Changing goals and speed

[Bruce]

Seems like @Baymule's method of feeding the slaughter pigs in a trailer for a few days before they need to be caught up is a good one!

Maybe all you goat milkers (now we find out they stink while getting milked!) need big fans blowing from tail to nose on those girls, blow the stink out!

 

[Baymule]

Roping a pig! Oh WHERE was the video camera? That would be a sure winner on America's Funniest Home Videos!! Wish I could have seen that one! Pig Drama!!

We're building a pig pen. Instead of using existing fence, we are building another fence so if they get out, they won't be totally OUT. I give my pigs treats too, they adore boiled eggs and probably would chase me back into their pen if I had some to lure them with.

 

[AClark]

I don't think I would have made AFV...too many "bleeps" for family TV, lol. Pretty sure I hit a record for how many times I said the "F" word in an hour.
I did end up locking them up in my stock trailer that night, to save on any more drama. I KNOW they aren't getting out of that. I'll hook onto it tonight because tomorrow morning they are headed to the processor. Unfortunately, their pen flooded with all the rain and it made it so soggy they were able to push the gate support over and that's how they got out. We had to trench it out to drain it. I'm not really happy about having pig crap in my stock trailer, but it is what it is. DH threw some big cardboard boxes in there a couple of weeks ago and luckily they used that, so I can just haul it into the dumpster. Next time, it's going to be a pen within a pen so I'm not chasing them all over God's green acres.
The local car wash isn't a fan of cleaning stock trailers with their high pressure hoses for some reason... I can't imagine why, though I shovel out the big stuff first.

I did not get the garden tilled and it's raining again already. I got a couple of rows but the tiller was running really ragged, and I had to keep it choked for it to run (and slowly) - I figure the carb is clogged, so I ordered a new carb. I already tried Seafoam. I went through the process of checking the air filter and all and it was like new, the spark plug IS new...so yeah, carb. It was $15, faster than rebuilding and like $5 more. It must be carburetor season for us, the ATV, auger, and tiller all needed new carbs this year. Probably speaks to the quality of fuel we put in them. I think I'll stick with a higher octane from now on.


I think Missy is going to pop soon. She has a little discharge going on and is bagging up. Poor thing is so skinny. She's weird, she doesn't like the pelleted feed like the others at all, but loves the alfalfa cubes. The rest of mine will eat the cubes but prefer the pellets. Of course she is happy to eat calf-manna and grain, but I'm not feeding a ton of that. She leaves the pellets in the feeder, but I figure if she gets hungry she'll eat them.

Chicks should hatch this weekend, I'm excited to see how many hatch out!

 

[CntryBoy777]

Ya could always keep the boys busy for a bit with a hose and scrub brush....I'd give em a little extra for the service and inspiration....
Hope the kidding and hatching goes great for ya....

 

[Baymule]

I get you on the pigs in the trailer, mine are still in the trailer and it's freaking me out. I desperately NEED some sunny days so we can get outside and get to work! We need to build the pig pen, good thing about that is once we build one, we can use it over and over. We had a beautiful sunny day yesterday, but daughter called at 6:50 AM, her babysitter was sick, so we watched the 3 and 1 1/2 year old grands. NO pig pen building!

I clean the trailer every morning. When we finally get them out of there, I'll wash and scrub it out good before we take it to the carwash. Carwash is the first place DH stops after taking animals to slaughter.

I have so much to do in the garden it ain't even funny. I guess you and I will finally get our gardens done......someday.

still would have loved to see you rope that pig.....LOL LOL

 

[AClark]

See, I don't mind the stock trailer after the horses or goats have been in it, I let it dry and sweep it out, but there's a big difference between their poop and the pig poop. Our water pressure here at the house is so poor it isn't worth trying to hose out the trailer, I can't even wash my truck with it, but even swept out I got complained at for pulling the trailer through the bay at the car wash, and it wasn't even nasty. I mean, I was standing in there spraying it, and I keep the cab of my truck immaculate so you know I'm not getting in it covered in gross.
Our pressure is so bad that if you're in the shower and someone turns on the sink or flushes the toilet, it takes about 5 minutes before you get enough water pressure back to finish your shower.
I'll push the pigs up into the first cut gate this morning, pull out the soiled cardboard boxes, and then push them to the rear for the ride.

I'm sure my pig roping was comical. I got a couple of good throws in that he managed to escape before I could rip the slack out - have to throw a big loop when you can't catch a neck. It basically comes down to managing to get the neck and 1 leg through to have a good catch they can't back out of. I had regrets after I actually caught him, one of those moments where you stop and say "Ok I caught it, now what?!"
Honestly, I'm not much of a header to begin with, I'm a decent heeler, but their legs don't catch that well, a softer rope would have probably worked better.

My new carb should be here next week, it shouldn't take me long to put it on, and I'll be able to knock the garden area out really fast. I got the one for the ATV, and will work on that soon and try to get it started. It needs tires though so even once it runs it's not going anywhere, as they are too dry rotted to even hold with fix a flat to limp it out of the barn. I'll be happy to have it running, our neighbor traded me a lawn dump bed trailer for some reloading supplies I had left over and it holds at least 4x what my wheel barrow does, so it will speed up some projects for sure.
So, garden plan is till once to remove grass/weeds, till it deep, add compost, re-till, and cover with weed barrier.

It's raining right now, it's going to be a soggy slow ride down this morning.

 

[Bruce]

Our pressure is so bad that if you're in the shower and someone turns on the sink or flushes the toilet, it takes about 5 minutes before you get enough water pressure back to finish your shower.

Sounds like it is time for a (new) (bigger) pressure tank.

 

[AClark]

We are on rural water, not a well, or I'd go out and pressurize a tank myself. I've done that many times back home, but here i have to pay for water use and it's "you get what you get" pressure wise. They said I get 23 lbs at the road when they tested it and that's all they are required to give me. You can get a shower in it, as long as nobody flushes the toilet, turns a sink or hose on, and you turn off the washer and dishwasher. Forget washing the mud off your truck or a trailer out though.

Pigs are gone. It was dry enough on the roads to travel easily, backed the trailer up and in the chute. They weren't that big, not like the two show hogs that were there, but it is what it is and they are out of my hair. It's soggy out and I haven't cleaned the trailer out yet, man it smells in there and I'm not looking forward to it. I think I'll just burn the cardboard and try to scrape it, but things came up. Lena isn't feeling well, when she woke up this morning her eyes were all stuck together, so I got her a dr appt at 1. I still need to run to the feed store but I figured "f it" - I'll do that tomorrow and bring the trailer up to the car wash there and hope the owner isn't there, lol. If he is, I'll pretend I'm hosing the outside because it's muddy and then run through the inside real fast. I mean really what is he going to say as long as I"m not flushing hay down the drain to clog it - I'm paying for it.

 

[Bruce]

I mean really what is he going to say as long as I"m not flushing hay down the drain to clog it - I'm paying for it.

Is the used water sent down the sewer?

I get 23 lbs at the road when they tested it and that's all they are required to give me.

But you COULD have better pressure if you wanted, right? You COULD put in a tank and a 30-50 regulator?? For the washing of vehicles, maybe you need a pressure washer?

Is the lack of ability to shower at the same time someone turns another faucet on possibly linked to the size of the pipes in the house? ASSUMING you have a 1" or greater pipe coming in from the meter, you can run 3/4" pipe instead of 1/2", at least for cold water, and you should (I think) still have that whopping 23 PSI at all "end users".

In my prior house I ran a 1" pipe from where the "neighborhood water *" came into the house to where it branched off to "use locations" and ran 3/4" from there to each end point. Dropped to 1/2" at each "last split". 25 PSI everywhere and flushing a toilet didn't scald someone showering. The bathroom sink and shower fixtures were designed to be "low flow" so "full pressure" didn't mean lots of wasted water.

* The neighborhood has a well and the water was originally pumped up to a tower that was at about the high point of the neighborhood. People at the same level as the base of the tower had pressure tanks. People at the bottom of the hill, > 1/2 mile distant and ~150' vertically, had better pressure. We were down hill only about 40' from the tower. Eventually that tower was replaced with in ground tanks, pumps and auto chlorinators (no more having someone climb up the tower with a couple of gallons of bleach). Pressure went to 70 PSI. Sure glad I had all pretty new plumbing! I can imagine a jump like that could flush out a lot of weak joints/pipes in old plumbing.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Hope Lena gets better and it is just a cold or something simple. I doubt that I'd burn the cardboard, I'd let it decompose in the garden and use it for weed control around the edge if nothing else....might as well use what ya have and not smell it in the air burning.....