Dec. 6th

December 6, 2008

High 23, low 0

snow falling

Pigs: about 150 lbs.

Chickens: no eggs yet



It's Birkleigh's 5th birthday today! Happy birthday, Birk!!





Winter certainly has arrived here. We've got about 4 inches of snow on the ground, and it's gotten below 20 several times now in the last week. We've been adjusting to the conditions and learning how to best do that during our first winter here. It's always interesting to go through the learning process. Where will the snow pile? Should we shovel the snow ourselves or hire a neighbor to plow for us? How will we keep access to the barn open? Will the animals be warm enough? What about keeping their water from freezing? Do we have enough outlets and extension cords? How much fuel will we use to heat the house? Are the windows sealed well enough?



I was all ahead of the game. Things were in place. But you know that doesn't always mean what you think it will. I had bought a water tank heater for the pigs' water. For those of you who don't know, this is basically a heavy heating element on the end of an electric cord. You submerge it in a water tank, and plug it in. It keeps the water from freezing. I had it all set up, in the tank, ready to go. Didn't have it plugged in yet as temps in the barn were a bit warmer than outside and it wasnt needed yet. I keep a heavy piece of plywood over the top ot the pigs' water tank. The tank is actually a plastic 55 gallon barrel, with a drinking nipple at the bottom. It sits on a wooden platform. So the board at the top of the tank is too high for pigs to reach. Anyway, have I mentioned yet how mischievious pigs can be? I came into the barn a day later, and they had somehow managed to pull the board off the tank, and pull the heater completely out. The tank, filled with water, was thank god too heavy for them to overturn. But they chewed the hell out of the plug end for the heater, rendering it useless. It was all full of little chew marks, just like it had been in a puppy pen for four hours. Oh, they're so naughty!



Since the temps really plunged this week, the tank started to ice up, so I had to get a new sinking heater for the water. As soon as I came home from work last night, still in my work clothes, in the dark, pulled straight up to the barn and went to work putting the new heater together. Just in time, too, since the pigs were acting like they were trying but having trouble getting water out of their nipple. Nothing less fun than 1,000 lbs. of frustrated, thirsty hogs fighting me and eachother over one nipple. I think I averted total water meltdown by about an hour.