I enjoy reading other peoples blogs, and I recently found one that I like pretty well.
The folks over at farmfolly.com have just purchased a couple of weaner pigs, and they're working through raising pigs through the winter. I liked his pen idea, and, and his shelter idea, but if you ask me, I think that his pigs will eat his hay and knock down the shelter before too long, but that's OK. It's just hay and a tarp.
In any case, you'll find the blog here, and on the list of "blogs I follow" on the right hand side of my blog.
Update: Lisa farms in Alaska and writes a blog here. She notes that there's a $500 a ton surcharge on freight. I think that will make most people think that their inputs are CHEAP.
Well, I won't be building any shelters out of hay or straw up here... most feed is imported with a $500 a ton markup for fuel costs. I'm thinking about next year's summer butcher pigs having hoop houses for shelter- inside of an electric fence. This year's pig free-ranged and that didn't work out so well, since she starting turning EVERYTHING upside down at about 200 pounds...
ReplyDelete$500 a ton surcharge! yikes!
ReplyDeleteAnd I was grumbling about hay being $150 a ton this year.
Hey Bruce -
ReplyDeleteThank you for the new 'this little piggy' blog link. I discovered and continue to follow your blog in my research for getting my first pigs. I like to do a lot of research before jumping in. I'm out on 4 acres in NE Olympia. So far, I have added chickens and ducks for eggs and goats for milk.
I enjoy your blog very much for the information you provide.
(wink) That's the over-the-counter price. A wise farmer can figure out how to pick up hay a little cheaper... but still the cheapest quality alfalfa I can negotiate is still $505 a ton. And that's on top of driving 5 hours round trip to pick it up. It hurts EVERY time.
ReplyDeleteHey Bruce, thanks for the link and the suggestions. Over on my site I replied with a question: I misspoke in the post by saying "hay" ... I meant straw bales. Are the pigs as likely to chew up the less palatable straw bales?
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed by how much bigger and stronger they seem to have gotten in only a week. When I checked on them a few minutes ago, one pig was calmly trenching an 8" deep rut with its nose.