In some ways, livestock animals are just like pets. Just like your dog or cat, our pigs and chickens need food and clean water each day to survive.
Feeding isn’t too taxing. It helps that they all have 24/7 access to pasture and have things to munch on from the earth continuously. It also helps that the organic grain we provide them is easy to cart around with the tractor and doesn’t change state in cold temps.
But water is a different beast. Hoses and nipple waterers freeze solid this time of year. This renders our entire watering system completely obsolete for 4+ months and makes getting water to the animals a serious challenge.
A few years ago, we learned that one of the keys to not losing our minds every winter is high tunnels (AKA unheated greenhouses).
We now make a point to store water tanks inside high tunnels (instead of outside in the open air) whenever we can so that the heat generated from the animals combines with the solar energy beneath the plastic to keep water flowing within the animals’ housing. This works out great!
But there’s another problem that until now, has felt absolutely impossible to solve. How do we water the animals who aren’t well suited for high tunnels, like our breeding pigs, and the sows (and piglets) that deliver every month or so?
These animals are tricky because they require separate smaller paddocks. And they need to be shuffled and rotated around the farm often. The high tunnels just don’t work well, here.
The solution to this massive winter problem has evaded us for years. It’s led us to spend far too much time every winter hand-carrying buckets of water from our house to the farm, which doesn’t just strain your back, but crushes your soul over time.
Thanks to the ingenuity of another pasture raised pig farmer we found on YouTube, we’ve finally found the other key to successful winter livestock farming….it’s a water tank that has been re-engineered so that it can stay outside and ALWAYS have free flowing water even in the coldest conditions.
Watch Greg show it off HERE and you’ll see what I’m talking about. It’s ingenious and it’s by far, the very best farmer hack we’ve discovered in 2020.
Your Farmers,
Jenney & Greg
PS – It’s a fresh pork week which means we’ve got a little of everything in stock. We’re also offering fresh organic veggies, as well. If you would like to place an order, download the 5 Easy Steps to ordering HERE.