Giant milk score

I got a call from Charlie, who I'd done some business with earlier in the year. He is a retired postal worker who has a farm 10 miles north of mine.

One of your major costs in raising pigs is the feed. So if you're going to have any success at it, you'll keep your eyes out for free or low cost pig food. Quality is important, too. I'd rather not feed a pig something that I wouldn't eat.

So Charlie called me and asked if I was interested in 300 gallons of either expired or soon-to-expire cow milk. I was all over that, and picked it up Thursday morning.

Pigs love cows milk. The gallon containers aren't bad, you just slice them with a razor knife and they empty pretty quickly, but the little pint containers are a pain in the ass. Finally discovered you can treat them like grapes -- put them into a garbage can and stomp them flat, pour off the milk, repeat.

In cold weather the pigs cram themselves into as few shelters as can fit all of the pigs. So even though they have 4 shelters that are all bedded with dry hay, 2 of them will be full of pigs, and 2 empties. Guess it's warmer that way.

The shelter in the pictures above is the 2nd from the right in the next photo.

These are the new additions to the herd. They weigh between 80 and 100lbs right now. Some of these guys will go for christmas at about this weight, others will be held and grown out. A few will be bred, if they show good temprament, conformation and work within our system.