Keeping whey liquid during winter is a constant challenge.  The greenhouse we use for the storage tanks has been a huge improvement in keeping the tanks and valves working, but on the coldest days there’s still a lot of work defrosting valves.  Even trying to position the 2″ hoses and making up the connectors is a task, made harder by the loss of dexterity when wearing gloves.

Given the salt and lactose content, whey actually doesn’t freeze as readily as water, so we have a little leeway.  But when the temperatures get to zero and below, it is a job to keep the whey troughs open.

During these periods of colder weather we need to chop ice two or three times daily.  In the picture above, the ice is a few inches thick.  Evidence of their strength is the fact that the boar and bigger sows have been able to punch a small hole through the ice in the bathtub trough pictured above.