Everybody sing…..
….”working in a Winter Wonderland”! Lah-lah-lahhh!
Actually this last mini-storm was the worst kind: a sheet of ice under a little snow. Footing and traction are treacherous and the netting is frozen to the bales of hay. I use the front loader to crack the ice somewhat and I even drop them from about eight feet…..but it’s still a job for Wooz to rip off the netting.
We keep telling ourselves this keeps us young!
3 Comments
mike ortwein
Have you tried fodder? Have you tried grass silage? There are alternative to hay.
David
Yes, we have tried silage. But we find the wraps more troublesome than the netting.
Remember we feed very little hay….this is early because of the ice. I had actually hoped to get our main herd through the winter on grass as we did last year. But of course they can’t break through the ice and I don’t like them traveling on our rocky hills.
We have lost cows slipping down the hills and breaking their necks.
And ideally, when we do put out hay, I unroll it. But I don’t like traveling on icy hills either.
And a side comment: I’ve known others to feed silage and a few have experienced health problems…listeria. My supposition is those “air-tight” wraps are breeding grounds for bad stuff though I’m just sayin’.”
mike ortwein
I am not talking about bag silage, I am referring to long cut grass that is stored in a klump–pile of grass, plastic over top, seal around the edges, and then vacuumed out. Fodder is sprouted barley or could be rye–this you grow in 6 days, and one pound of seed turns into 6 pounds of lush green feed–root mass and all.