Some of our pigs go off to a USDA inspected facility to be butchered, and this past week we sent four away.  Our regular butcher slaughters on farm, so we don’t usually need to bother with transporting pigs.  When we do, we like to have the process go as smoothly as possible.

After several (not so) humorous and time-consuming loads, Dave built a loading system that seems too easy now. He brings the trailer into position and lifts the ramp into the side door.

With a bucket of grain, we lure the chosen, and a few others, into a holding pen where we run them through a chute with a sorting gate we can open or close, depending on whether or not the right pig is coming up.

Once the pig is through the gate, Dave comes behind with a simple panel to block the pig from retreating.

The pig walks up the ramp and into the trailer

where he finds a hinged door that opens in front and closes behind and a bit of grain to munch while the rest are loaded.

Simple.