Hi, I’m Mike and today we have an unexpected but much needed project to complete, we need
to build a new enclosure and move the pigs, on our Wyoming life.
It’s the first day of fall, and man, does it feel like it. It’s about 8 am, temperature
is hovering about 42 degrees, although we are looking for a high today of 57. The rain
is moving in again and a bitter cold wind is blowing in from the south at anywhere from
20 to 30 miles per hour. It’s not the best day to be working outside, but after I ran
around and did my chores this morning. I made my way toward the pig stall and found that
these guys have had some fun. They somehow figured out how to wedge their water nozzle
open and in doing so, made a nice big mess in their stall. It’s beyond the point of
trying to clean it up, it needs to dry out and it’s not going to be able to do it with
these guys still living in here. So today, we build a new stall and move them over.
The whole process starts with coming up with a plan.
Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” It’s a good
quote, and I think I have a good plan, or at least I hope I do.
This is the pig shed, its about 60 feet long and 16 feet wide, for the last few months
the pigs have been living in one end of the shed, in an area about 16 foot square. Inside
that stall of the shed the water has been spraying for a few hours and even though these
guys have been having the time of their life playing in the nasty mud, its imperative that
we get them moved as soon as possible. My plan is to build a new stall right next
to this one, then cut a hole in the wood wall between the two creating a door and allowing
them to move into the new stall. After they are all in the new stall, we will block of
the door to keep them in the nice new clean area.
In the area where we want to build the new stall, is a bunch of hay, we have been using
it for bedding for the pigs and pitching it over the wall to them, but now it needs to
be moved. Using the bobcat, I am able to pick up most of the hay and move it out of the
way, while leaving enough to be able to make a nice soft and warm floor for them to hang
out on in their new stall. With that done, its time to go and gather
materials to build a new wall to make a new stall. Luckily we have some left over lumber
over by the shop. We pick out a few 16 foot 2 by 6s and a few pieces of ¾ partlicle board
plywood. The wind can pick up and change direction at anytime, so its super important to make
sure you keep a tight hand on big pieces of wood like this. So I use my head and manage
to get the plywood loaded up. As I’m getting ready to head back over,
I spy the boss keeping an eye on me from the house. I think hes trying to tell me I forgot
something, he’s probably right, I may have, but I’ll figure it out later. Back at the
pig shed, we unload our lumber. Then head to the shop for some tools.
This is my dewalt wall, its where I store my battery powered tools. I have them all
here with chargers to keep the batteries fresh and we pick out and impact wrench, for driving
screws, a circular saw for cutting off boards and a reciprocating saw for cutting lumber
in hard to reach spaces. All those tools are taken out the gator and dropped off. Then
its back into the shop to grab some screws to fasten the wall to the existing posts.
After checking in with the stinky pigs, then I back the gator into the shed to get all
the tools close to where we are going to be using them.
The first problem we run into is the fact that one of the boards I brought over is too
short, I should have measured but that’s ok, I have another board, I’ll run and grab
it. Back with the new board, and off again to
grab a tape measure. Back with the tape measure, I can now get to cutting our bottom board
to length. After a quick cut with the circular saw, then we widen out the gap between two
of the existing bottom boards to allow the new board to slip between. This is actually
an unexpected surprise as its going to hold that bottom board very secure.
These boards are extremely warped from being outside but after another trip to the shop
to grab a clamp, I pull the board back up against the existing post, then quickly fasten
the board to the post using 4 inch screws. Back to the other end, I screw that in place
as well. Then we measure 4 feet up for our top cross
board and mark that on the post. The existing pig panel fencing is in the way, so we will
go back to the shop and grab a pair of bolt cutters come back and nip of the offending
piece of the fence. After attaching one end, I can lift up the other end and using the
clamp again pull the board tight against the post and secure it in place with the four
inch screws. This gives us two horizontal braces to hold
up our plywood, which we will attach next. After a bit of what my dad call finangling,
I’m not even sure if that’s a word, I get the plywood up and into place. Some of
these projects would definitely benefit from an extra set of hands, but since its just
me, I have to figure it out. I’m a huge fan of using clamps as an extra hand. Once
its in place, we attach it with 2 inch screws. The other side is going to be a bit more work,
remember that preexisting brace piece that I praised earlier for adding a bit more security
to our new lower brace, well, now its in the way. Easily dealt with though, using the reciprocating
saw, I cut a notch to allow the plywood to drop over the brace, then cut it again, and
then move some dirt to get it even. After its in place, then its another round
of 2 inch screws to attach it to our braces. Then I add a vertical brace to the area where
to the two pieces of plywood come together, to help strengthen that area.
Now comes the icky part, I’m going to have to climb into the pigs nasty stall and move
their watering system from one stall to the next……that requires muck boots. Waterproof
and crap proof, these boots will save me from ruining a pair of cowboy boots and hopefully
a pair a jeans. Like superman changing in a phone booth, I am now ready to deal with
the nastiness. To keep the pigs from bugging me the whole
time I’m trying to do this, I’m going to put some food in their bucket to keep them
busy and hopefully not fall on my butt while I’m doing it.
Once they are occupied, I can disconnect the water and remove the screws that hold their
waterer in place and set it outside the shed before escaping myself.
After reattaching the waterer in their new stall, I hook it up, turn it on and test it
out and everything works just fine. I’ll move around a little bit of the hay
to make sure I get all the floor covered as the next step is to move in the pigs. I head
back over into the nasty stall, and using the reciprocating saw, I cut a quick hole
in the wall, then attach some backing 2x6 to screw the door back into once I get them
moved into the new stall. A few of the pigs come right in, but that
food that I gave them to keep them busy is working against me, So I try to give them
some garden scraps to move them into the new area, but with the newest of it all they are
really interest so once again, its back into the nasty and pick up their bucket of food
and toss it over the wall into the new stall. Now they have no reason, besides super fun
mud to stay in the old stall and neither do I. My best bet is to wait and let them move
into the new stall which they do in their own time. Once they are all in, I can replace
the hole in the fence I cut and screw it in place, locking them in their new house.
Its nice, its clean, unlike the pigs themselves but they seem happy. I know they say happier
than a pig in mud. But this is a bit ridiculous. I’ll wait a while for it to dry out, then
I’ll scoop it out with the bobcat, replace some of the dirt, disinfect it and put in
more straw. Making two stalls, side by side that the pigs can move back and forth in.
Living in one while the other is being cleaned. Not a bad plan, Mr Benjamin Franklin.
We aren’t pig farmers, we don’t raise pigs. Well, technically I guess we do, but
we don’t keep a sow, or a mom pig and we definitely don’t keep a boar, or a daddy
pig. We buy what are known as weaner pigs when they are about a month old. Then we raise
them for about 6 months until they are big, then they go off to a usda meat processing
facility and come back to us as bacon and pork chops and ham and all that goodness which
we sell at farmers market and direct to customers. I have a ton of respect for pig farmers, they
are a lot of work, but now we are done for the day with them, and we just beat the rain.
I’ve gotten a shower and now its off to pick up Kenzie from school before I come back
and start another project. Not sure what that will be, but I’m sure its waiting behind
the next gate or fencepost. Do me a favor and find us on facebook. We
post stuff on there you cant find anywhere else and I don’t want you to miss a thing.
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