From time to time I see blog posts with pictures asking the readers to figure out what is going on in the image. Well, do you know what’s going on in this picture? If I was patient I would just let you try to figure out what I’m doing, but since I always have a hard time keeping this type of thing to myself I’ll just tell you the story, and share another picture to go along with the story.
A few weeks ago my uncle brought down this nice bulk bin that came from his farm by way of one of my other uncle’s farms. This will be a handy thing for us to have in the future as we hopefully expand our hog operation because it will allow us to keep more feed on hand at the farm and also order in larger quantities (which might make feed deliveries more feasible). But, since it hadn’t been used in a while and some water got inside with just a bit of feed left there was some rust that needed attention.
After successfully getting it off the trailer (did I mention that the cement is a permanent fixture to the structure) my uncle climbed in with an angle grinder and a wire brush attachment. A while later he emerged covered in rust colored dust from head to toe … have I mentioned how much help he has been! Anyways, with the rust cleaned off it was time to paint inside with some special graphite paint. He thought I might be able to crawl in from the bottom, but that wasn’t the case.
So, I had to put on my thinking cap and build a ladder to get down inside (when he was here he had a small enough ladder to fit in through the top). After I built the ladder I climbed up and in and then proceeded to fix a few small holes with bolts and fender washers (and a sealant tape that was used on the Harvestores on the family farm). Once the holes were taken care of I cleaned out all the dust and began the painting process. It sure was nice to have a 73º day in November to get this done.
Now, I just have to clean up a few more pieces. Drag it over to the place where it will live. And, then attach the auger. Once that is all done we will be in business … now if I could only get those feed mill guys to call be back!
That is going to be really useful!I hope that you get a bargain on the feed!
I have reached the point where I am almost ready to start experimenting with adding some pigs to the farm (in part due to your experiences), but still have a few questions.
What sort of feed are you feeding your pigs? I remember reading that you bought some corn from your neighbor at one time, but are you using corn to supplement a complete pig ration or are you just feeding corn?
Is there any chance that you could show the ‘impact’ that pasturing pigs actually has on a pasture?