Baby Pig. Now What?

EddieWalker · Sep 7, 2013

I have to work this morning so I'm not sure if we'll get much done on the siding or trim, but since Oscar was sleeping inside his house, I wanted to share a picture.

His feeder is pretty much done. It holds two 50 pound sacks of Ol Roy dog food, and it's super easy to fill. He has been rubbing all over it and nothing is moving, so I'm very pleased with how strong it is. Once Oscar can get something to move, he will never stop messing with it until he nocks it over or digs I out.

I went with a cheap wheel barrow from Atwoods that cost just under $40 for the cover of the feeder. I took everything off of it, then reused the bolts to re mount the handles after cutting them down in the front. I used pipe clamps to mount the wheel barrow handles to a 3/4 pipe that is just slide through the PT 2x6 arms. It lifts all the way up and over, so you don't have to hold it up when filling it. I put a big bead of caulking at the edge of the rim so water would collect and rust it out, then I spray painted it with Rustolium green.

Goal of the lid was to keep the food dry inside the culvert and where he eats it. Once it gets soaked from the rain, he refuses to eat it and it just turns nasty real quick. I'm sure I'll have to clean it up with a shovel from time to time, but I'm hoping this minimizes that.

Thanks,
Eddie

jinman · Sep 7, 2013

Eddie, ol' Oscar really took to that new home. Maybe you could rig some water misters in there where you could run a hose for a hot summer day treat. Your wheelbarrow roof on the feeder is just too cool for words. You were sure using your brain when you came up with that idea. I'd bet you could have found one at a garage sale for $5-$10, but it might have required more prep before painting. I'd add only one thing. I'd put a hasp on the side of the wheelbarrow down to the post so the wheelbarrow doesn't pop up with a gust of wind. With our thunderstorms, that lid might pop right up and then your food is ruined. A hasp would be a cheap and effective solution.

EddieWalker · Sep 7, 2013

Thanks Jim!! When I saw the wheelbarrow sitting there at the store, it hit me how perfect it would be for the lid of the feeder. I though about looking for a used one, but decided that it wasn't worth the time it would take to find one. For $40, it was a pretty easy decision to go brand new. Everything else except the concrete is scrap that I've been tripping over around the house.

I'm still going over my options on how to keep it down. I agree that a good storm will flip it up and over and probably cause some damage. At the very least, it will allow the culvert to fill up with water and ruin all the dog food in there. Hopefully inspiration will hit me after looking at it some more. LOL

Eddie

radioman · Sep 8, 2013

EddieWalker said:
Thanks for the laugh. Karen and I are enjoying all the great names you've come up with!!! :thumbsup:

Eddie

karen can join TBN and put in her own pics and comments ....:thumbsup:

EddieWalker said:
Thanks Jim!! When I saw the wheelbarrow sitting there at the store, it hit me how perfect it would be for the lid of the feeder. I though about looking for a used one, but decided that it wasn't worth the time it would take to find one. For $40, it was a pretty easy decision to go brand new. Everything else except the concrete is scrap that I've been tripping over around the house.

I'm still going over my options on how to keep it down. I agree that a good storm will flip it up and over and probably cause some damage. At the very least, it will allow the culvert to fill up with water and ruin all the dog food in there. Hopefully inspiration will hit me after looking at it some more. LOL

Eddie

I like the wheel barrow inspiration. good idea. As for keeping it down - I dont see why not use rubber bungees in the front and take s hooks off one end and screw bungee into the post. Just a 1/4 inch hole in front lip of wheelbarrow will keep it hooked in at the top.

EddieWalker · Sep 8, 2013

We got an early start today and put the siding on, caulked it and painted it. Now it's too hot to want to finish it off. The metal trim and gutters still need to be installed, but that's going to wait until next week.

I also put another sack of Ol Roy dog food in the feeder. It's now maxed out, filled to the top and then some. I'm curious how long it will take for Oscar to eat all of it.

Eddie

Iplayfarmer · Sep 8, 2013

radioman said:
I like the wheel barrow inspiration. good idea. As for keeping it down - I dont see why not use rubber bungees in the front and take s hooks off one end and screw bungee into the post. Just a 1/4 inch hole in front lip of wheelbarrow will keep it hooked in at the top.

The 1/4" hole will also help prevent water from collecting in the lip of the wheel barrow.

jinman · Sep 8, 2013

Eddie, in the photos with Oscar inside the swinedominium, he is almost stretching wall-to-wall. How wide is it? 6' or 7'? It sure lets you see how big Oscar has become. I'm going to be interested to see if Oscar wastes a lot of that Ol' Roy. You may need a deeper pan to keep him from rooting around in the food and spreading it into the dirt.

EddieWalker · Sep 8, 2013

Inside width is 6ft and the height is 4 feet. The outside length of the walls is seven feet with a 2 foot overhang.

The problem with a bowl, or anything to hold the food, is when it gets wet, it turns to mush and then gets nasty. Oscar wont eat it when it's wet. My thought is that it's better for water to run off of it, then to have to clean out rotting dogfood.

Eddie

jinman · Sep 8, 2013

Yep, you'll have to see how much is wasted and decide if a pan with small holes to drain water would work as effectively as what you have now. As long as the food is dry, Oscar may eat it anyway. At the extreme, you might have to put a flat rim around the feeder or stick some flat concrete stepping stones around the feeder to catch the overflow. I'm probably making too much of this. It's just that I know how much pigs like to root into anything; food, slop, mud, whatever.