Hi I'm Mike animals are what makes a
ranch and for us making sure that they
have all they need to live a happy and
healthy life while they're here is
priority number one today we're back to
confront more on the project list as we
take a look at what the pigs need on our
wyoming life
each year we raise a few pigs on the
ranch these pigs will eventually be sold
to our local farmers market customers
but before they get there our goal is to
give them the best life we can right
here welcome back to our whelming life
where we bring you what it takes to keep
a family ranch in Northeast Wyoming up
and running from animals to gardening
family to our beliefs and values it's
all right here as we explore the ranch
life and escape the ordinary this behind
me is the project list a list that keeps
on growing and growing this list is what
keeps me going many days on the ranch
it's not organized not categorized or
anything like that it's a list purely of
what needs done out here I had a few
questions about why not divide it into
groups or types of work and the easiest
answer I have for you is about as close
to laziness as we can try to get around
here many of the projects on the list
are added as I pass by things pop into
your head or you see a project that
needs done and boom it goes on the list
no thought required no analysis the type
of work or the time required or deciding
how to make it as complicated as
possible all that comes later as anyone
will tell you who has worked on a ranch
many much longer than I have sometimes
the simplest way to do things well
that's the best way to do things over
and over I've learned that overly
complicated thing just makes more work
but some jobs can be improved with just
a little bit of ingenuity today we're
gonna go from the very hands-on manual
way of caring for our pigs on a daily
basis to a bit more hands-off approach
don't worry though
they'll still need to be checked a
couple times a day mainly because
they're a bunch of troublemakers and
delinquents this year we have ten pigs
to raise here on the ranch
there are Hereford Yorkshireman and so
far they seem to be pretty good growers
pigs in fact will gain weight at a rate
of
a pound per day in six months time these
guys away over 250 pounds when they came
to the ranch
they weighed in at about 20 pounds as we
weigh one today we can see how much
they've go
pigs require a basic three things water
to drink food to eat and a clean living
area to make dirty that's about it
today we're gonna work on all three
starting with cleaning the stall where
they live
contrary to what you may have heard pigs
are actually quite clean animals they're
unable to sweat so they love to wallow
in mud to cool down I guess that's where
they got the reputation as dirty but in
reality they're actually pretty clean
we give them an oversized stall live in
and they choose which area of it to use
as a bathroom and as they grow their
stall will grow also giving them plenty
of room to move around in pig manure can
be composted although the modern belief
is that pig manure should not be used on
vegetable gardens pig manure can carry
parasites such as roundworm that can
actually survive the composting process
it can be used however for other
landscaping tasks we just choose to keep
it away from the vegetable gardens a few
populations are vulnerable to illness
from the pig manure including young
children pregnant women the elderly for
those with compromised immune systems
for us it's not worth the risk although
it won't go to waste
once we're done cleaning out the stall
we add some fresh bedding now this will
give them some delay on something to
keep them cool and hopefully reduce the
digging in the dirt that pigs like to do
that takes care of one basic need a
clean area to live and now we can move
on to food up until now we've been
feeding the pigs twice daily in small
containers now that they're getting
bigger we're gonna change out their
feeding regimen to a more free access
feed by using bigger feeders we can add
more food a few hundred pounds at a time
giving the pigs access to food
throughout their day and reducing the
amount of time that we have to spend
feeding them every day these feeders get
beat up pretty bad by the pigs but I've
kind of pounded out the dents and we get
them into the stall we attach a little
wall and then it's time to fill them up
the food we're feeding right now is
called show right team 18 feed this is a
mash feed as opposed to a pelletized
feed
it contains 18 percent protein and a
number of different minerals that
figures require input in calcium
phosphorus and slam over time will
change their feet but this is what they
get for now last but not least it's time
for their water requirements pigs and
water can be a tricky combination up
until now we've been watering on a few
times a day adding water to a dish for
them to share but now that they're
getting bigger it's harder for them to
gather around and drink all at the same
time they now require a continuous water
source that they can use as they need
the tricky part is that they're going to
try to make a mess so we need to limit
that as much as possible we're going to
be building a pig watering system
similar to a drip system that Aaron uses
in the garden but utilizing 1/2 inch
stainless steel automatic Pig drinking
nipples when the pig bites down on the
nipple it's going to open the water flow
allowing them to drink kind of like the
water fountain in grade school but
everybody put their lips on trust me I
know last week I went in McKenzie and
Grace's school and I started to twitch
it's then that I remembered why they
bring home every single little bug you
can wash your hands all day long but
until somebody sprays some bleach on
that water fountain
terms are gonna run rampant here today
we're going to use PVC to attach four of
these Pig watering fountains together
then we run them to a hydrant for the
water
once it's all together then we can test
it any leaks and we're gonna have to
deal with them before installing it into
the pig stall as pigs could turn a drip
into a mud hole luckily everything looks
pretty good we're going to attach it to
a tube line floor so it has a nice solid
structure and after everything is sealed
up tight and we can put it in with the
pigs
and teach them how to drink from
and that's pretty much it for today what
you didn't see was in the middle of it I
got a chance to reconnect with an old
friend over lunch who I hadn't seen her
talked to in over a year so I went to
town sat down on a restaurant smelling
of pigs and oddly enough not a sideways
glance was thrown my way
the pigs themselves well they seemed
pretty happy pretty sure they're gonna
be happier once I'm out of here and stop
messing with them and I probably will be
too
a shower is definitely in my future
while rolling in the dust is in theirs
thanks for coming along each of the
things crossed off the project list
makes room for more and I better go
check and see if Aaron added anything to
it while I was gone please subscribe for
more from the ranch this week we'll be
taking a look at the vital functions of
the ranch as we get in and pull the
bowls out from the cows their job is
done and I'm sure they're ready for a
break all those ladies out there has to
be tiring until I see you again have a
great week and thanks for joining us in
our Wyoming life hey guys quit chewing
on my feet