Another week on the farm--another series of events.
Two days ago I helped Brian, a once-and-a-while employee and long-term friend of the ranch, build the pen where at least 14 Mulefoot sows will spend the winter. We built the pen on the concrete foundation of the old barn that burned last January or February. Brian is a really good fence builder and teacher, so it was fun working with him. Maybe I'm just new, but the project just seemed to fly by. Brian called Arie that morning said he was coming and showed up a half hour later. Right away they measured the concrete foundation to estimate material needs. T-posts were needed, so Arie called the supply and placed an order and I drove to Sioux Falls right after I was done with chores to pick them up. By the time the sun was going down, the T-posts were set, fence panels had been placed and wired on tightly, and I was finishing my major project for the day: picking up nails and metals in the dirt and soot of the pen with a powerful magnet.
Yesterday we moved a water tank and feeding troughs into the pen and secured everything in preparation for the sows. We got all the ladies moved in too. We used the "pig basket," a cage attached to the back of the tractor, to move the sows three at a time from the New Barn to the new pen. It was hot loud work with the roaring tractor and grunting pigs, and hectic with trying to keep the piglets out of the pig basket. Since the ladies had all been in separate pens, there were some relationship issues to settle once in the new pen and I had to break up some fights. One big girl got her ear bitten, so there was some blood, but it should heal up safely.
The piglets were left behind to run the New Barn. They are weaned, officially, I guess. Carolina said that this morning some of them got out of the New Barn and found the sow pen and were crying for their mommas. Poor babies! I'm sure they'll be fine, since all of them are well over 5 weeks old. We stopped feeding the sows the protein-rich meal and are giving them alfalfa hay and corn to get them to stop lactating as quickly as possible.
1 comment:
Such a contrast between this hog operation and grandpa Nelson.
His fences were tacked together with old lumber from outbuildings blown apart by bad weather. He never used a new nail. He had cans full of old, bent, rusty nails.
His hammer was old, bent, and rusty. Fit the nails, I guess.
Any old board would do. If it was to short, just tack a couple together with a rusty nail.
One cold morning we were feeding. We went round the corner of the barn and there were 8 dead hogs. Market ready so big, fat, and HEAVY.
The tank heater to keep the water fluid had electrified the drinking water. Those fat barrows would just walk across the carcass to get a drink . . . zap . . . another carcass.
Grandpa drug them out with the skid loader and dumped them on the manure pile. The following spring they were crumbly enough to run through the spreader.
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