One thing that people don't really realize is that raising small numbers of swine isn't new, or novel. It's only in the last 30 years that you started to see confinement hog barns and hog "units" that numbered their animals in the thousands.
So there's actually a really good body of plans and drawings for all sorts of hog related items. Feeders, waterers, farrowing crates and so on that are constructed of wood or metal or a mix of the two.
If you're interested in becoming more self sufficient, building your own equipment is one way to do that -- and for less dollars, too.
You'll find a link to a site with plans for all sorts of cool swine accessories here, courtesy of North Dakota State university.
I think I'll be building a feeder on skids and a farrowing crate from these plans.
If you know of similar resources somewhere, please do post a link.
I find it interesting that you're doing a blog - it's nice to be able to read about this kind of thing for once. I didn't know pigs liked tarps - I just read that in another one of your blogs.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there's usually several large birds on your blog sign when we drive by it every morning. It's pretty cool looking. XD
Thanks for the comment. The big birds that you see are turkeys -- the same birds that appear across the top of the blog, as a matter of fact. You'll see Narragansett, Eastern Wild, Blue Slate and Bourbon Red turkeys up there. They like to roost high; so until snohomish county gets around to approving my permit, that's the best use I can make of that partially constructed barn.
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