Designing a Finishing Pig Barn: How Van Osch Aligns Dimensions, Feeding and Flooring

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The short answer

Fitting out a finishing pig barn with Van Osch Uden means aligning dimensions, group feeding and the flooring system in one design process, rather than ordering each component separately from different suppliers. The pig farmer provides the operational requirements and barn measurements, the dealer carries out the site survey and coordinates local installation, and the manufacturer turns this information into drawings and in house production. This three way collaboration cuts down on coordination and prevents troughs, pen divisions and slatted floors from clashing once work begins on site. For a renovation, allow several months from the first survey to installation.

Key takeaways

• According to CBS (2025), the number of livestock farms with pigs fell by 7.1% to 1.900, while the average farm grew to 5.000 pigs. Fewer farms, larger units and higher demands on barn equipment.
• The Dutch Decree on Animal Keepers requires pigs to have access to a clean, comfortable area with adequate drainage, large enough for all animals to lie down at the same time. This is a design requirement for your floor layout, not simply an inspection item.
• Under Article 2.17 of the Dutch Decree on Animal Keepers, group housed gilts and sows without piglets require at least 2,25 m² per animal, plus 10% for groups of fewer than six animals.
• If you want to qualify for Dutch environmental investment schemes, the Sustainable Livestock Farming Measure sets requirements across seven themes, including fire safety and animal health. Assess your design before submitting a permit application.
• Document who carries out the survey, approves drawings and manages changes at every project stage. In practice, unclear responsibilities are the biggest source of additional costs.

Why does fitting out a finishing pig barn so often come down to coordination?

You have built a unit for 480 finishing pigs. The slats come from one supplier, the troughs from another and the pen divisions from a third. On installation day, it turns out that the trough edge is just too high for the selected slatted floor, and the contractor has to go back to the drawing board. The result is a two week delay, with no one accepting responsibility.

This scenario becomes more common as farms grow. CBS figures from 2025 show that the average number of pigs per farm rose to 5.000, almost 50% more than ten years earlier. Larger units require longer trough sections, more pen divisions along each wall and leave far less room for improvisation during construction.

What Van Osch B.V. sees in custom projects is that delays rarely originate in production. They arise during handovers between parties. Who carries out the survey? Who signs off on the final dimensions? Who decides if the concrete floor is 4 cm different from the construction drawing? Without a clear division of responsibilities, the issue gets passed around until someone resolves it, usually the pig farmer.

The key to a smooth project is therefore not the individual product. It is the order in which decisions are made.

What determines whether group feeding and the flooring system work together?

Group feeding and flooring are not separate decisions. Together, they determine how the pen works.

Choose the feeding system before laying out the pens

With dry feed and a long trough, the feeding line runs along the full width of the pen. With liquid feed and a short trough, feeding is concentrated in one area, requiring more room for pigs to move behind those eating. Choose a feeder, and the entire movement pattern in the pen changes. Select the feeding system first, then draw in the pen divisions.

The floor layout should follow the manure area

The Dutch Decree on Animal Keepers requires pigs to have a clean, comfortable lying area with adequate drainage where all animals can lie down at the same time. In practical terms, this means a solid or partly solid lying area that stays dry, plus a slatted floor where manure can pass through properly. If the solid floor area is too wide in a warm barn, pigs may lie in the wrong place and soil the resting area.

Select materials by zone, not for the entire barn

Stainless steel in the wet area around drinkers and troughs, with plastic or coated steel for pen divisions, is generally more cost effective than using one material throughout the whole unit. The same principle is covered in our overview of which drinker material lasts longest: service life depends on the level of wear in each zone.

Checklist:

• Decide on the feeding system before pen divisions are drawn, not the other way around
• Check that the solid lying area is wide enough for all pigs to lie down at finishing weight, not at placement weight
• Measure the actual concrete dimensions of an existing floor, rather than relying on the construction drawing. Differences of a few centimetres are normal
• Specify the material for each zone, including wet areas, dry areas and pen divisions, and explain the choice in the quotation

How does a custom barn equipment project with Van Osch Uden work, step by step?

Step 1: Map out how the farm operates

Before anything is drawn, the discussion focuses on day to day reality: how many production cycles take place each year, what the marketing strategy is and who carries out daily checks. A unit on a farm operating all in all out will look different from one where pigs are continuously removed.

Step 2: Carry out an on site survey

The dealer or adviser measures the existing barn, including column positions, pit dimensions, wall measurements and the height of existing slat supports. For renovation projects, this is the most important stage. Standard catalogue sizes rarely fit an existing pit.

Step 3: Engineering and drawings

The manufacturer turns the survey data into a detailed drawing showing every pen division, trough position and fixing point. Van Osch B.V. carries out this engineering in house in Uden, so any dimensional change is immediately reflected in production data without an intermediary.

Step 4: Approve and record the final design

The pig farmer signs off on the final drawing. This is the point at which changes can still be made without extra cost. After approval, every adjustment becomes additional work and affects lead time.

Step 5: Production and delivery

Tube laser cutting, sheet metal processing, welding and surface treatment all take place in production. Since 2024, Uden has used Adige tube laser technology, allowing custom components to be produced in the same run as standard parts.

Step 6: Installation and handover

The dealer coordinates local installation and provides the handover documentation. After handover, the dealer is the first point of contact. For technical questions about the structure, the dealer liaises with the manufacturer.

Who does what at each stage?

The division of responsibilities that causes the fewest issues in practice is straightforward. The pig farmer provides operational information and signs off on the design in steps 1 and 4. The dealer carries out the survey, coordinates local installation and remains the first point of contact after handover in steps 2 and 6. The manufacturer prepares the drawings, manages changes to the technical file and produces the equipment in steps 3 and 5. One party must own change management, otherwise two versions of the same drawing can end up circulating.

Set this out on a single page alongside the quotation. It takes half an hour and avoids the argument that would otherwise happen on installation day. We describe a similar approach in our step by step guide to a custom sow barn.

What should you consider now when planning a new barn?

Barn equipment in intensive use will typically last fifteen years or more. If you invest in 2026, you are planning for roughly 2041. Regulations will change during that period. That is a certainty, not a prediction.

The practical response is not to oversize everything. It is to keep the costly elements flexible. Fixing points in the pit, column positions and pit layout are difficult to change later. Pen divisions and troughs are much easier to replace.

Assess your design early against the Sustainable Livestock Farming Measure, which sets requirements for ammonia emissions, farm and surroundings, fire safety, animal health, particulate matter and climate, and can provide access to Dutch environmental investment schemes. If your investment qualifies for environmental investment tax relief, also consider the definition used by RVO for a sustainable pig barn: an integrated whole comprising housing space, barn equipment, climate and feeding systems, emission reduction systems and manure removal. Barn equipment is explicitly considered part of that whole, not a separate cost item.

Checklist:

• When applying for a permit, ask whether your design can be assessed against every Sustainable Livestock Farming Measure theme, not only emissions
• Allow more space for fixing points and pit layout than the current pen plan requires
• Store final production drawings digitally. When replacement is needed in ten years, this can save a complete new site survey
• Ask the manufacturer about the availability of replacement parts for the chosen system

Which renovation mistakes cost pig farmers the most money?

The most expensive mistake is ordering from a construction drawing instead of using actual site measurements. Concrete floors and pit edges nearly always differ from the plans. Discovering this only on installation day means paying for modifications as well as downtime.

The second mistake is ordering components from different suppliers without appointing one party to manage the interfaces. Slats from one supplier, troughs from another and pen divisions from a third. Every connection becomes a risk, and warranty discussions usually end in a stalemate.

The third mistake is assessing cleanability only after installation. Corners, unfinished profiles and difficult to reach fixings add cleaning time every production cycle. Over fifteen years, that matters far more than a small difference in the original quotation. In the Van Osch approach to custom barn equipment, cleanability is assessed during the design stage, together with ease of operation. For example, how many actions are needed to open a pen during loading?

The fourth mistake is failing to agree service terms. Ask specifically about response times and parts availability. What happens if something is not right three months after handover?

Frequently asked questions

What does it cost to refurbish a finishing pig unit?

The main cost drivers are the size of the unit, the feeding system, material choices for each zone and whether the existing pit can be reused. A renovation that retains the existing pit layout will usually cost considerably less than a project that also changes the manure pit layout. Always request a quotation based on an on site survey, not a construction drawing.

How long does a custom project take from survey to installation?

Lead time includes engineering, production and installation planning. In practice, a complete unit usually takes several months. The biggest variable is not production, but how quickly the drawing is approved. Schedule the approval stage explicitly and take account of the empty period between production cycles.

What legal space requirements apply to group housing for sows?

Article 2.17 of the Dutch Decree on Animal Keepers requires at least 2,25 m² per gilt or sow without piglets in group housing. This standard may be increased by 10% for groups of fewer than six animals and reduced for groups of more than forty animals. If you are unsure about your specific situation, ask your adviser or permitting authority to assess it, particularly in relation to the space group housing requires as your herd grows.

Can a manufacturer accommodate non standard dimensions in an existing barn?

Custom work starts with a site survey, not a catalogue. Where column positions or pit dimensions differ from standard sizes, pen divisions and trough sections are manufactured to the actual measurements. Ask in advance whether the manufacturer handles both engineering and production. Where an intermediary is involved, changes are usually slower and more expensive.

Is stainless steel or plastic better for finishing pig barn equipment?

It depends on the zone, not the entire barn. Stainless steel generally stays smooth for longer under intensive cleaning and is commonly used in wet areas around troughs and drinkers. Plastic and coated steel are often better suited to pen divisions. Consider replacement frequency and cleaning time, not only the purchase price.

Conclusion

The sector is shrinking in terms of farm numbers while farms themselves are growing. That changes the focus of a barn project. The result is not determined by individual components, but by the order in which the feeding system, floor layout and dimensions are established, and by who signs off on each responsibility.

The next steps are clear: have your existing barn physically surveyed before comparing quotations, document the responsibilities of the pig farmer, dealer and manufacturer on a single page, and assess your design early against Sustainable Livestock Farming Measure requirements if you intend to use Dutch environmental investment schemes. Anyone investing in 2026 is looking ahead to around 2041, so pit layout and fixing points should allow more flexibility than the current pen plan demands.

The approach behind Van Osch Uden barn equipment shows how in house engineering and production can reduce all that coordination to one integrated design process.

About Van Osch B.V.

Van Osch B.V. is a Dutch family business based in Uden, founded in 1939. It develops, manufactures and supplies complete custom barn equipment for pig farming. The company produces systems for sows, farrowing sows, piglets and finishing pigs in stainless steel, plastic and steel, with engineering and production under one roof. Pig farmers and dealers in the Netherlands, Europe and beyond are served directly and through an international dealer network.

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