Remodeling my Chicken coup into a Pig Barn

[rocketdoctor]

I have a 4x8 coop with an additional 10x12 run. The chicken coop that has a dirt floor that I usually just add yard waste to and then clean it out every few months, its great at making compost. My daughter is going to be raising a 4h swine and I want to remodel the chicken coup to be 10X8 barn and then I will make a separate hen house for the chickens in their run.

The question is would it be unsafe to put a pig in a barn where chickens have lived for the past 5 years? would the chicken manure remnants be bad for it?

 

[sunflour]

I really don't know, but would guess if the chickens have been out for 90 days, it should be safe, because that's how long experts recommend to age chicken manure before adding to our vegetable gardens.

 

[rocketdoctor]

hmmm interesting news, it puts a new timeline on my barn I was planning on kicking chickens out into new coop and remodeling coop in Dec-Jan and getting pig in Feb.

 

[waddles99]

What I would do is pour a slab on the existing ground, that way you don't have to wait 90 days(and still possibly risk it), AND it makes everything less smelly and easier to clean. Cement is definitely the way to go to not smelly pig keeping.

 

[donrae]

Folks have raised pigs and chickens together for hundreds of years. There's no risk to your pigs from chicken poop if your birds were reasonably healthy. The biggest risk I've ever heard of raising the two together is the pigs eating the chickens, but you're moving the birds so that's a moot point.