

Generally without windows, with instruments and equipment controlling conditions such as light, temperature, humidity and ventilation inside the pen. To prevent the effects of an unexpected power outage, emergency windows can be installed. The roof and walls should be guaranteed to have thermal insulation performance.

2. What issues should be paid attention to when building a pig pen

1. Walls

Most pig pens today are still mainly of mixed structure, using brick walls and roof trusses for load bearing. If the thermal insulation performance of the roof and wall enclosing structure can be appropriately strengthened, it will be more conducive to the growth of the pig herd.

2. Floor

Concrete floors are generally used inside pig pens, as they are easy to wash, but they are not conducive to keeping the pig bed warm and dry. To reduce heat loss from the pigs' body temperature through conduction via the concrete floor, a slag or brick cushion layer can be added, or an elevated precast reinforced concrete floor can be used, or rubber flooring, plastic flooring or heated flooring can be used.

Slatted floors must be resistant to alkali corrosion, with a flat surface and durable and sturdy. They are often made of cast iron, reinforced concrete or aluminum plates, and the gap width should be less than half the width of the pig's hoof where it meets the ground.

3. Pig pens/stalls

Brick-built pig stalls affect summer ventilation and winter lighting and take up a relatively large area, so corrosion-resistant steel pipe stalls or wooden or bamboo stalls can be used.

4. Feeding trough

The feeding trough should be simple in structure, sturdy and durable, and easy for feeding and for washing and disinfection.

3. How to do a good job of disinfecting the pig pen

1. Disinfection procedure

On the first day of disinfection, the pig pen first needs to be inspected to determine which areas are key targets for disinfection and to clear away some of the more common waste, such as pig manure and food residue. At the same time, dust that has accumulated in places that are easily overlooked, such as doors and windows of the pig pen, should also be swept clean. This can effectively prevent dust from flying up during spraying of disinfectant and cleaning, which would pollute the air.

After the pig pen has been given a preliminary cleaning, the next step is washing with water. Because some pig pens have been in use for a relatively long time, in summer, due to the relatively high temperatures, some hard-to-clean waste may give off various odors and easily breed bacteria. If the pig pen has not been cleaned for a long time, some bacteria with strong vitality may be difficult to truly eliminate. When cleaning the pig pen, after simple disinfection, further washing and disinfection with water is needed to kill bacteria. In addition, during the washing process, using a high-pressure water gun to rinse can also clean hard-to-reach corner areas in the pig pen, improving the quality and efficiency of cleaning.

After the above two tasks are completed, the next thing to do is disinfection of detailed parts. For example, when disinfecting the pigs' feeding troughs and drinking utensils, it is best to handle them separately, because disinfectants contain a certain degree of toxicity and these utensils come into direct contact with the pigs' mouths. If details are not paid attention to, it may affect the pigs' health.

2. Choosing a disinfectant

When disinfecting a pig pen, one task is indispensable, namely the selection and use of disinfectants. There are many kinds of disinfectants currently sold on the market. When choosing, try as much as possible to choose disinfectants that are easily soluble in water, low in corrosiveness, free of strong pungent odors and strong in sterilizing ability. In this way, the harm and corrosion to oneself during use can also be reduced, and if a disinfectant chosen in summer has a strong irritating odor and volatilizes easily, it can also cause discomfort to people's respiratory tract.

In the process of pig farming, if details are not paid attention to, it is easy to affect the pigs' health, so it is recommended that farmers be careful and patient during the farming process in order to obtain more economic benefits.