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GB · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 317 Location: Ireland

Must pigs be kept in an ark or will something else work? I am having a really hard time finding and ark and was wondering if a large concreet pipe blocked on one end would work or if a shed or a bunch of palets nailed together or or or.........
What works best please?

PS does anyone have a design plan for pig arks, as I cant seem to find any on the web?

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keithrawlins · Joined: 18 Feb 2007 Posts: 152 Location: banbridge

you could build it out of staw bales.

blowin · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 2:37 am Post subject:

The commercially available arks I have seen were corrugated sheets rolled into a half-hoop or dome with a radius of 4 ft ie the ark was 4ft high x 8ft wide . It was about 8 ft long , made up of three slightly overlapped sheets secured onto (4 nbr ) 4"x2" timbers .
The lid was bolted onto the base using "wing" nuts for ease of removal . The base , front and back ends were 1/2" marine ply . There was a letter-box sized hole high up at the back , for ventilation . The front had an arched hole about 3 ft wide and 3 1/2 ft high in the centre but no door .

Thinking laterally I have had my eye on some disused cattle ring-feeders I have seen lying in fields nearby . Placed the wrong way up ( to make a tunnel ) and simply bolted together , they should make a strong framework , half of which is already covered over . A sheet of flat tin could easily be bent over , or corrugated sheets could be secured horizontally from front to back .
( You will see these feeders stored in the NCF / co-op yards -- about 100 euro per half circle , I think , so even that might be worth considering ).

I actually ended up with a sort of Fort Knox structure made out of heavy blue pallets held up by 6" split fencing posts driven between the layers of boards at each end , strapped with nail band and covered with some spare heavy duty polythene sheeting . On the positive side , it withstood the gales but I have had to rethink my plans to move it around !
One thing --- make the entrance a lot wider than you think it should be . I made mine about 2ft so it wasn't too drafty in there . In their hurry to get to the food the 2 sows regularly get jammed stuck in the doorway. Sooner or later the whole lot will take off across the yard like some demented tortoise .

keithrawlins · Joined: 18 Feb 2007 Posts: 152 Location: banbridge

i am in the midel ofmakeing one out of half inch ply,with a pitched roof , it is copy of one i seen forsale on the net so should work ok when i figer out the dimensions i will post it and if i can figer out how to load my camrea on to the computer i will post some pics to.

GB · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 317 Location: Ireland

I must admit I am getting fonder of the idea of a large diameter concrete pipe boarded up on one end and half boarded up on the other. 1 inch ply cut into a circle and screwed onto the ends should do the trick. The only thing I am worried about is will it be warm enough? If I stuff it with straw (or will hay be better?) it should be warm but concrete holds the cold so I dont know if straw will be enough? Be nice for them if we have a hot summer this year.
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wayland · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 1171 Location: Campile. Wexford

The big advantage of concrete I think is that it will remain cool in the summer. Pigs like to get out of the sun and a steel pig ark will get vey hot with the sun on it. Providing the pipe is large enough and the pigs have plenty of bedding it will be fine. Most styes are made of concrete blocks.
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keithrawlins · Joined: 18 Feb 2007 Posts: 152 Location: banbridge

the main problem with cocrete pipes is getting it where you want it.trust me those thing are heavy.

wayland · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 1171 Location: Campile. Wexford

Blowin. Did you have any luck with the Arks?
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sir. porky · Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 59 Location: west of Ireland

pig arks are easy to make, we built a pig ark in 5 hours , 4ft x 8ft at a cost of e280 this is large enough for up to 4 fully grown pigs or even a sow with piglets: materials needed= 3 sheets of 8x4 1/2" ply 1 sheet of 3/4 ply (for the floor) 40ft of 2x2 16ft of 4x2(used to strenghen the floor) 3x9ft corrigated tin sheets for the roof a box of 2" screws and tex screws to attach the roof. tools needed: saw, jigsaw,screw driver. 2 of the 8x4 sheets of ply are cut down from 4ft to 3ft, the 3rd sheet is cut in half for the ends. 1 of the off cuts is cut in half and the two pieces can then be cut into an ark to extend the ends to form the shape of the roof, in one end cut a door way and fix the thing together using the 2x2 as frameing. any problems please get in touch(maybe able to post a photo) one thing about this sort of ark it is not in danger of been blow about by the wind but can still be moved by 2 healthy people!
good luck sir.porky

GB · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 317 Location: Ireland

pickies would be great Very Happy

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