Mobile Pen Puts Pigs To Work

Mobile Pen Puts Pigs To Work LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous Dru Peters and Homer Walden use “pig power” harnessed in mobile pens to till and fertilize their cut-flower beds At their Sunnyside Farm they raise a lot of flowers using hoop houses and 25 100-ft long 5-ft wide beds Each year they also raise 4 pigs to 250 lbs in a 5 by 10-ft moveable pen “We fallow about a fourth of the beds each year planting them to a buckwheat cover crop ” says Peters “When I’m ready to plant a bed of flowers I bring in the pigs ” Peters keeps the pigs in a 5 by 10-ft pen with pressure-treated 2 by 6 boards on the 4 sides at ground level Hog panels attached to the inside of the boards are bent to form sidewalls and roof Panels are wired together at the top and the sides are covered in custom canvas he buys from Neilly Canvas Goods http://neillycanvas com/ ” Peters and Walden discovered the canvas company when they noticed the name on an 18-wheeler “We figured if they could stand up to road speeds wind and weather they would work for us ” says Peters “They do custom tarps and put the grommets in so we can fasten them down easily We tried all types of tarps previously and they ripped to shreds in no time These last ” The key to using the hogs for tillage is the ease with which Peters can move the pens by hand The wheels are mounted to T fittings that are connected in turn to T fittings on a pipe axle that runs through the 2 longer 2 by 6’s The axle is placed about 2/3 the distance from the front of the pen Pipes approximately 6 ft in length also attach to the axle T’s bend at a 90-degree angle to a vertical position rising up and over the front of the pen To move the pen Peters pulls on ropes attached to T’s on the upper ends of the pipes As the pipes angle forward they leverage the pen up on its wheels and she can pull it ahead to untilled ground “Even when they are very small they will dig up every inch in 24 hrs ” says Peters “As they grow I often move them more than once a day ” When not using the pig tillers on flower beds or vegetable garden beds Peters moves the pen alongside fence lines where they make quick work of weeds and grasses Peters buys her pigs midsummer pasturing them through the fall and winter and then sells them at farmers markets in the spring When they get big enough so their backs rub the roof she moves them into electric fence pens She feeds no grain but supplements pasture with excess vegetables fruit and broken eggs The eggs come from laying hens in 15 mobile pens housing up to 25 layer hens per pen These pens use the same wheel system and are also 5 by 10 ft but in an A-frame style They are framed with pressure treated 2 by 4’s with 2 by 6 runners to either side The frames are covered in hardware cloth with 1 by 2-in openings Like the hog pen the layer pens are covered with the same canvas tarps Roosts are mounted under the tarps and a nesting box at the rear can be pulled out like a drawer for egg collection The bottom sides and ends are left open for ventilation and sunlight “I usually keep hens for about 3 years and from the time I get them they are in the pens 24/7 ” says Peters “We also pasture some cattle and try to move the layer pens in a group behind the cattle ” Peters has found that her pens combined with stringing an electric fence wire at 6 to 8 in off the ground keeps predators away from her birds “We have skunks raccoons fisher possum and dogs and they all love chicken ” says Peters “I use the hottest electric galvanized wire and a 50-mile fencer and it keeps them all away ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Sunnyside Farm 1865 York Rd Dover Penn 17315 ph 410 336-9735; www sunnysidefarmpa com

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