Monday
Linda
We don’t have any pigs that need to be fed and watered yet but we are all set when we finally find some to purchase. We bought a metal garden wagon from Tractor Supply and strapped a 65 gallon water tank to the base. The hog pen is located way out in the back pasture and lugging water buckets from the house every day would be too difficult. Besides I don’t care to have my arms stretched so far that my knuckles drag the ground. Not pretty.
We also bought a 2 stroke portable 6 gpm model pump. When the creek is full of water we will be able to use the pump to fill the water tank with creek water. That will save having to use power from the house pump. We can then hook the wagon to the four wheeler and deliver it to the hog pen. Sonny will put a spout on the water tank to which we will connect a hose and be able to fill the water trough with ease.
WATERING TRAILER
Off-Grid in West Virginia 
Looks like it will work just fine. nice to have your own water supply. Word of caution if a bear pees up river….well enough said.
Good ole American ingenuity
Thanks Jim. The pump is the key piece. It has what looks like a chainsaw engine on the pump. It can draw 23 feet away. We hope that the 65 gal tank will last 4-5 days between fills. We can always use the well to fill it as a plan B.
are there any springs on higher ground that u can run cheap rolls of plastic pipe to pigpen to gravity feed water?
We will have to double check. I really don’t think so though. It sure would be easier if there were.
look for wet spot on hill dig small hole. If it fills up with water watch for few days
if holds water u got spring. Better to see if still work in summer before going to trouble of running pipe
i got 2 springs rinning into old bathtubs for cow and chicken water.
At one time had 10 cent goldfish in cow trough fed by spring, they survived several yrs, got to be 6 in or more long. Neighbor kids used to try to catch with their hands. Parents not too happy with soaked kids
One time electric was off 4 days in summer, no electric to pump water in house. I stunk so bad I grabbed bar soap and hit cow tub. Cold water, very cold. Thankfully I was far enuff off road. The neighbors were not amused.
Great story Ron. Tell me more about how you got the water from the spring. Did you “drive” a pipe into the hole or just make a small dam and run a PVC pipe from the dam?
Do you have a picture of your pig pen and trough? Thanks for the watering idea! We have to carry water to ours as well 🙂
Miranda, we built an A-Frame type of pen. Keep in mind that with feeder hogs you generally get them in Mar-Apr and take them to the butcher around Sep-Oct. That way you do not keep them for the winter and you do not need a shelter for the cold weather. Here is a link to the blog that had a pic. https://offgridinwv.com/2011/04/10/fencing-the-pig-pen-and-building-a-strawberry-bed/
We just used a 10 gallon oval metal bucket and staked it in the ground. I will use something different next time though.
Hey there, You’ve done a great job.