IBC Totes As Pig Shelters - Tips And Tricks

This video is an overview of the setup I've made using 330 gallon IBC totes as pig shelters. They take work to setup but should last a long time and not allow the pigs to dig down into the bottom like they can with a dirt floor shelter that has been very frustrating to me in the past as I sometimes had to fill 1-2 foot deep holes in a dirt floor shelter every other day to prevent escape! Gotta clean the totes thoroughly especially if they had any industrial substances in them (these had a water soluble solution in them) but they can be useful.

[@circa45]

This is a great idea… gonna work on a set up like this

[@FreedomandBaconHomestead]

Good luck!

[@Dorpers89]

just a idea but if you use some scrap fence wire to tighten them to the post but good concept to build on

[@FreedomandBaconHomestead]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@aspencedr8182]

how well did these work over the entire season , thinking about doing something similar ?

[@FreedomandBaconHomestead]

They are good and bad... :) They are great for piglets as they are windproof from most angles minus the front which a thick rubber mat can be put over to keep straw in (with a board along the bottom to help hold in the straw) but as pigs get bigger you can't really get more than two in one tote at best. I figured they'd simply split up into pairs to be in there but they simply slept outside except when it was raining. They're nice for the winter as they can't burrow into the bottom whereas when I had a dirt floor shelter in the winter they dug one foot down every day since that was the only not frozen ground available which made me worry about them getting out so I had to toss them food and sneak into their shelter to fill in their digging which got really old really quickly.

[@aspencedr8182]

@@FreedomandBaconHomestead thanks for the feedback , have to rebuild a shelter , we just raise them from may thru Nov , will give it a try. thanks again for reply and posts.

[@FreedomandBaconHomestead]

@@aspencedr8182 For sure and good luck! Other thing is be careful with what fluids were in the totes prior to using them. Mine had a water soluble solution in them but it took a LOT of rinsing to get them clean and then they needed to be aired out for a while. I also cut some one inch holes on the four bottom corners to drain any water that gets in and I think that was a good choice as it at least helped with rinsing them before and after the pigs were in there.