Hi I'm Mike, and this is part 2 of saying goodbye to the pigs, its time for them to
go and its not going to be easy, in many different ways. On our Wyoming life
The pig stalls are now empty, all is quiet over here which just a few hours ago was full
of all kinds of noises, the cute little oinks, the annoyed barking and Erin and I making
a few noises ourselves as we got them loaded on a trailer for their trip to Sturgis Meats,
where they will be inspected and processed into pork which we sell at our local farmers
markets. The journey of the pigs started last Saturday,
actually it started months ago but this part of their journey started when we got a call
that our processing facility in Sturgis South Dakota could take the pigs a couple of weeks
earlier than we were scheduled. Because we already have people waiting for pork and we
have our next farmers market on March 17th we decided to take on the extra work of getting
the pigs loaded as quickly as possible, on a trailer and delivered to Sturgis on Monday.
We hope that we will have the pork back by our next famers market, and our preordered
packages ready to be filled by that time as well.
Originally our plan was to build our new load out ramp this week, and get it on the trailer
and up to their stall and let it sit for a week or so. Just to get them used to going
on and off the trailer. I would have fed them in the trailer to give them a reason to climb
up and in, which would have made them a lot more comfortable with the whole idea of getting
on and off. With the haste that we have to get these guys out of here, that plan went
up in smoke. In our last video, we got the news that we
would be moving the pigs early. So, we built a new load out ramp for them, because we didn't
have a way to get them out of the shed and on to the trailer and that is pretty much
where we left off, the ramp was built in the shop, and we took it out and got it installed
into this shed. We are going to pick up there today, right
there at that point and give you the rest of the pig's journey off the ranch….
With the new ramp in place, we still have a few steps to complete before we can start
loading pigs into the trailer, when it gets to that time Erin is going to come out and
help but before we get there we have to do something to make it easier for the pigs to
climb the ramp. The ramp right now is slick, and we are going
to start today by cutting on the table saw some ½ inch runners for the ramp out of 2x4's.
Once we have a bunch of them cut, we grab our DeWalt cordless finish nailer to attach
them to the ramp, loading it with inch and half nails and then taking our supplies over
to the shed where the ramp and the pigs are waiting patiently for us.
To start out I am going to put a runner tread every foot, these will give the pigs some
traction as they go up the ramp and make it more comfortable for them. After putting one
every foot, I have a few left so let's add some more in-between as they head up the ramp.
The more traction the better. With the runners complete then I can try a
trick that we use when we are moving calves up the ramp to load onto a trailer, adding
some dirt to the ramp. I'm not sure if this will make a difference with pigs but with
calves it surprised me how much of a difference it made in how easy it was to move calves
up their ramp and onto the waiting trailer. It's not that much more work and it might
make all the difference, or it might not but worth trying.
The next thing we have on our list is to bring a few panels into the stall we are going to
be loading the pigs out of. Breaking them out of the snow and ice and getting them into
the stall. By making a smaller area, the hope is that it will be easier to get the pigs
up and onto the ramp and in turn the trailer. These panels will create a small 10 foot by
10-foot pen that we can get the pigs into and then push them up. We finish by attaching
the panels to the posts in the shed using some plumbers strap and some screws.
With our makeshift corral done, we head back outside this time to get the trailer ready
adding some bedding that will hopefully make it easier to clean out when we are done.
We still have a while before Erin can get out here and help load so now is our chance
to weigh a couple of these big boys. When they first came to the ranch they weighed
about 10 pounds and they should gain weight at the rate of anywhere from a pound to a
pound and a half per day. Our portable scale works great for this task and has a compacity
up to 600 lbs. After placing the scale in the stall then we put the cage on top of it,
first letting one of the smaller pigs in and locking him in - putting him right at about
250 lbs. These pigs have been on the ranch for 200 days, so the numbers work out right
for him and he's the smallest one in here, next we weigh one of the bigger ones. And
he tips the scale at more than 300 lbs. Their weight reminds me of two things, that
I hope they load up ok, because dragging a 300-pound pig onto the trailer is going to
be impossible and also that I need to keep my toes out from underneath them. If one steps
on you, you are going to feel it. With the weighing of the pigs out of the way,
we call it good and get the cage and the scale out of the stall and now its just a matter
of waiting for Erin to get out here and give me a hand.
When Erin arrives then its time to remove the blockade keeping the pigs in the other
side of the stalls and let them head in to stall that we are going to load out of. Somehow,
I get the feeling this is going to be the easy part of our day. We move the pigs into
the small corral we created with the panels and the process of getting them into the trailer
begins. Slowly…. The first couple actually load ok, and the
next after a little bribery with some food, but the last 4 want nothing to do with the
ramp. Eventually though, they all load into the
trailer without any major incident. Patience is the key when working with these guys and
after a couple hours later we loaded and ready to go.
To disconnect the ramp from the trailer we first lift the ramp off the lip on the trailer
and Erin pulls forward slowly dropping the ramp and closing the door.
With plenty of food in the trailer for them, we can now give them some water and they will
wait in the trailer overnight for their big trip tomorrow.
The next morning, we are greeted by 50 mile per hour winds, enough to actually rip the
flag that we fly over the ranch. First things first, we head out to retrieve our ripped
flag and get it off the flagpole before it tears free completely.
With the kids off to school and Lincoln at his grandma's house for the day, now is
the time for Erin and I to make the 2-hour drive to Sturgis South Dakota to drop off
these guys. Hitting the road, fighting the wind for the first twenty miles or so until
the weather straightens out and the roads clear up, turning into a decent ride over
the border and into Sturgis, home of the Sturgis motorcycle rally in August of every year,
which drives the population of this small town to over 1 million people but today the
population hovers at about 7000 and we arrive at Sturgis meats within minutes of hitting
town and back up to their unloading chute and the door that leads directly into their
barn, where the pigs will stay for about 24 hours before meeting their fate, giving them
a chance to calm down, from the experience that is coming next. The unloading of the
trailer. With the help of Sturgis meats employee, Dave,
we start by moving the pigs into the back compartment of the trailer. And proceed to
try to move the pigs off the back. Its amazing to me, they don't want to get on the trailer
in the first place. And now when its time to get them off their trailer, they don't
want to do that either. Pigs can be stubborn, that's for sure.
The process eventually evolves into a battle of sheer strength as we are forced to physically
remove each and every pig from the trailer, pushing with all our might. Pulling, turning
and coaxing each and every pig into the door into the barn. More help arrives and all of
the pigs move to where they need to be and are left alone, grabbing some water and waiting.
The pigs will eventually find themselves moving through Sturgis meats facilities where ham,
bacon will be cured, Sausage made and porkchops cut but for us it's the end of our pig adventure
for the day. We head back to the ranch, where you will find me today.
Cleaning out the trailer, scraping and eventually washing and disinfecting the entire thing,
for the next trip it will make, which will probably be steers in a few weeks. Steers
are so much easier to deal with than pigs. I'm not sure we charge enough for pork.
With the pigs now gone, the timing works out perfectly as we are only a few weeks away
from the beginning of calving and not having to deal with them on a daily basis, feeding
watering and cleaning will free up my time to move in a different direction, out in the
field. Both Erin and I are sore, we are bruised and
ready to be done with pigs for a few months anyway. It may sound bad but you do feel bad
about the pigs going, at the same time. Fight with them for a couple of days and you feel
a little less sad about it. Raising pigs for us has been a huge adventure,
full of learning, disappointment and physical pain but we wouldn't have it any other way.
For us the chance to help feed our community with fresh farm raised pork is more than worth
it. Our kids grow up learning the value of hard work and the pay off that it entails
and those are lessons that are going to be carried with them for a life time.
Thanks for joining us today, we hope that you get a chance to continue on the ride with
us by subscribing and becoming a part of our community, thousands of people that care in
so many different ways, with great ideas and opinions and a common goal.
Join us on Thursday for our next time livestream at 7pm mountain time and a chance to interact
with us in real time as we get a chance to share more from the ranch with you and answer
your questions. Until then, have a great week, and thanks
for joining us in our Wyoming life.
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