Please help with our Pig and Chicken Tractor systems

Discussion in 'Breeding, Raising, Feeding and Caring for Animals' started by Mikal, Sep 23, 2014.

  1. Mikal

    Mikal New Member

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    Hi Guys

    Can anyone help us with us animal systems.
    There is just too much we dont know in order to make use of this systems effectively.
    We inherited the design so we open to changing it as needs.
    But we have 3 pot belly Sows rotating in a 4 pen/garden system.
    The total area is about 30mx 30m so each of the 4 sections is 15m x 15. Is this enough space for 3 sows?
    We feed them the garden waste for our organic garden, but is this enough? What should a mature sow be eating everyday?
    We have just moved them into a new section but we didnt have a good enough rotation plan to get the most out of what was growing in that space. Do you think a 4 block rotation is a good idea?
    The section they have just moved out is not in a terrible condition as they have compacted the ground and not a single piece of green can be seen anywhere. Did we take too long to move it?

    Any suggestions?
    Mikal
     
  2. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Hi Mikal - which bit of the world are you in? I have no pig experience so I'll leave it for someone else to come along with some answers for you. Do they look healthy?
     
  3. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Hi Mikal
    Pigs are wonderful , messy , and interesting , I ran a 30 sow set up for 8 years . My sow paddock was about 80 x 40 m and usually had about 15 to 20 sows in it the rest were being mated or raising their little pigs . They never needed all that room they just dig and eat and sleep a lot , I wouldn't be concerned about the area , more important is dry shelter and shade . Don't know if I would run them like you are , im thinking they are going to dig one or two big holes unless they have something to dig for , I cant see them working a patch like chooks will . However pigs wont be worried by the usual chook predators you might find you have to shovel tons of dirt to get your patches back to reasonably flat each time you move them on .

    I fed my "Dry Sows" 2.5 kilo of around 11.5 % protein feed daily , the lactating sows got as much as they can eat , feed was grain based with meatmeal added plus lime ect ect , they are omnivores so like a mix of feed types . You could do something along the lines of your greens , a few oil seeds and legume seeds and insects (trap or zap them) and of course azolla to boost the protein up its pretty easy to grow a bit of pig poop will get it going . A patch of Lucerne will provide a protein / calcium rich feed , lots of options .

    To control mange ect 1% sulphur in the feed daily (don't know how your going to work that out) will keep them itch free .
     

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