what are the pros and cons

[gaited horse]

of useing a farrowing crate? has anyone farrowed with out a crate

 

[wynedot55]

i dont raise pigs.but i would not use a farrowing crate.because they are small an cramped.an the sow could crush the pigglets.its best to furrow her in a big pen.so she can move around.an the piggletts can move around as well.

 

[potbellymom]

Instead of a crate, which is inhumane in my humble opinion, what we do is put them in a stall ours are 12x12 and in the corners of the stall we put up wooden boards about a foot off the ground will be fine. That way the piglets have somewhere they can escape too if they need to but no one is restricted.

Although we are not breeders we have rescued a few pregnant sows and we have yet to lose any young ones.

- potbelly mom a.k.a. Farmy

(no one has gotten back with me yet about me farmy account which will not let me log in, so I created a new name at least for now!)

 

[gaited horse]

Instead of a crate, which is inhumane in my humble opinion, what we do is put them in a stall ours are 12x12 and in the corners of the stall we put up wooden boards about a foot off the ground will be fine. That way the piglets have somewhere they can escape too if they need to but no one is restricted.

Although we are not breeders we have rescued a few pregnant sows and we have yet to lose any young ones.

- potbelly mom a.k.a. Farmy

(no one has gotten back with me yet about me farmy account which will not let me log in, so I created a new name at least for now!)

did you get full size farm hogs or are they pot bellies. I am planing on having her out of her crate for several hrs a day if I breed her and use a crate

 

[farmy]

we have had a Duroc cross,a Yorkshire and also a potbelly give birth in this situation and it worked very very well for all of them.

I hope that's helpful.

 

[gaited horse]

the only thing that would pervent me from the 12'x 12' baox stall would be cost of wood as it is I have to go witha cheaper boar then I hoped. my 4-h market hog did'nt make weight so I don't ge the extra money for tha i will have to find cheap wood just to rebuild there house they broke

 

[farmy]

well in the end I guess you have to do what you can. If you do end up using a farrowing crate, I can only ask you to remember that the momma will want to spend plenty of time outside of the crate. She will need it both for her physical and mental health.

 

[gaited horse]

of course she needs pleanty out side time will probley build the farrowing house right next to her pen so the babies can go out some times

 

[username taken]

I have used both methods.

Used correctly, a farrowing crate is a wonderful thing

Used correctly, a farrowing stall is also a wonderful thing

When I used the crates, they only went into the crate 1 week before their due date, and then they were out of the crate after 2 - 3 wks.

If you choose to farrow in a free stall, make sure you have a creep area for the piglets, and bed it down with heaps and heaps of straw. For some reason, you get less piglet deaths with deep straw than with an earthen or shaving floor.

It also depends a lot on the breed and temperament of the pig and where she came from. If she came from a conventional piggery which uses the traditional white breeds and farrowing crates, she will take to a crate quite comfortably, and will have a higher probability of overlay if she is kept in a free stall

If she came from a free range pig herd, and/or is a 'coloured' breed, chances are she will be slightly better at farrowing in a free stall, and she is far less likely to accept the crate. Sows that are very good mothers will lean against the side of the stall and lower themselves slowly and gently, while at the same time vocalising to tell the piglets to get out of the way, and also listening for the piglets to tell where they are. Often times the coloured pigs are better mums than the white pigs, but that is not the white pigs fault, it is just that the white breeds have been used in commercial piggeries for so long, the mothering ability didnt need to be real great.

 

[jhm47]

I agree with Username Taken. The white breeds will nearly always do better in a farrowing crate. They seem to be "laid back", and will often flop down in a bigger pen, and I have had some lose half their litter to crushing. The colored breeds are more likely to get back up if they lay on a piglet.

In my opinion, crates are NOT inhumane. Being laid on by a mother that weighs 100 times more than the piglets is not a fun thing either. And---these sows/gilts are fed a balanced ration, their temperature is ideal, and they don't have to worry about parasites. They also don't have to worry about other pigs attacking them and causing injuries. They don't have to hurry to eat their feed, or the others will get their share in a crate.