We are looking into building a hog barn on a small scale (8 sows) - one that will be user friendly. We have looked online at idea's but aren't coming up with much. Any suggestion on heating/cooling, watering systems, best options for easy cleaning would be greatly appreciated. What has worked or not worked for you... We will take all the advice we can get.

There's a ton of things to consider when building a new barn especially if your planning on farrowing litters, first your saying 8 sows. The biggest regret anyone who has ever built a barn is this ......... why didn't I go bigger I don't have enough room, now with 8 sows gonna want multiple litters born at or around the same time so figure a least 3 farrowing
pens at min 8x10 a piece, AI or a boar? If your using the latter you need a boar / breeding pen, gestation pens for the rest of the gilts/sows (granted they can be penned together ), feed/bedding/meds/AI supply room, so like I said plan a little bigger then your expectations cause you'll lose room fast, we use freeze guard post water system in our barn (the water line is under the concrete,the waterer comes up thru the concrete has a heating element in it so it never freezes,they run about 500 a piece but one can supply up to 4 pens, floor is up to you were a small operation so our floors are concrete easy enough to clean with the skid steer,we also have outdoor axcess for the sows in the gestation pens via gulotine doors (also a real nice option cause we can lock them in or out for cleaning pens ect.) Hope this help good luck on the build.

You will need the following: a gestation/breeding bldg/barn. A farrowing area. An area for weaning piglets through sale day ( I'll assume you'll sale them at 45 to 100 pounds max). You'll need a place to raise replacement gilts/"hospital" and a place to house a minimum of one boar.

Gestation Barn: If your 'gonna keep 8 sows to breed I would suggest making gestation quarters for 12 sows/300+ pound gilts. About a 20' x 8' run will comfortably handle 3 475 to 575 pound sows. Make provisions for aisle, 3 feet or more wide around the totality of the pens. So, 4 pens 8' wide and then an aisle on left side and right side or total width of 4 x 8 plus 3' aisle plus 3' foot aisle.

Then 20' length with 3' aisle on each end or larger at the bottom for purposes of manure removal at bottom end of 20' run. Might want to make provisions on the bottom end for use of compact skid steer or small tractor.

You'll need to size the barn so that the building materials you use works out with the least amount of waste.

More Later..........Swinedad

Swinedad & Windfall Farm...Thank you-- your comments are much appropriated. You right in that we don't want to look back and say we wish we would have done this differently. We will take all the advise we can get.

No problem, Swine dad was spot on with the gestation pens, the nursery pens,feeders pens,forgot those in my post, here's two more to consider the kids 4-H/FFA project pens,or this pen I'm keeping these 2 runts to raise up and put in the freezer pen so like we said if you can afford it go bigger, mine 30x50 for 5 sows I wish it was 40 x 60

On your pens, farrowing crates and so on do you have a preference on brand or type? I had never heard of the freeze guard post water system - Love it - defiantly going to look at adding those.

If your interested in the freeze guards we got ours from Reinecker Ag Products look them up online I belive their located near Lancaster but they ship all over, you gotta talk to who ever is doing you electric in the barn they hardwire the waters right into your breaker box and just flip them breakers on in winter months

Farrowing Barn: If you keep 12 sows/gilts on hand and breed 12 to hopefully have 8 litters. I would build the barn to accommodate 12 farrowing crates but put in only 8 to start with. You'll probably have 16 sows to breed before you know it and then you'll be glad you planned for 12 crates.

Plan the building so that you have room for two rows of 6 crates in each row. Make provisions for a 4 foot aisle around the entire perimeter of the crates with an aisle down the middle of the crates 5 to 5 1/2 feet wide (this is the feeding aisle). 6 crates x 5'(crates are 5'x7') equal 30' plus 4 ' aisle on each end so 38'. Width would be 7'+7'+5.5'+4'+4'=27.5'. Remember to size the building so that the building material is used efficiently.

Slope floors to back of room with drains at the end of each run. We haul the majority of the solids to a manure pile and it ends up on farm ground.

We used an "expert" to determine all the cooling/air quality fans and heating. It was just a matter of giving them the dimensions and they made a couple different suggestions on how to go.

One last thing, you might include a room to keep drugs and other farrowing supplies. Make it attached but separate from farrowing house. You might even keep this room slightly heated and use it for drawing fresh air into farrowing house in the winter.

Swinedad

I put eaves on my shed and runs come out from there. My sows are always outside until it is time to farrow.

Outside runs off the sow pens are a good way to increase pen size without having to build more barn, depending on the weather you have you could run them outside year around or parts of the year.