Those who keep piglets in the yard know that an improperly equipped or unprepared place to keep them creates additional inconvenience, especially for maintaining cleanliness inside the pen. How to grow piglets - the question is not so simple. Experienced pig farmers engaged in raising pigs for a long time are advised to keep not one, but two or three piglets of the same age. Even better when they are from the same mother. And only because one does not even play, there is no one to run with.
During feeding, a loner always takes a long aim at the trough, then tries to climb into it with his feet, then rummages, then scatters feed, then tramples. In a word, bad. And when there are two or three, don’t yawn. Like in a big family: do not look around the table, otherwise you will remain hungry.
The pen for piglets is made in a barn, usually 3 × 4 m in size, in which almost half is allocated for the organization of a place of rest and sleep. One of the experienced pig breeders, answering the question of how to grow piglets, said that he always used the right corner for the corral for some reason, and had the front door on the left. He prepared the flooring from the boards, tight, without any cracks, lifting it to a height of 15-20 cm from the floor.
The reason is this - in winter, when there is decent frost on the street, a wave of cold air penetrates at the entrance, which spreads along the bottom. And the kids are lying on a sunbed, and the cold does not capture them in any way, i.e. excludes the possibility of colds of piglets. Yes, and as you don’t insulate the front door, it’s always cold on the floor.
A pig lounger is surrounded on one side with a crate (it is also in the corner), and something like a roof is built on top (height 1.5-1.7 m). Tin or thin sheet metal is placed on the roof, this avoids condensation getting into the young growth, especially in winter, which accumulates on the ceiling of the shed. It turns out like a kennel. It is clogged tightly with hay or better with straw, since the straw is softer. Piglets immediately break into the hole there and make a nest inside, where they sleep with pleasure - they are warm and, most importantly, dry, but soft.
Piglets like to gnaw hay and straw, so after a while you have to fill the kennel again.
Those who grew piglets know that they can eat everything that at least chews a little, but they never cheat where they sleep. Be sure to go down from their nest and usually do their work somewhere in the corner, opposite the corral door, so it’s convenient to clean, and if there is no free time, then not every day. Therefore, in order to conveniently clean the piglets, so that they do not interfere, it is better to remove them from the barn for a while. Youngsters, by the way, love to run and play in the yard.
Very often, those starting to grow piglets complain that they do not eat food, but suck it. Neither the pig nor the owners are to blame. And the reason is this - almost all piglets, except for normal teeth, grow the so-called “wolf teeth” or “wolf fangs”. They are usually dark in color, very sharp, arranged so that the tooth does not fall onto the tooth. That is, when they bite, they bite into the opposite gum and injure it, so the piglets suck, they would be happy to bite, but they can’t - it hurts.
Immediately, when you bring home the purchased piglets or put them in your paddock, examine their mouth - these unnecessary fangs must be removed. How to do it better? It is best to do this together, one is more difficult to cope with. Especially if you do it the first time. Put a wand in your mouth so that it cannot close it. And these teeth should be broken off with side cutters. Removing these teeth is a completely painless operation. Since there are no nerves in these teeth. A piglet screams whenever it is disturbed. So do not pay attention to the screams of the pig.
A video on fang removal in newborn piglets shows in detail how to do this.
After such an operation, the pig will never suck feed. He will grab his mouth and eat everything that is in the feeder, with an appetite, if, I repeat again, he has not one, but two, and preferably three, at the trough. Then food will be obtained in the struggle, and everything will be cleaned up.
Under the corral door you can leave an opening. This is so that the feeder (trough) can be pulled out. To fill it with food, and then push it. Sometimes piglets so enthusiastically greet the owner that they will not be able to dump the feed into the trough properly.