Every experienced pig farmer knows how important it is to provide piglets with adequate living conditions. Proper care involves providing pets with proper nutrition, cleanliness, comfort, and access to water. All these actions together contribute to the preservation of the health of pigs. But many forget about how important it is that the pigsty’s ventilation is organized. Without this detail, animal welfare conditions will not meet sanitary standards.
Why do I need ventilation
Some farmers believe that high-quality cleaning of the airspace is not necessary for their livestock, and therefore neglected gayut this detail. Meanwhile, a lot depends on the content of animals: health, quality of life, and the ability to reproduce. Pig farmers with experience have noted several factors that are positively influenced by the installed ventilation in the pigsty:
- piglets gain weight faster;
- cattle fertility improves;
- there is a possibility save energy in a stable, as the ventilation system often works with heating and cooling;
- improves the health of both adults and young animals.
In addition to cleaning the room, ventilation also removes excess moisture. As a rule, in a place where animals are kept, there is often an increased amount of water, the removal of which ventilation can take on.
Types of ventilation
Today there are several types of ventilation systems for pigsties that you can do yourself. Among the most common are:
- in the form of a “cover”;
- of the transverse type;
- made in the form of a tunnel ;
- diffuse roof.
The roof type works without human intervention. The principle of operation here is simple: it depends on the wind speed. This type of ventilation can be considered the most economical, because it provides an air flow through the valves located in the walls of the pig farm. Another valve is located on the roof, and with such a system additional ventilation of the pigsty is not required.
With the transverse type, natural ventilation is also used, but fans still play an auxiliary role, despite the fact that the supply air is also present. In such a system, a special controller must be used for ventilation of pigs, which allows you to adjust the speed of the fans.
If we are talking about the longitudinal type, it is based on the fact that the supply valves are installed outside the barn or pig farm. Due to this arrangement, the air mass circulates throughout the room. You can talk about the quality of this type of ventilation of the pig farm only if there is sufficient force here, and there is also a piston unit.In addition, it is better to choose reversible fans, which can influence the direction of the air in the pig room.
Ventilation in the pigsty can also be achieved due to the tunnel type of cleaning the room. For this purpose, special blinds are installed, which are located on the opposite side from the ventilation. With this design, the air begins to move as if in a tunnel. Fans are also in operation, especially if there is a lack of full air supply to ensure microclimate parameters.
Special ventilation windows are used for ventilation in the pigsty using a diffuse roof system. As a rule, they are adjustable, so their position can be set by hand. At the same time, exhaust ventilation units also come into operation. The whole system allows you to achieve an excellent microclimate in the pigsty.
How to prepare for mounting ventilation
Whichever option you choose, it is important to remember that ventilation in do-it-yourself pigsty scheme is the first step to success. Only after calculations and the correct drawing will it be possible to independently build the air purification system necessary for the livestock of pigs. Having drawn up the scheme, it is important to analyze all the nuances in order to understand what type of ventilation of the piglets is most suitable in a particular case.To do this, consider the following factors:
- how many air masses come from outside, regardless of additional ventilation devices;
- what location the pigsty has (on a hilly zone or in a lowland);
- how exactly the air circulates in the warm and cold season (this moment is important, because in the spring-summer period the air flow often becomes stronger than in the cold);
- the size of the pigsty.
Given all these points, you can begin such painstaking work as installing ventilation for pigs.
Mounting the natural ventilation yourself
In order to equip the shed with a device for air purification, large investments are not required. The natural form of air circulation has its own characteristics that you need to know in order for ventilation in the pigsty to be effective. First of all, you need to choose pipes. Preference should be given to round. You can use a hollow brick, which will also help in the work.
First you need to make a supply channel, laying it at a distance of 30-50 cm from the ground. Next, a protective grill is mounted on the street and a valve is installed separately that regulates the flow of air in the cold season. The hood, on the contrary, is installed closer to the ceiling on the opposite side of the pigsty. This will help make air circulation available throughout the room.It is advisable to insulate the outer pipe so that air congestion does not form in it.
Installation of forced ventilation
Unlike conventional ventilation, a fan will be required to install such an air discharge system. If you place it in the supply channel, you will get forced ventilation, and if it comes to installing it in the hood, then exhaust. Usually this option is more expensive, unlike natural ventilation, but it’s worth it. Thanks to this system, the pigsty will not depend on weather conditions or air temperature. All that is required is regular use of electricity, which must be installed in the barn.
For those who have little idea how to equip ventilation in the pigsty, a step-by-step instruction is offered, which tells how to do it right DIY air purifier exhaust method.For this it is necessary:
- make a round hole in the wall of the pigsty;
- insert the hood from the outside, making sure that the dimensions match the hole;
- tightly tighten the clamp pipes;
- wind the resulting product with household tape;
- set the pipe to the hood and fix it;
- can be foamed to make the effect better;
- Next, it is necessary to integrate the pipes into the fan and fix it with an oil seal: it is advisable to make several holes in it so that condensate can flow out and a short circuit is excluded;
- connect the wires;
- check if the ventilation works for the pigsty: if everything is done correctly, you will hear how the air goes;
- for convenience, you can equip the ventilation with a socket and a special timer that will turn on and off the air supply in time.
The supply air treatment is done in approximately the same way, only in this case the fan is installed in the supply air duct. It remains only to choose the type of switch: one that will activate air injection and illuminate the room, or two, each of which will be called upon to perform a separate function.
The installation of ventilation for the pigsty with your own hands is now complete. For a greater visual effect, you can also watch a video about creating a ventilation system for keeping animals.