Water for pigs

[Baymule]

My barrel sits outside the fence too. And I can feed them without having to go in there with them.

How i built my Pig Palace.

Baymule’s Pigs 2018 HEREFORDS!

Congrats on your new piggies Bay!!! Please get some new pictures after they settle in! I'm so glad you finally got some herefords, i know you love them.

www.backyardherds.com

 

[BarnOwl]

My barrel sits outside the fence too. And I can feed them without having to go in there with them.

How i built my Pig Palace.

Baymule’s Pigs 2018 HEREFORDS!

Congrats on your new piggies Bay!!! Please get some new pictures after they settle in! I'm so glad you finally got some herefords, i know you love them.

www.backyardherds.com

I love your pig palace! Those were some good looking pigs. I enjoyed reading through the thread and seeing the progression of your set up. I hope ours turns out half as good.

 

[BarnOwl]

I like the idea of putting the barrel outside the fence. I assume I'd have to buy extra parts to extend the nipples?--the ones I've seen online seem fairly short. Are some kinds of nipples better than others or can I pretty much just order anything labeled pig nipple waterer?

We are trying to decide if we should electrify the fence. Would it be a problem having the barrel outside the fence if the fence is hot?--will the pigs be too wary to come close to the fence to drink or inadvertently get shocked while trying to drink?

I just got another 100 ft section of hose, so we can (I'm nearly positive) reach the part of pasture where we're going to put water. I can clearly see that in the future we are going to want to think about having another hose line or two put in---haven't sprung that on my poor husband yet. I think it is going to be a beast lugging 300 ft of hose around.

Thank you all for the great advice and helping me with my daft questions. I'm torn between wanting the pigs NOW and wanting another month to research and work on our set up.

 

[Baymule]

Do the research and build your very own Pig Palace. You will be glad that you did. You might want to make yours a little bit taller, I chose our shortest power pole and we cut it in 4 pieces. Eh, pigs have short legs. LOL

On the barrel, take the hog nipple to the hardware store or Lowes and explain what you are going to do. They will fit a pipe nipple to the hog nipple and a 2 part bushing that half fits on the inside and half fits on the outside, the pipe nipple screws into that.

I have two hogs now and we fill the barrel about once a week.

 

[rbruno]

I had posted a while back about sourcing barrels as well. My local feed store was selling 55 Gallon DEF barrels for very cheap. I was wondering what people thought about using those barrels. I think the general consensus was it would be safe if the barrel got a good cleaning. I was also having a hard time finding the blue barrels. They were either too far away or people wanted too much money for them or at least more money then I was willing to pay. I don't have my pigs yet, so I held off on the DEF barrels. Then I notice my neighbor had two blue ones. I asked, and he could get me two from his work. He works in a Bio lab and they get 55 gallon barrels that are filled with a solution that is basically saline solution for use in the his lab work. Got two for a trade of 2 dozen eggs from my chickens. Great price. Anyway, you may want to see if there are any bio companies or labs around. They could be another source that I would have never thought of till I asked my neighbor.
Rob

 

[BarnOwl]

I had posted a while back about sourcing barrels as well. My local feed store was selling 55 Gallon DEF barrels for very cheap. I was wondering what people thought about using those barrels. I think the general consensus was it would be safe if the barrel got a good cleaning. I was also having a hard time finding the blue barrels. They were either too far away or people wanted too much money for them or at least more money then I was willing to pay. I don't have my pigs yet, so I held off on the DEF barrels. Then I notice my neighbor had two blue ones. I asked, and he could get me two from his work. He works in a Bio lab and they get 55 gallon barrels that are filled with a solution that is basically saline solution for use in the his lab work. Got two for a trade of 2 dozen eggs from my chickens. Great price. Anyway, you may want to see if there are any bio companies or labs around. They could be another source that I would have never thought of till I asked my neighbor.
Rob

Wow, sounds like you got a great deal on those barrels. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to see if we have any bio labs in the area. Saline solution sounds pretty benign. I just noticed that the farm several miles up the road has a blue barrel. If I ever see anyone outside, I'll ask them where they got it.

If/when I find a good source, I think I'd like to have several more. I can think of lots of things I could use them for, esp the ones with screw-off lids. I've read online that car washes sometimes have barrels, so I've been considering contacting a few of them also--if the barrels haven't held anything too scary. If it was just soap, that'd probably be okay...?

Anyway, I went ahead and ordered the one at Home Depot, about twice what I was hoping to pay, but we don't have help with the kids b/c of Covid, and I'd rather spend my limited time with the family and animals--kind of goes against my grain though. Oh well.

 

[rbruno]

Choosing how you spend your time is always a factor. I completely understand that. Some times you just get something because you need it and you would rather spend time doing other things. I don't have my pigs yet, so I had time to shop. The other place that I found some that were a little cheaper then Home Depot is the local jelly manufacture. McCutcheon's jelly manufacturing site is across the street from my office. They get tons of barrels with basically sugar water to add to the jelly. They had a bunch with the screw on tops. Again, I just didn't want to spend the money for them. If there is anything near you that is a food manufacturing plant, they may have some too.
Rob