The journey into the abyss of no return

[Baymule]

Happy hogs! They are enjoying that hay bale.

 

[Mini Horses]

Your road is getting what it needs. My question is how do you heat your house with the cold extremes? Propane, wood, ??? I know you work some areas for better insulation, etc earlier but, dang...minus temps & winds

 

[Weldman]

Hogs look good... still lean built but have good flesh.....and they sure are tamer compared to when you first started fooling with them..... follow the leader wanting some "goodies".... looking for a bucket.....

I was thinking of taking two of the biggest ones, isolate them and start finishing them off to the appropriate size. They say up to 5 lbs a day for each pig, not these they get that and then some and still not filling out

Your road is getting what it needs. My question is how do you heat your house with the cold extremes? Propane, wood, ??? I know you work some areas for better insulation, etc earlier but, dang...minus temps & winds

I heat with propane, can't be around wood stoves thanks to time in the service in combat. To put it in perspective there is 432² ft up here, we can heat it up just fine when it hits -40°F or colder with 20k BTU heater since I insulated it so well. Just as with earthern bermed water tanks, animal shelters this pole barn will be done as such and so will the house.
Heater goes down I got two Buddy heaters 9k BTU max each on backup and if that isn't enough I got a brand new 30k BTU heater in the box.
I've seen frost climb the walls in the camper we were living in, and don't bother with windows they are iced over.

 

[farmerjan]

If you want to finish the hogs, give them all they will eat... pretty much keeping feed in front of them. Mine would pretty much finish what I gave them in 24 hours, but I basically never let them run out of feed.
I am, thinking that whatever breeds are in them.... and I am suspecting some Landrace with the length of body they have. Landrace were popular for colder climates but they had the long floppy ears and long lean bodies. Although, so did some of the large blacks..... the white feet suggest some berkshire in there and they are not as large a hog... so that might be what makes up the base but berks have upright ears....
You are fighting against the cold there and the hogs having to eat to keep up their body heat in the winter.... their feed will go first to maintaining their body heat and condition... so you are going to feed alot more feed in the winter to have them gaining.

 

[fuzzi]

I thought of you as I watched this:

It's beyond my capabilities but might have elements that you and others might incorporate in your own homesteads.