The short answer: building and equipment dominate the budget, equipment cost scales almost linearly with the number of places, and the three items that move the total most are farrowing crates, penning and ventilation.
1. The four cost blocks
- Civil works: foundations, floors, walls, slurry pits and roads
- Structure: steel frame, roof, ceiling and insulation
- Equipment: crates, stalls, penning, flooring, feeding, drinking, ventilation and manure handling
- Utilities and installation: power supply, water supply, labour, freight and commissioning
As a rough pattern, civil and structure together often account for slightly more than equipment on a new greenfield site, while on an extension project equipment is usually the dominant line because the building already exists.
2. Equipment scales with places, not with area
Equipment cost tracks the number of animal places far more closely than it tracks building area. A farrowing crate is priced per set, a gestation stall per stall, penning per pig place. That means doubling the herd roughly doubles the equipment budget, while the building cost per pig falls as houses get larger — which is why multi-storey or long-house layouts reduce cost per place.
3. The items that dominate
| Item | Priced per | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Farrowing crates | Set | Highest unit cost per place in a sow farm |
| Gestation stalls | Stall | Large multiplier — 5–7 stalls per sow |
| Penning and slats | Pig place | Scales directly with finishing capacity |
| Ventilation | m³/h installed | Undersizing is expensive to fix later |
4. Where buyers overspend, and where they underspend
Overspending usually happens on finishes that no pig ever touches: polished stainless in a dry area, or oversized control systems. Underspending happens on galvanizing and ventilation — the two items that are almost impossible to upgrade once the house is full. A crate with a measured 275 g/m² zinc coating costs a little more today and much less over ten years.
5. Getting a real number for your project
Generic per-pig figures circulating online rarely match a real project, because they assume a house type, climate and material specification you may not have. The reliable route is a scaled equipment list: send your target sow number or finishing places, house dimensions and local climate, and we will return a line-by-line list with a fixed quotation. Our complete pig farm project service does exactly this, and the quotation is free.
Conclusion
Budget equipment per place, not per square metre. Spend the extra on galvanizing and ventilation. And ask for a line-by-line quotation, because a single lump sum hides exactly the decisions that will cost you money in year three.