baymule
Garden Master
We are getting 3 feeder pigs. One for us, one for our neighbor, Robert that helps us so much around here and one for @Devonviolet and her husband from BYH. They don't have a place for a pig, we do, so we built a MUCH better fence around the garden to double duty as a pig pen this winter. The guy we are getting the pigs from said to build them a hut using 3 sheets of 3/4" plywood. One for the top, one for the bottom and rip one longways for the back, then rip the other piece for the sides. Simple huh? Naawww......
I am proud to say we built the Hawg House with stuff we already had, thanks to my scrounging abilities. Even the screws were leftovers from other projects. Oh, we did buy one small tube of asphalt roof patch for a couple of bucks.
To start with, for skids, I rifled through the pile for cedar cross arm pieces off the top of telephone poles, complete with the insulators. Not the pretty blue glass insulators, brown ceramic, but still cool. I had to spray the nut with WD-40 to loosen them up, then pound the threaded metal insulator holders through the cross arm. I dragged them to where I was going to build the Hawg Hut. My husband came out and together we cut the 2x4's and screwed them down on the cross arm pieces to make the foundation for the Hut. He brought extra help with him.
Then we laid down the 1st piece of plywood for the floor. The whole time DH and I kept up a running argument that he believed the pigs didn't need a floor. I believed they did, because it was going to be cold and the ground would be wet and cold. DH said pigs like the mud, he never saw a shelter for pigs with a floor in it. And nag, nag, nag, and yah, yah, yah, anybody listening to us would think we were about to club each other over the head.
Our neighbor, Robert, showed up and we started up with the frame. My husband wanted an overhang on the front for more shade for the pigs. For somebody that wanted them to sleep in the cold wet mud, all of a sudden he wanted a front porch for them. For giggles and grins we put a piece of plywood on top and realized that two sheets placed longways would make perfect roof. And while we were making the front porch, we left a 10" overhang on the back to help keep rain water off.
We put the 2 sheets of plywood on top and screwed down the edges. It was wobbly, so we measured and marked another sheet of plywood for the back, then I ripped it with my cordless Hitachi circle saw. I adore my cordless saw and matching drill! We screwed it in place and that did a lot to strengthen it up. Then I crawled on top and screwed the top down real good.
We leaned a scrap against the side to have a look how it would fit. It got dark on us, so we quit. Robert and my husband made jokes on how nice it looked, that the pigs would have to move over, cause they were moving in the Hawg Hut themselves.
I am proud to say we built the Hawg House with stuff we already had, thanks to my scrounging abilities. Even the screws were leftovers from other projects. Oh, we did buy one small tube of asphalt roof patch for a couple of bucks.
To start with, for skids, I rifled through the pile for cedar cross arm pieces off the top of telephone poles, complete with the insulators. Not the pretty blue glass insulators, brown ceramic, but still cool. I had to spray the nut with WD-40 to loosen them up, then pound the threaded metal insulator holders through the cross arm. I dragged them to where I was going to build the Hawg Hut. My husband came out and together we cut the 2x4's and screwed them down on the cross arm pieces to make the foundation for the Hut. He brought extra help with him.
Then we laid down the 1st piece of plywood for the floor. The whole time DH and I kept up a running argument that he believed the pigs didn't need a floor. I believed they did, because it was going to be cold and the ground would be wet and cold. DH said pigs like the mud, he never saw a shelter for pigs with a floor in it. And nag, nag, nag, and yah, yah, yah, anybody listening to us would think we were about to club each other over the head.
Our neighbor, Robert, showed up and we started up with the frame. My husband wanted an overhang on the front for more shade for the pigs. For somebody that wanted them to sleep in the cold wet mud, all of a sudden he wanted a front porch for them. For giggles and grins we put a piece of plywood on top and realized that two sheets placed longways would make perfect roof. And while we were making the front porch, we left a 10" overhang on the back to help keep rain water off.
We put the 2 sheets of plywood on top and screwed down the edges. It was wobbly, so we measured and marked another sheet of plywood for the back, then I ripped it with my cordless Hitachi circle saw. I adore my cordless saw and matching drill! We screwed it in place and that did a lot to strengthen it up. Then I crawled on top and screwed the top down real good.
We leaned a scrap against the side to have a look how it would fit. It got dark on us, so we quit. Robert and my husband made jokes on how nice it looked, that the pigs would have to move over, cause they were moving in the Hawg Hut themselves.