We ’ve all seen it on Instagram . A500 - lbs . sow restscomfortably , nursing a new batch of baby pigs , an threatening red gleaming ramble upon the whole shot .
confessedly , it seems like a good idea , with the best of intentions behind it .
Newborn pig are vulnerable and susceptible to temperature fluctuations , and as farmers we require to check that they are well-fixed with supplemental hotness in cooler temperature . So we snaffle some bailing twine and pay heed up a fix to keep our shote warm .
But an exposed heat reservoir dangling above teetotal kindling is not the ideal way to start that child pig ’s life . Neither is a rural anatomical structure fire .
Why Shift Away?
There are a few practical cause to shift away from using heat lamps to keep piglets warm .
The most obvious ? Heating lamps are the leading cause of barn fire in the winter month accord to theNational Fire Protection Association .
Most firefighters will tell you that the same critters the heat energy lamps were designed to protect had a hand , or hoof or tooth , in bring it down .
Lamps introduced as a impermanent solution or an afterthought in inclement weather often leave someone running an filename extension corduroy over places they should n’t . Pigs are smart , strong and funny , overdraw risk around combustible .
In addition to the peril of passing of life-time and property , good warmth lamps and bulb are expensive , and they require added costs of electrical energy and often rise to circuit breakers .
Cost is an expected trade - off for animal comfort , but as livestock breeder , we should view select for beast with genetics that do not require heavy treatment to thrive .
Propane - fuel swine b with heat lamps and rut matt are a comparatively new phenomenon in the foresighted history of the domestic cop . Even as livestock output moved indoors , hog have cope to survive so well outside barns that their progeny have become invasive in many parts of the country . Maybe it ’s time to give them a little more mention .
Obviously the best way of life to avoid the need for addendum is to farrow in warmer months . But for those who must pig yr - pear-shaped , there are safer , less high-priced way to sire British thermal unit for your fresh batch of bacon seminal fluid . First of all , you ’ve got to start with the right pig .
Not All Pigs
Conventional wisdom and a perfunctory Google search intimate that piglets need at least 90 degrees to survive .
This may be dead on target for some modern hog genetic science , as brute have been take for climate control . But inheritance stock have yet to be “ improve ” in such a way .
Heritage breeds also maintain plenteous amounts of backfat to aggrandise their resume for insensate temperature hardihood . This trait has been multiply out of conventional consistency case .
There are few studies that limn optimum temperature for a hardy variety of piggy . Here in Ohio , as long as condition are dry and draft - free , our heritage stock sow have farrowed successfully without supplemental heat even as temperatures fall below zero .
Hire Some Mesophiles
We battle cold naturally from the ground up with profoundly bedded pens .
We come out building the pack several month before pig with a metrical foot or three of wood chip from local tree - trimming companies . Immediately , million of microbes get to make for full meter , for free , breaking down constituent material , mineralizing nutrient and releasing hotness that warm pigs from below . As the sows gestate they add manure and water to jumpstart the heat cycle .
Closer to farrowing we make indisputable the sow has access code to drymaterial to chew and in good order build her nest . ( Do n’t attempt to work up her nest for her — mama knows best . )
Below the open , as temperature down in the bedding pack top 106 degrees , heat - loving thermophilic microbes take over , dining on pathogens that can be dangerous to your herd .
And after farrow , you ’re left with an excellent growing stuff for other enterprises on the farm .
Fight From Above
If you have ever been in a greenhouse in the wintertime , the concept is similar for farrow structure for pigs . Letting sunlight inside a hoop body structure or greenhouse with reinforced plywood pony walls creates a microclimate thatnaturally keeps piglets strong and cosy .
draught and dampness are of far outstanding headache than the act of degree , so provide plenty of circulation luxuriously above the pigs to avoid condensation inside the shanty , which can gather and drip down on your shote . Down at the surface level , take surplus caution to prevent draft that grant air to seep body heat from baby shote .
Simple A - frame huts placed in spite of appearance of a hoop structure provide the serious farrowing surroundings on our farm .
Mama Knows Best
The best source of BTUs comes from the sow herself . Our sows increase melodic line temperature around their bellies by as much as 40 degrees , keeping their piglets quick and toasty .
Piglets raised without heat lamps will sleep next to mama , and therefore require attentive sows that avoid crushing piglets in close winter quarters . When start out or expanding your breeding herd , invest in genetics with proven mothering skills . It will pay off in the longsighted run .
As long as your piglet are juiceless , are not pack more than three gamey and are not shivering , your natural heat implement are working .
Is n’t it time to give mother nature a endeavour ?
