That is a thought.but it would need to be at least 5’ off the ground. One of our sows got really good at putting her front end on 34” wall on the inside of the barn. Would a light that far off the ground provide any heat for the babies below? Especially in a -5 to 10 degree barn. I think we will be lucky to 20+ degree days until spring.
I think that is what my husband has in mind to do.
We personally didn’t like using the crates. I’m trying to come up with an idea where the sows can be in their crate for 7-10 days. But then give her the space that she can move around in after that. It could be as simple as using a tractor to lift out one side of the crate out of there. They do serve a very practical purpose. I do understand that. This last spring we used them because we didn’t have any other setup created. This winter/fall we used parts of the crate to try and replicate a safe zone for piglets. Our sows had other ideas. Because we used a dirt floor and not concrete, those old brats decided to excavate and rearrange their areas. It may be that we did things completely wrong, the stalls could have been made a bit smaller.in the spring I do know we will be leveling out the floor in the barn and pouring concrete. That will also make it much easier to clean and sanitize after each use. Personally I’d like to use barn lye and whitewash the walls with every use. The stalls are pretty big. We could possibly use the space of two stalls and make three slightly smaller stalls with a little bit more thought put into them. The concrete floor is a must though. We gotta control the excavating in the stalls. They make “nests” for themselves to lay in. But their babies end up in there underneath the sow and “bye bye baby”
Thank you for explaining that. My head hasn’t been working very well since NYE morning. Some nasty bug has claimed our family at this time.
