Pig Hut

This instructable will show how to build a pig hut for housing pigs outside. Animal welfare regulations differ from country to country, so bare in mind to check what regulations apply to you when building your pig hut.

I live in Sweden and I believe that this house is according to the animal welfare laws we have regarding size.

Materials needed:

• 45x70 wood
• 22x70 wood
• 45x120 preassure-treated wood
  
• 6 OSB sheets, 2440x1220
• Wood glue for outdoor use
• Long wood screws (at least 100mm) for outdoor use
• Short wood screws for outdoor use, for mounting the OSB sheet
• 3 Tin roof sheets, 3000x1000mm
• Tin plates for ridge and barge boards (nockplåt and vindskiveplåt in swedish)
• Lifting eyes
  

The frame of the pig hut is four arcs, built of 45x70 wood.

The arcs consists of four pieces:

• 2 x 45x70x1450, with 22,5 degree angle in one end
• 2 x 45x70x845 with 22,5 degree angle in both ends

Glue and screw the angled ends together. Use at least 100mm self-sinking wood screws (or drill and countersink the holes).

Two of the arcs, the two middle ones, can be reinforced with some OSB or plywood scrap pieces to make the arcs abit more stable.

The side walls consists of uncut OSB sheets of standard size, 2440x1220mm. Note that the side of the arc is less than 1220mm (in fact 1145mm). This because the OSB sheet should go down over the preassure-treated "sill plate" seen on the image. Also note that the OSB side sheet must not be mounted so high that it comes in the way of the roof OSB sheet.

Mount the walls using a self-sinking screw for outdoor use and glue up everything.

The sill plate (or "syll" in swedish) consists of 45x120mm preassure-treated lumber. Unfortunately i forgot to take a photo of this, but it is not rocket science. Cut two pieces to 2440 and screw and glue them to the side walls, both into the OSB sheets and to the arcs.

Then cut two pieces to fit the other two sides and screw and glue them together with the side wall sill.

I mount the back and front walls 70mm over ground. To do this, screw some scrap 70mm pieces pieces to the sill, and place the OSB sheet on the scrap pieces. Mark the angled cuts on the OSB sheet, dismount it and cut the OSB sheet to size. Now mount the back wall with screws and glue.

To mount the small triangle that´s left, some more 45x70 wood is required. Cut it to size with the correct angle and screw and glue it in place. Since the lifting eye will be mounted through the OSB sheet into this piece, dont go easy on the glue and screws!

On the front wall, cut an opening, after some pig measurements i decided on 450x800mm. Screw and glue the front wall. Cut the remaining small triangles into shape, the scrap from the front or back should _almost_ be large enough, and since you will add barge boards (vindskivor) later on, no one will know. ;)

The roof i decided to use is a white tin roof. Black is usually cheaper, but a white roof wont absorb that much sun light and hopefully give a lower temperature on sunny days.

Now its time to add the battening (strö- och bärläkt). First off, mount four vertical pieces of 25x50 per side, 1220mm length, on the roof OSB sheets. Screw and glue them through the OSB sheet into the underlying arcs.

Then mount five horizontal 25x50 pieces, length 2440 (c-c 30).

Next up is the tin roof. Im using 1000x3000mm sheets (well actually ive used 1000x2500 as well, as you can see on the photo, but I prefer 3000 as it provides some protection to the eave wood (takfoten)).

Mark out the center of the tin roof sheet. Use a nibbler or tiger saw with metal blade and only cut the hills of the tin roof sheet, then the roof can be "folded" over the hut. Fasten the roof with roof tin or farmer screws. I put a screw every second "valley" in the lowest batten, and the every third valley for the rest.

The barge boards (vindskivor), the door framing and the corners consists of 22x70 pieces. The door is reinforced with a 45x70 frame on the inside to be a bit more resistant to pig scratching.

When the barge boards are in place, it is time to add some tin over the ridge (nockplåt in swedish) and over the barge boards (vindskiveplåt in swedish)..

One important feature for me is that the hut should be possible to move around. I use a kind of lifting eyes designed for boats (found at biltema), two for the back wall and two for the front wall. Make sure that they are mounted well into the underlying wood.