Hog Confinement

The Hog Confinement Barn

Our hog confinement barn is located two miles to the southwest of our farm. We built this barn in the late 90’s and have worked with six different companies, Ponderosa Ridge, Furnas County Farms, Nebraska Pork Partners, Newsham, Maschhoff and currently Choice Genetics. Our barn is split with two sides that are 150 feet in length and each have 30 pens. In the center we have all of our controls and a place to gather the pigs for load out.

Next to our load out we have a shower/restroom/office where you have to shower in to get into the facility. There are clean coveralls and boots to put on then before entering the building as cleanliness is critical to preventing the spread of disease.  The feed system is automatically controlled by sensing when the feed is low and then filling all the feeders along the way. These feeders weigh the pig, weigh the feed he eats, and records the time of day and length of time in the feeder. This data is then sent over the internet to Iowa where it is analysed. All the pigs in the barn are boars in isolation and grown for selection. These boars are then sent to various places worldwide.

Ventilation and Waste Management

Curtains are along the north and south are controlled with the computer according to what temperature we want the room to be. This varies as it needs to be warmer when the pigs are smaller. Pigs do create a lot of body heat. Although we do have propane heaters to supplement heat when the pigs are small or it gets very cold. Each side has four pits that have a pull plug on each end of each pit. As the pits get full a plug is pulled on the opposite end as the time before. The slurry then drains out to a lagoon that we then can pump out on the fields. That is when there is enough to do so.

When we do pump out our outdoor lagoon, we hire a company that can inject the fluent into the soil using a drag line that connects to the injection implement. This is a very good fertilizer source. As previously mentioned, the company we currently work with is Choice Genetics, and are based out of Des Moines Iowa. This works out well for us as we do not have to own the pigs or purchase the feed. We just provide the building, upkeep, and utilities. Choice Genetics provide the labor and our neighbor Jennifer Hurst is managing the building with part time help.