In this farm‑vlog episode, Victor Justin Rhodes (host) and a crew of helpers (Jonah, Garrison, Josiah, etc.) work to transition five newly‑acquired piglets from a stall to an outdoor run. The host explains a two‑layer containment strategy: training the pigs to follow a bucket for recall and installing a Premier One electric fence as a permanent barrier. The crew clears and levels the site, sets up the fence, builds a mud wallow, spreads wood‑chip bedding, and attempts bucket‑training. When the pigs are released, they scatter and ignore the bucket, prompting the team to use skim milk as a high‑value reward and rely on the electrified fence to keep some pigs in. The host reflects on the challenges of scaling training from a stall to a broad acre, notes a pig receiving a mild shock, and emphasizes keeping the animals happy with feed and wallow. The video concludes with a pitch for the upcoming “Permaculture Pigs” film and Kickstarter course, which will teach small‑scale, carbon‑rich pig‑raising methods, including deep‑bedding, composting, and forest integration.
Chapters
I've got my 5 new pigs in a stall for a couple reasons. Well, several reasons. One, get them used to us, us get used to them. Two, to train them to follow a bucket. We want them to be able to follow a bucket because what if they get out and they're way over there where they're gonna go? Like way over there, guys. Like way over there. Okay, so what if they got out? We need to get them back in. I also wanted to train them to an electric fence. Obvious reasons. Well, we won't need a bucket if we keep them in the electric fence. So you see what's happening here? We've got two fail-safes here. If the fence is on and hot and they're trained to it, they're not going to get out. And then if they do get out, we've got a bucket to lead them back in. So my plan is to clear— so my plan is to clean the this area out from our stall, keep them near the house, put up a Premier One electric fence, the one they'll be in out in the field, and at least they'll be near the house. So if they get out, we'll just hope for the best. At least they won't be way out there. This is going to be an outdoor run for the pigs. Got to get them outside, get them outside in the sunshine. Garrison, you're gonna come hold this calf for me? Is that what you're doing? You look around and see what needs to be done, don't you, buddy? I try to. Because this calf is nudging on my tripod and shaking you guys all around. So now Harrison is going to knock out two birds with one stone, keep the calf off of me, and tame that calf. Thank you, Garrison. We got some things to do to prep though, Jonah. Hey, before we do the net, please leave that there for right now. Let's get the hose out of here. Let's get any, uh, blocks or firewood. Maybe while we got these big strong folks over here, Garrison and Latoya, we can maneuver this sink around the corner. All this, all this logged walnut, we can give them a little bit of water in there for a mud wallow. Guys, will you move these logs please? Look at you guys. All this firewood here, let's stack it up further over off the ground. There is our load of wood chips for the pigs, chickens, whoever. Uh, we're gonna pile it right there just because the pigs are gonna take no time to get this grass up and we'll need to put the bedding down. We got the area cleared out. The boys were just— to get that fence up. They finally got to do it. We got that fence up. Jonah, I think we've cleared it out enough. We need to start setting up our net, maybe from right here. Good job, guys. Let's get it even straighter. Hey Jonah, I was thinking about going wider there because they'll go under that, I'm afraid. See, they'll go under here, so go on the other side of the pole.
Okay, but I had to be there because the rubber mallet—
did you get the rubber mallet? Thanks. There's a foundation here. Yeah, okay, let's move it forward. That's why we have that board here. Shoot, it's not very strong. Wow. What?
Yep. Papa, we didn't post it on YouTube.
You king of the hill, Mr. Brown? Jonah, you get what I'm doing there? Yeah. Okay, so we're gonna go all the way to the end. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's, let's put it way over more, a lot closer to the, the pole here. You think this fence in here trained them? Hey, sleepyheads, sleepyheads! It's kind of hard for me to believe that this little tiny fence is going to keep these pigs in. We got a powerful energizer. I talk tough like I've trained them to a bucket and a feed. I've trained them to a fence, but this is the moment of truth. I'm gonna walk out and then back in to see if they're gonna follow me. Okay, here, let me give them a taste of this. Okay, all right, good. All right, let's see if they're gonna follow me. And the moment of truth came. I mean, it's one thing to train pigs to to a fence and a bucket in a stall. It's a whole nother to hope in that in this broad acre. Could go anywhere. Let's see. Go, go, go!
Oh boy.
Hey, get in!
Kitty, stop!
They're not following a bucket. Can everybody be quiet? Oh boy. And they're not following a bucket. So once we let them out, we had the bucket, they just went scattered. Hey, can you guys be quiet? Just come here and hold this. Document this, okay? Okay, we're gonna just have to hope now because they're not following a bucket. I was not very happy with that. And actually, and then they were kind of frisky and happy and excited. I guess it's because they got outside. They're nervous. Jonah, see if you can get them to follow that bucket. They're not gonna follow a bunch of racket. Maybe the whisperer will get them. See if you can get them back in the stall with that. We should have put a little skim in it. Hey, no, Laurel. Laurel, no. Let him get a little taste, Jonah. Okay, maybe put a feed pan right there at the edge. Oh, why is he not getting shocked? It's hitting. He just hit it. It's on a pole.
All these kids are shushing them out. I need all the kids.
Gideon, can you get out?
No, he's just kidding.
Fortunately, our fence was hitting hot and some of them actually did touch it, and they touched it lightly. They didn't just like barge through it and they got shot. And hopefully train them to that particular fence. I guess it looks different enough than the one I was training them on. I don't know. Oh, that one just tried it. I started to think maybe they don't like these food scraps that we were giving them in the bucket. Maybe I know what they really like, and that's skim. So I had Josiah go get us some skim. Josiah, will you run and get us some skim? When Josiah came back with the skim, that's the money right there. Keep going with it, Josiah. Get them into the stall. There you go. That's the ticket.
Just say you're the pig whisperer.
Whisper. Yay, Josiah! One more, buddy. Okay, give him a reward. Give him a reward. Pour some in a bucket. Good, that's good, that's good. Do you want to get me some water? We'll give him a little wallow here. All we can do now is hope for the best. It's gonna be bad if they get out. So now my idea is, since I'm terribly nervous about it because they're being so frisky and so excitable, um, that let's— the fence is going to stay hot. Let's, um, what is my idea? I don't know, just be ready in case they get out. Oh, always have some skim and grain ready. Oh, let's go ahead and feed them a lot. Let's go ahead and feed— get them a wallow going. Just let's keep them happy so they have one less reason to try to get out of there. Hey, cows are down! Good job, Jonah. You ready? She gave us a good gallon and three-quarters. Garrison, you bring up the rear. I'll get Flossie going. We're done milking, about to go in. How are the pigs? Boy, they've already rooted it up like crazy right there. You got some food left, I see. That's good. You happy? I'm happy to see y'all in the sunshine. It's good for you. Happy to see y'all out in it. So far so good. Oh, one just got zapped. Hey, before I go in— and that would be a good time to tell you, Permaculture Pigs, our next film and course project— this is one thing we want to do. Many of you guys don't have a lot of space for pigs. How about we keep 2 of them here in a mulched run? We got some ideas beyond this so that they can also be building compost. Guys, you're going to follow along in that adventure. What we're trying to do this week and next is just get these guys out a little bit, make sure they're trained to this fence, get them— get 3 of them into the forest within the next couple of weeks, build a deep bedding system here to demonstrate that if you have carbon source like wood chips, I think you can keep any animal in a very small space. That's Permaculture Pigs, guys. We're launching that, I believe, May 19th on Kickstarter. Gonna go Kickstarter, but they're gonna start— it's gonna be a lot of fun. You're gonna learn everything you need to know for raising pigs from piglet to the plate in just an evening. So it's gonna be awesome. You guys are gonna be stars. You okay with that? All right, I just gotta check on these pigs one more time. It's almost dark. Let's see if they stayed in. Okay, look. Oh, look, you don't even have food and you're petting him. Okay, thank you, Garrison. That is a wrap. You never know what you're going to be doing around here, huh? Hauling pig manure, moving cows, moving chickens, petting calves, holding a camera— anything goes, buddy.
