How Much Manure Does A Pig Make
Past Joshua Bardwell – originally posted in September 2009 at Jack-Booted Liberal.
In my previous post on composting sus scrofa manure, I discussed the type of composting system Issa and I plan to use. A fundamental question for united states of america in choosing a organisation was how much manure we could expect our forthcoming pigs to make. A system based on 55 gallon drums would be a hassle if the pigs could make full them in as well short a time.
Issa found one site that stated that a 200 lb grunter would produce about 13 lbs of manure a day. That'south all well and good, simply unless you lot know the density of pig manure, it doesn't tell yous the volume yous'll need to contain information technology.
I found a site that stated that pigs would produce between 0.5 and 0.75 cubic feet of manure a solar day, per yard lbs of hog. For a 200 lb pig (close to market weight), that'south 0.1 to 0.15 cubic feet of manure. That gives us a density of near 87 to 130 lbs per cubic foot, or an average density of most 108 lbs per cubic pes.
A 55 gallon drum is near 7.3 cubic feet. If a 200 lb pig produces 0.i to 0.15 cubic anxiety of manure a twenty-four hour period, it will make full a 55 gallon pulsate in betwixt 73 and 49 days. Nosotros plan to keep two pigs, and then cut those numbers in half: 36.5 and 24.five days. Granted, those numbers are for full-weight pigs. The pigs will produce less manure when they are smaller.
A 4-H site I plant said that a good for you pig will gain approximately 1.6 lbs per twenty-four hour period. Co-ordinate to that site, fifty lbs is a typical starter weight. Market place weight is between 200 and 250 lbs. Based on the previously-given numbers, hither's a graph of the estimated total manure production of a hog from 50 lbs to 250 lbs:
The red line is the loftier estimate, based on 0.75 cubic feet of manure per grand lbs of pig, while the bluish line is the low estimate, based on 0.v cubic feet of manure per 1000 lbs of squealer. You lot can meet we cease up with approximately nine to xiv cubic feet of manure produced per pig. (For perspective, again, a 55 gallon drum is about 7.3 cubic feet.) This is estimated to weigh approximately 972 to 1512 lbs.
Here'due south where things get a bit fuzzy. That manure is going to shrink down when information technology composts. A typical ratio given for compost shrinkage is 50% volume. That means we can expect to stop upward with approximately 4.five to 7 cubic feet of compost, solely from pig manure. Majority finished compost is estimated to weigh in the ball park of 800 lbs per cubic k, or 30 lbs per cubic foot. That ways our final compost will weigh only 135 to 210 lbs! That's a heck of a lot of matter that left the arrangement!
Realistically, though, the pig manure will not be the only input to the system. Pig manure has a high nitrogen content relative to carbon. This means that an appropriate quantity of high-carbon material must be added out to remainder out the ratio in the final compost. The bodily amount of material depends on the blazon of material added, and a consideration of this gene is across the scope of this post. The bottom line is that there'southward going to be a flake more compost than the pig manure alone would produce.
The last question, and so, is whether the two pigs we programme to keep will provide plenty compost to fertilize the garden plot we plan to keep. I have estimated that the garden will start out at about 350 square anxiety and volition probably grow from there. A mutual guideline is to till 1″ of compost over your unabridged garden. Based on this, a 350 foursquare human foot plot volition require but about exactly one cubic human foot of compost. Yeah, looks similar nosotros're good to go, with compost to spare!
I have some water jugs that are nigh exactly ane cubic foursquare foot. It'southward difficult to imagine that modest amount of compost going over 350 square feet! Maybe it'south more compost than information technology looks like, though. After all, it's certainly more water than it looks like!
Actual results will, of course, vary, just it's notwithstanding a fun thought exercise.
Editor's Note: On the original postal service, a commenter said, "I think yous made a miscalculation–I went to an online mulch calculator and it indicates that for 350 square feet you lot need 1.1 cubic YARDS non feet. That means you'll need 27 cubic feet which means you'll actually exist a bit brusk on compost," to which Joshua replied, "It's truthful, equally I discovered when I went to purchase compost for the garden this twelvemonth."
For more information on raising pigs, these two books are both fantabulous sources – How to Enhance Pigs and Storey'south Guide to Raising Pigs. I used both of them when I was getting started. Whether you're raising pigs for pets, getting started raising a 4H squealer, or going purely for yummy pork, either of these books will help you out in getting started.
Source: https://www.babyschooling.com/homesteading/how-much-manure-does-a-pig-make/
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