The Slowcook at Spydog Farm The Slowcook at Spydog Farm

Saving Hay

December 11th, 2015 · No Comments · Posted in farming

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Last winter I didn’t have hay feeders for our critters, I just spread bales on the ground. Consequently, a lot of hay never got eaten. In fact, it wasn’t till a few weeks ago that we finally got around to scooping up all that wasted hay with the tractor and moving it to the compost pile.

But how to address this problem? There are several kinds of feeders on the market. I opted for the cheapest–these wall-mounted metal racks. Split up your bales and stuff the pieces into the racks. The animals help themselves.

I bolted three onto our outbuildings for the goats and they took to them right away. The racks don’t eliminate spillage, but you can just pick the dropped hay off the ground and stuff it back in. I have three more of these for the sheep and cows. I’m sure I’ll need more to feed all the animals that will be wintering in the main paddock. We’re still on the learning curve.

At the moment, the animals aren’t all that interested in hay. We had summer in November, now we’ve got summer in December. The forecast calls for temperatures in the 60s on Sunday, a new record for sure in the Albany area. The ski resorts are all crying the blues, pushing back their opening dates. Our livestock continue to graze what they can off our dun-colored pastures.

Good for us: we don’t pay for hay they don’t eat.

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