Could you slap a little lotion on my back Honey?

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Could you slap a little lotion on my back Honey?
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Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 8:01 am Post subject: Could you slap a little lotion on my back Honey?

Obviously, with the long wet winter that weï¿½ve just endured, providing a mud wallow for our pigs hasnï¿½t been too much of a problem but now that the ï¿½Noahs Arkï¿½ like deluges have stopped and the sun has been shining, the girls are starting to show the first signs of being a bit sun burnt.
The land that that the pigs are kept on is extremely well draining, with a couple of feet of light soil on sand and gravel. I know that pigs, especially in the summer, need a wallow but how do I set about providing one? With the water draining away so well, Iï¿½d have to use hundreds of gallons of water almost daily.
Has anyone else faced this problem and if so, how did you get around it?

The little darlings are loving the sun and although they have a nice big ark to go in, theyï¿½re soaking in the rays and lying outside in their full glory. Iï¿½ve noticed that theyï¿½re reddening up a little behind their ears and Iï¿½ve even toyed with slapping them sun block on. Fortunately I have a friendly neighbour who isnï¿½t on a water meter and tonight Iï¿½ll make them a wallow. Its just that Iï¿½m going to have to top it up every couple of days. It sure is bikini weather here right now.

PS. A good many years ago, apparently this particular field was famed for growing some of the best carrots in the area.

pollyanna

Joined: 03 Nov 2012
Posts: 221

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 9:10 am Post subject:
Your post made me a bit cross. It is not acceptable to waste water just because it doesn't come through a meter. It still costs to make it potable. This is drinking water? Pigs in my experience are quite capable of making a wallow if they need one. (A wallow is not strictly necessary to their health and welfare) If they are getting sunburn provide them with a simple open-sided shelter.

Piggyphile

Joined: 02 Apr 2009
Posts: 891
Location: Galicia

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 9:18 am Post subject:
Water is not wasted when it is used for the welfare of animals. I would rather it were used for the wallow than used to wash the car. As Bodger says they have a large arc if they want to go in it but they may not realise that it is the sun causing their burning. Fair skinned pigs do get bad sunburn and I would not wish to see them suffering.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 9:26 am Post subject:

Pardon me miss grumpy pants but if you read my post you'll see that I wont be wasting the water at all. I'll be using it for the welfare of my animals. Without it, they'll suffer. Even high horses have to be watered.
Pigs can't make a wallow if they don't have water and while the water is fit for drinking, so is the stuff that people spray on lawns and so is the water used for thousands of other things.

If you can tell me how to train pigs to come in out of the sun, then please tell me how you do it.

I sometimes wonder why I bother posting. I try to make an interesting post and all I get is this sort of response. The pigs are in excess of 200 yards from my nearest tap and they back onto my friends house. Please rest assured that I have no intention of defrauding the water company of thousands of pounds.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 9:29 am Post subject:
Thanks Piggyphile, you just beat me too it. Pollyanna, it doesn't sound as though you have much experience of keeping pigs at all but winding people up? Definately.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46340
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 10:07 am Post subject:

would a section of pond liner or similar a couple of feet down help?

or maybe dig a biggish shallow hole and line it with clay ?

both would be best done with a machine but would only take a couple of hours with a jcb or similar

even on sandy land there are sometimes springs under the surface do any bits look wetter than others? if so that might be a place to dig

another option would be a scrapheap challenge with a van roof or similar(ive seen a duckpond made from the top of an icecream van)

pollyanna

Joined: 03 Nov 2012
Posts: 221

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 10:31 am Post subject:

I have much experience of keeping pigs. Years of experience.

Pigs do not need to wallow. It's jolly nice for them, but not essential. Unless they have wires through their snouts they will dig up the ground themselves.

I don't mean to be grumpy, but water has to be treated and transported and that costs energy. Everybody tells us we have to economise on energy or the lights will go out.

You know and I know that people who use excessive water for swimming pools and lawns should a) be metered or b) apply for a licence.

It did not occur to me that your neighbour was trying to defraud anybody. It is only the water waste I comment on .

People who insist on growing a lot of plants in pots but do not think to collect water in butts or use grey water are wasteful too.

I did enjoy looking at your piggy pictures. I am very fond of pigs.

Please allow me a grump, I do not mean to cause offence. I enjoy your posts immeasurably.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 10:56 am Post subject:
They are digging there way down to Australia but they can't find water. They're on a small layer of soil going down on to sand and pea gravel. We've got water butts all around the outbuildings but the pigs are two fields away. We pump the rainwater to the polytunnel and recycle a goodly amount of water. DP. We haven't got any clay and they'd soon have their snouts through it anyway.

Finsky

Joined: 10 Sep 2011
Posts: 847
Location: Notts.

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 11:26 am Post subject:

Ok...first..I don't know anything about pig keeping but still want to push my snout into the subject..

Clay would be very good idea...you would not be building a pond to hold the water for definite..but a mud bath..Yes?

So..if you would get hold 'digger load' of clay..dropping good quantity of it into hollow in ground with few bales of straw..that would make one mighty mud mask for your ladies to beautify themselves with

Clay would slow the draining process down and eventually maybe even start to make more solid layer under their feet holding water even more. Surely they would not risk putting their 'noses' deep into clay slurry to get their nostrils filled by the stuff...very suffocating stuff.

Last edited by Finsky on Tue Apr 29, 14 6:58 pm; edited 1 time in total

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46340
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 14 1:12 pm Post subject:

Finsky wrote:

Ok...first..I don't know anything about pig keeping but still want to push my snout into the subject..

Clay would slow the draining process down and eventually maybe even start to make more solid layer under their feet holding water even more. Surely they would risk putting their 'noses' deep into clay slurry to get their nostrils filled by the stuff...very suffocating stuff.

that was the type of wallow i was thinking of rather than a canal

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 14 4:43 pm Post subject:
I've put some of last years Calypso factor 20 on the pigs burnt lugs this evening.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46340
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 14 6:20 pm Post subject:
i use sunblock on the pale bits of my hounds

Nell Merionwen

Joined: 02 Jun 2008
Posts: 16300
Location: Beautiful Derbyshire

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 14 8:07 pm Post subject:
we used to slap suncream on the piggies in work.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Thu May 01, 14 6:23 am Post subject:
Sun burnt lugholes. Its going to chuck it down today.

roobarb

Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 139
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Thu May 01, 14 7:52 am Post subject:
We buried an old bath in the soil for our pigs wallow, refilled with soil and added a few buckets of water. This contained the most of the water and mud, but as it dried out we just chucked a bucket of water in to keep it moist. They also were in the habit of occassionally weeing in it as well (is this instinct to keep a wet area ). As you can see it worked well...

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