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Two-Story Hog Barn Is Energy Efficient
When you see a two-story hog barn, it's usually an old dairy barn that's been remodeled. But in Gerry Knechtel's case, he designed and built his new hog barn in two levels because that's the way he wanted it. Breeding stock and mature animals occupy the ground floor of the building while the second story houses the far
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Two-Story Hog Barn Is Energy Efficient HOG EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Hog Equipment & Ideas (351) 4-5-7 When you see a two-story hog barn, it's usually an old dairy barn that's been remodeled. But in Gerry Knechtel's case, he designed and built his new hog barn in two levels because that's the way he wanted it. Breeding stock and mature animals occupy the ground floor of the building while the second story houses the farrowing, nursery and dry sow areas.
The large amounts of heat generated by the older pigs on the lower level rises and warms the second floor where the baby pigs need supplemental heat. The entire building is so well insulated that the only additional heat comes from brooding lamps over the farrowing stalls.
Pigs are moved from floor to floor on an elevator that occupies a small amount of space at one end of the building. The elevator was built by Knechtel and has a capacity of 1,200 lbs. It runs on a reversible electric motor.
"The elevator interests a lot of people, and we have custombuilt 15 of them for other farmers," Knechtel told FARM SHOW. "Nobody rides on the elevator, which is designed just for transporting animals. There would be a lot of regulations on it if it was for human use." Removing manure from the second story is not a problem. It's pushed to one side and drops down several chutes to the lower area and into 18-in. deep gutters which are scraped with a conventional barn cleaner. Liquid waste flows to an outside concrete storage tank.
A third story of the hog barn is used for hay storage which also acts as an insulating layer. Humidity on both the breeding and the farrowing levels is regulated with a series of fans.
For more details, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gerry Knechtel, Box 99, Shakespeare, Ont. Canada, NOB 2P0 (ph 519 625-8717).
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