New Year, New Barn

Happy New Year!  Just before the new year, we had some big excitement on the farm... the new barn is up and running! After a year of planning, weather, and building, we have all of the pigs inside.   The move didn't come a moment too soon because when the hole for the barn was dug some of the outside heater lines for the waterers were severed, so with below freezing temperatures it would have been difficult to keep some of the pens from freezing up.

(Mandie moving the last of the pigs inside)

So far, the crew likes the new barn, although as with anything new we are still figuring out the quirks.  The pigs are much more comfortable around people, since they have more human interaction.  We are able to feed them better to their needs, since we look at the pigs everyday.  On our farm we don't often see skinny animals; more often its a problem of overfeeding, so having the pigs inside we can monitor their intake a little more, keeping them at a healthier weight.  The crew has also noticed that we find at-risk animals sooner, so we are better able to help them.  Hopefully, as we get used to the new set-up we can offer better care to all of the pigs on the farm, including the newborn piglets who should get more attention when we aren't moving groups of pigs a mile or two per day.  

For anyone who is curious:  the "paint" on the pigs is a livestock marker, which is water based.  We put it on the pigs when we need to identify a group specifically.  In this case, the green pigs are bred to Landrace boars, and the pink pigs are bred to Large White boars.  It is painless identification for the pig, and a good visual for the people.   

With the last four months being pretty tough around here, we are excited to get something positive going for us.  It's a good start to 2016.