Some of the most valuable insights come from the study of subjects with portable concepts. These are similar to transferable skills — you learn something working a job in an office, and you discover later that you can use it at your new job in a factory. The principles of economics can be applied to subjects far beyond money, and I often find them at work in nature or around the farm. When combined with the most constant of nature’s laws (Murphy’s Law), these two can produce some fun and frustrating experiences.
With the prospect of a short vacation provided by visiting friends/house sitters, I decided it was time to give the self-serve pig feeders a try. I wanted to minimize work on animal chores as much as possible for the sitters, and since pigs are heavy drivers of demand-pull inflation, getting the feeders in place would allow us to provide all of their primary food (organic hog mash) at once for the duration of our getaway. Less time for our guests getting pushed around by hungry consumers; more time for enjoying the view.
“No complaint is more common than that of a scarcity of apples.” - Adam Piggy Smith
I spent almost an entire afternoon preparing a pallet with skids to make a mobile feeder platform, a few modifications for securing 2 feeders, and eyebolts for attaching a tow rope. I left room to spare on the pallet with the hope that, if the feeders worked out, we could also secure the piggies’ water tank and move everything as a unit whenever the need arose. Satisfied that the contraption was pig-proof, I moved it into their current paddock and added some feed.
To my delight, it only took about 5 minutes to teach them how to open the rain covers and help themselves to the chow, but it took much longer to teach them that they don’t all have to eat from the same hole. You might have heard somewhere that pigs are smart, and they are, but they are still pigs — they want to eat food NOW much more than they want to be smart about eating. After another 20 minutes of showing 3 pigs that there are 4 food doors, they finally got it and settled in for some fine grunty dining. I was feeling great about my prospects of beating built-in inflation — overcoming my expectation of increased rain with this feeder solution — self-serving pigs would mean staying in bed a little longer on nasty weather days.
After a 2-day trial, my due diligence alarm rang, and I went out to estimate the weight of the remaining food in the feeder. Knowing the starting weight meant I could subtract the remaining feed and calculate how much more or less they were eating with this new solution. Well, the math was easy…the feeders were empty! They ate 44 pounds of organic mash in 2 days — double their ideal ration at the time based on size and age. Pigs indeed.
In the years leading up to the beginning of our adventure here I read a lot about popular and emerging trends in small-scale farming. Making livestock components ‘mobile’ was something I encountered nearly everywhere, possibly due to the popularity of Joel Salatin’s books and videos. But what no one mentions, and I’ve learned to remind myself of this frequently, is you’ve got to do your own math.
First, this solution would double our feed costs, as well as unnecessarily increase processing costs with too much extra fat (butcher’s typically charge by the pound) that we and our customers don’t necessarily want. Second, even though the pigs could clearly get enough to eat from this solution, it was obvious while watching them hog down that the platform was too high for them to eat comfortably. Their need to stand on the platform, and sometimes in the feeder itself, would result in the equipment wearing down more quickly and could be stressing the pigs by forcing them to eat in a less natural position. In farming, at the point where economics meet with Murphy’s Law, it seems convenience is rarely worth the premium that it demands.
The feeder after taking it back off of the platform. Less mobile, but more pig-friendly.
In consideration of these additional cost-push inflationary influences, I hereby declare the feeder experiment a worthwhile failure. I did learn a few things: how to make a solid mobile platform, how to teach pigs new tricks, and that mobile isn’t always worth it. Turns out our house sitters were fine with hopping the pig fence and getting a little snout snot on their jeans while doling out the rations. We’re very grateful to them for allowing us a much needed escape for a few days.
Interestingly, the pigs have learned a little about economics too — after getting double helpings of mash for a few days they have come to expect feed rations “...to rise in the future at a similar rate and demand more... to maintain their standard of living.”* I will have to be more careful about what I teach them from now on. If they start drinking whiskey, playing cards, and holding dinner parties, there’s going to be serious trouble!
Hey Mister - we want a raise, more time off, and free high speed internet!
*From the Investopedia article on Inflation.