B and B pig operators

Pretty much confirms what I thought then.

Would possibly suit a larger arable farm who has the straw and land and labour already in place.

Slats/slurry best avoided because FYM can be carted anywhere and the way I see it they will be hotter and hotter on pig slurry in future because of ammonia, NOx and whatever else they can dream up. If they force you to cover/treat or seal slurry stores or even build new ones suddenly it's a massive liability. Shed should also be readily converted into caravan storage or similar if you need to get out of the operation for whatever reason.
 

Piggy_jags

Member
Location
Suffolk
Several points.

Straw based better for [perceived] welfare and FYM better than slurry for the soil long term.

The spread a bale point is not valid. We put 10 6-string bales evenly down the passage using a telehandler and some home made bale movers (happy to share design) every 10 days, takes 45mins per shed with 3 people. Then every day each pen gets a biscuit kicked off the walkway. The pigs do the rest.
Mark is correct saying 2 - 3 man hours per 100 pigs in the morning, then half an hour in the evening.

We decided to use a turn key builder as, even though it is the most expensive option, it only took 10 weeks. Then we were earning money. If it had taken us 52 weeks to build 2 sheds we would have lost out on £80k gross income. My own labour is also not free.

We went 14ft to the eaves to ensure future change of use.

What I say to others is if you have to borrow most of the money AND employ someone outside of the family to do the pigs, then it will probably not work. But otherwise we are happy with our decision to go into the BnB pig job, especially when you go to soils seminars and they all say that FYM is, by a margin, the best soil amendment there is.

When I see 1400 ton FYM worth at least £10k in nutrients then that is the icing on the cake.
Several points.

Straw based better for [perceived] welfare and FYM better than slurry for the soil long term.

The spread a bale point is not valid. We put 10 6-string bales evenly down the passage using a telehandler and some home made bale movers (happy to share design) every 10 days, takes 45mins per shed with 3 people. Then every day each pen gets a biscuit kicked off the walkway. The pigs do the rest.
Mark is correct saying 2 - 3 man hours per 100 pigs in the morning, then half an hour in the evening.

We decided to use a turn key builder as, even though it is the most expensive option, it only took 10 weeks. Then we were earning money. If it had taken us 52 weeks to build 2 sheds we would have lost out on £80k gross income. My own labour is also not free.

We went 14ft to the eaves to ensure future change of use.

What I say to others is if you have to borrow most of the money AND employ someone outside of the family to do the pigs, then it will probably not work. But otherwise we are happy with our decision to go into the BnB pig job, especially when you go to soils seminars and they all say that FYM is, by a margin, the best soil amendment there is.

When I see 1400 ton FYM worth at least £10k in nutrients then that is the icing on the cake.
I think you mean 1000 pigs
i have attached a great bale trolley that one of our guys has designed for placing bales down the catwalk
ESdtclcXsAYoKov.jpg
 

DRC

Member
The pig farm I get my muck from in a straw for muck swap, gets someone in from time to time with a skid steer, to place the bales on the catwalk
 

Piggy_jags

Member
Location
Suffolk
Could you not just push bales along the cat walk from one end with a loaded tele ? I have horses bedded with hesstons by hand it’s a twit o a job your welcome to pulling them things to bits by hand , should be better idea than that in 2020.
If you push from both ends your pushing them 100ft or 30m. people who have tried say they slide off. risking crushing the pigs. Pulling them apart is not a problem as most dont use a full on heston. As @snarling bee said gravity does the rest just drop in a wedge of straw. Little to no dust on the catwalk if the baler knows how to make straw. if the bales art dusty generally the curtains are dropped to allow the dust to evacuate the building
 

Hilly

Member
[/QUOTE]
life is about making life better and easier
You just don't need very much straw. There's a very fancy machine in Germany that places straw only over dirty bits from an overhead gantry but you're talking £££
But it’s 365 days of the year fir .. 20–50 years ? Of getting Dave in in the skid steer to put bales up and manually handling straw every day for the rest of your working life ? Fir a brand new set up in 2020 a better way needed than that , pig farmers will all
Get farmers lung man
 

snarling bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
I do mean per 1000 pigs.

I did not include the muck in the ROR, but neither did I include the cost of the straw.

You can buy masks to prevent farmers lung, but honestly it is not that dusty. It takes less than 10 minutes to bed up 1000 pigs. There is very little dust when loading the platform every 10 days.
A powered spread a bale would be the best way to ensure it is dusty and you would probably make a few holes in the shed with the odd stone that might get in the bales.
 

Nukemall

Member
Could be a good option for someone needing to send their pigs away while they get on with something on an existing unit (eg building works or destock/repop).

Just this situation.

I am looking for b and b accommodation for some of my pigs this summer while we do some building work. Batches of 500 30kg to finish. I am in Gloucestershire.
 

Foxcover

Member
What are the differences @Foxcover ?

The first 2 pictures are of a building with a walkway to one side and a single larger gate to the other side. The second 2 pictures are a BQP building with a central raised walkway and 2 smaller gates to each side.
The BQP design is great but I just prefer the way the other one looks, easier to get a telehandler in and out maybe.
An advantage of the BQP design is being able to half the size of the pens when piglets are small and then open up the other side as they grow.
 

Foxcover

Member
You just don't need very much straw. There's a very fancy machine in Germany that places straw only over dirty bits from an overhead gantry but you're talking £££

Any idea what the machine is called?
And what firm built the shed in your first 2 pics?
Thanks
 

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