We”ve just had the coldest spell in 13 years here in the Ozarks. It was in the single digits during the day and double digits below zero at night.

Most of our pigs did fine but we did lose two GOS and two cross piglets. We have Port-A-Huts and large dog houses and our hogs are separated into groups based on size and breeding pairs. We also have a heat lamp for the piglets. The ones we lost happened when the lamps burned out and we didn”t know until the next morning.

We put lots of hay into the shelters and that seemed to work well.  As for hay, it’s very important that the pigs stay dry and warm when it”s below freezing. I try to keep at least 2 cubic feet of straw per pig in their huts. Usually have to replenish it once each week depending upon precipitation (mud makes it go away…)

We are getting ready for breeding season soon and will be keeping the boars in paddocks while letting the rest of the herd back onto pasture. But, if another below zero spell comes along we’ll have to put them all back into pens.  As for water, we are having to haul buckets from our water source. Just can’t dig a good trench here with all the rocks…