Everything on the farm is interconnected, whether we like it or not.
Because we want to be able to give our customers an accurate live-weight assessment for the pigs they bought, we need a scale. Because the scale needs to be on a flat, firm surface, under cover, accessible to all the livestock, it needed to be in one of the barn sections. Because it needs to be in the barn, the pigs had to be moved out of that section. Because it is sitting on footers and not on a pad, it needs to be closed off so the pigs can’t root around it, and the cow or sheep don’t kick it or play on it, so it needs gates.
But because we don’t want to spend $160-$200 apiece for two gates, we have to build the gates out of scrap material.
And that means figuring out how to attach a horse panel hinge to a 2×4.
This took about 8 hours of work, from designing the shape, and bolt-through attachments, to cutting and framing the joints and bracing…
To assembling and hanging it.
But it works beautifully. It opens and closes, and can be chained shut when not in use.
By this time the weather was starting to warm up, and the snow was starting to melt, so the kids were getting after playing in it as hard as they could while it lasted.
Predictably, the second gate was a much faster process, only about 2 hours, since I now knew how to build a gate.
Never throw out leftover woven wire fencing.
Even short sections can come in useful.
And just like that, two gates.
By afternoon on Saturday the snow was almost completely gone, but we had to flip the shade mobile back over. The wind had been stiff enough to flip it.
And now we can weight the pigs. Gertrude weighs 206, the two Berkshires weigh 245-ish, and Bacon weighs 264. That means it is time to get three of them into the freezer, and find Gertrude a boyfriend.
Little Farm in the Big City 