I learned a lot these past two months, and ended up with some live piglets. Nine sows averaged seven piglets weaned per litter. Two sows lost 18 of 20 piglets when they farrowed in below zero F weather. So the total average is just under six piglets weaned per litter.
I found that if the temperature was 20 F or above, temperature wasn’t an issue. My plan for next year is to avoid farrowing in December through February. This will insure decent temps.
The pens I built worked fine. I kept the litter confined for 7 to 10 days, letting the mother out for feed and water twice a day. After that, I just took out the wire panel and let the litters co-mingle. You can see that in the photo below.
The pens were about nine feet by nine feet. I just purchased ten English style farrowing huts from Port-A-Hut. I fear they may not be large enough, measuring nine feet by 5 and a half feet. Time will tell. The huts will give me more flexibility, allowing me to farrow outside of the hoop barns.
Curiousfarmer 