The Castle Rock MARE-TERNITY WARD
Message Boards => General Discussion => Topic started by: HarmonyMeadows on June 26, 2016, 08:02:41 PM
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We have had a very hot and dry spring and summer this year. Sure, it is nice to have warm weather after a long, cold winter. But it has gone much too far now. We were told today that our hay guy wont have any hay for us from his first cut and chances are, he wont even have a second cut unless we get some major rain. And so far this year it keeps dancing all around us.
People in the area are selling off their livestock already because they know they wont be able to feed them. Hay will be scarce and what there will be will be marked up to silly levels.
We had finally gotten to where we were starting to make a real go of our farm this year. Producing more chickens and even pigs for sale and I have my two mares with Lightning for foals next year. I was bringing in a new buckling to join my boys and we were hoping to get some more does in the spring.
Now I will be lucky to make it through the winter with enough feed for them all. :'( So absolutely heartbreaking. And we know that there will be people who don't source hay until it gets cold and then you will see horses being starved or abandoned to kill pens. It is going to be a bad, bad year.
Here is to hoping Mother Nature takes her meds and send us some nice rain. ;pray
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Yeah I can totally see all of this! We are from the windsor area of ontario and luckily the farmer we get hay off has a ton at the moment. At least it's storming and raining right now but we definitely need some more rain! Where in Ontario are you from??
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Where are you located again? I forget.
The hay problem can be very hard sometimes. But remember, you can always feed alfalfa cubes for hay, and you measure it like you would regular hay. I always fed alfalfa, but cubes come in different mixtures, and the horses will do just fine on them. You can also get alfalfa pellets which can be added to their grain.
I had to do that several times here in Florida, and everyone did just fine.
I'm sorry things are not going well for you, but we'll be praying you can find a supplier. Sometimes, if you get together with someone in the same situation, you can have hay shipped in by the truckload from another area. If probably wouldn't make sense to try and do that yourself, but if you can find a couple of people to "go in" with you, you may be able to have hay shipped in. I know many of my friends did that in Oklahoma when they went through a horrid drought there for multiple years.
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For your little horses, especially, there are many things you can feed to substitute or stretch hay, if you have the money, because most cost more than baled hay. There are commercial bagged hay stretchers (pelleted forage), beet pulp, alfalfa cubes, alfalfa pellets, many companies now make mixed hay pellets (timothy/alfalfa is the usual mix, but also Bermuda/alfalfa, oat/alfalfa and a few others I can't think of, since I can't get them remotely local), complete feeds (such as senior or adult), you can get chopped forage in a bag (alfalfa is the norm, but this also now comes in a mix). [Many of these things can be fed to other livestock, but it's not cost efficient because of how much needs to be fed to larger livestock.] If it comes down to it, if you need it, I can sure try to help you come up with a feed program with reduced hay and using other hay substitutes or stretchers. [Some stretchers take a little more work than just feeding hay, such as beet pulp which has to be soaked. And, most hay cubes should be soaked, at least any available around here as they are big and rock hard; some brands are softer.]
Luckily, this year, we are getting decent rain, so the crop is there if we can cut and bale it without too much rain on it.
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I'm in Augusta township, between Brockville and Prescott. Close to the 401 and 416 junction towards Ottawa.
I am starting to look early and I should... ;pray ....should have smalls for my goats and Lightning. If we have to we can get beet pulp and timothy/alfalfa cubes. I have an old Quarter Horse mare and Belgian gelding that will be getting it regardless. Luckily, aside from them, everyone is a very easy keeper and my minis can really use a little less in the hay wasting and big belly department. I am sure we will figure it out. I have some resources I have yet to tap. Just was such a shock today. It wasn't what we needed to hear, unfortunately. But as long as hubby doesn't get his work contract cut short we are good. A lot better than some people for sure.
The chickens and pigs get straight grains so they are good. I can give the piggies straw to play with instead of hay. Luckily, other than the horses and goats, we don't need much. But we need enough. I just want a bit of rain to clean things up a bit. It is so hot and dry but yet it is so humid too. It is really weird!!
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I don't even know what state that would be.
I'm in Northeast Montana.
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I think she's in Canada, in Ontario?
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Oh ok you're close to my cottage area! We have chickens pigs and goats too! What type of goats do you have? :)
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I think she's in Canada, in Ontario?
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Sorry, yes, Ontario in Canada. Just across the river from Ogdensburg, New York.
We have mix breed goats. Our main buck, Justin is Nigerian/Boer. We are getting a new buckling that will become our secondary buck, Joker, he is a Myotonic (fainting) cross. His dad was Myotonic, mom looks to be alpine/pygmy or Nigerian although we aren't 100%.
We have Justin's brother, Stevie who is a wether. A small black pygmy buck, Jeremy.
On the doe side we have Lily who is a Pygmy/Saanen. She had two doelings this year by Justin, Rosie and Buttercup. Her daughter from last year by Jeremy has a buckling from Justin, Radar. (little brat was NOT supposed to be bred, she got out and jumped in with the bucks, the little hussy!! ;) )
We have Justin and Stevie's mom Jorja who is a purebred Boer. Our wether from last year, Trooper. He is Justin's son out of Lily's pygmy mom. She passed away but was really a crappy mom. Trooper was abandoned and half frozen when we found him. His twin sister had been stomped to death. Luckily we saved Troopy. She pretty much did the same with Lily too. Abandoned them. Lily survived but he twin brother was too weak and passed away. No breeding this year, so this is our herd for now. We were hoping to add a couple does come spring for Justin. Our herd is getting a bit, um, related! lol
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Oh wow ! That sounds like a ton of fun and awesome! And I knew someone with the same thing happened with one of their does two year in a row killed one of the kids and left the other. They ended up selling her. I've had the chickens and pigs for a long time but I'm new to the goats and I LOVE them. They are just so funny to be around . We have one buck and one doe at the moment. They are lamanchas goats. I plan on making soaps and lotions and cheese lol wish me luck! I would love to get a pygmy or fainting goat, how are your bigger breed with the small ones? I'm nervous these goats the size of my minis would be mean to new little ones. And to add about the female jumping the fence, man animals in general are nuts in heat, that natural instinct to breed is really strong! Haha
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I used to raise Nubian goats for their milk. Started with Saanen goats, had triplets from one doe, but had enough milk production for my herd of children. So went to Nubians and got a gallon of milk from each one every day. That took care of my feeding my children, who each drank a gallon of milk a day!
I loved the little ones, but my Nubians only had one baby at a time. Strange, so much bigger than the small Saanens, but only the Saanen's had triplets, and usually twins.
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This happens in Ireland nearly every year. Yep. Rainy Ireland. Last year people bought hay for 160 a large bale (usually 40)
Then boom the rain came, there was more than enough hay for everyone and some people went laughing all the way to the bank.
I predict rain for you :)
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We are currently paying $230-$260 per round bale at the moment here. And for small square bales...................... $20-$25 :(
We had very little rain during the second half of last year.
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Good gracious!!! How big are these bales?? For that price they should be as big as a house!!!
And I thought our prices were bad here. But the most I every paid for a large round bale (taller than me when laying on the flat side) was $100.
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Yeah you would think they would be as big as a house :)
We had this problem back in 2008 , bad drought here lead to horrific hay prices for a couple of years.
Now we seem to be in the same boat once again.
We have had plenty of rain in the last few months , but my fingers are crossed that we get some good rains at the start of Nov so people can get a second cutting in.
And Ryan needs to FINALLY section off the back 5 acres so that he can get someone into slash and bale so it will cut his own hay costs right down, for this time next year :)
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Well, you'll have to have a discussion with "Ryan" and see if you can't impress upon him the need for that!
Let us know how that goes!! LOL
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Will do LOL :)
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Haha if Ryan gets in gear and gets that done it would sure help with hay costs! Lol
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We are currently paying $230-$260 per round bale at the moment here. And for small square bales...................... $20-$25 :(
Dear god, I will never complain again! I thought ...$50 for a round bale was a lot... and since some of these bales are much smaller than I used to get, they don't last nearly as long, either.
But what are the sizes/weights of the bales you are talking about and also what currency do you use in AU?
Harmony Meadows - I hear ya. I know how hard it can be to make it during a drought! When we moved, we have more fenced land for the ponies - but the pasture grass wasn't a type to support the ponies. Getting it planted in better, perennial grasses that will grow ib dry conditions is a priority, LOL.
I have nothing to add to the other suggestions for hay/stretching and I'm not familiar with goats yet (hoping to get sone in the next year or so)...
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The rounds are the big ones and are either Rye/Oaten hay or i think you can get Lucerne/ Alfalfa, though they are a little more expensive again.
They have been as cheap as $50. A few years ago, I managed to get a couple at that price as Id just moved into our property and only had a few small paddocks fenced.
The Small Bales Im paying around $20-$25 for are grass and clover.
When I had Ponies as a kid I could get good quality Alfalfa bales for around $7, these days they are around $25 .
Im happy to say though, I maybe living off 2 min noodles this time of the year but my four legged friends have full stomachs :)
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Wow, I can't believe what some pay for hay.
We raise most our own hay, since we have cattle, but I buy some small rounds for one barn for the little horses. I get small squares of grass for $90-120/ton, they are about 70# bales, so that's about $3-4/bale.
Large rounds, go for about the same price per ton; our rounds are about 1200-1300#/bale, so that's about $60-70/bale, maybe more or less depending on the ton price and the size of the bales, some rounds are only 800# (our homegrowns are quite large and dense).
If I paid what others do for hay, I might be lucky to have one mini, rather than a dozen plus two saddle horses.
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What are your pastures sewn with Chanda ?
When we brought the farm in 2007 it was an old market garden that used to grow veggies for one of the biggest supermarkets in Australia. So the entire place was in raised beds.
We ended up sewing in what i was told was a "cattle Blend". I know it has rye, lucerne in it but not sure what else was in it.
As soon as the weather pick up here, Im putting in more paddocks out the back and will leave 2 Big ones at the back of the property so I can slash and bale them for next winter.
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We have some native prairie pasture, mostly prairie grasses. Then the improved pastures have Crested Wheatgrass, Alfalfa and some Brome grass. I think the hay strip around the grain field out back is a type of rye, but can't remember for certain. And, any of it is a bit too rich for the minis, so I limit their grazing time.
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We got a tiny bit of rain, so that is good. Still not nearly enough, but it will make sure my goats get fed for the winter. We will find some. We may have to haul in hay but we will do what we need to. Also looking at other feed options like beet pulp, hay pellets and cubes, hay stretcher and ratio balancers. No matter what the horses will be fed. We have a fridge full of pork and chicken and will be picking up some veg from the farmers market and hopefully growing a few planters of things like beans and carrots to freeze for winter. We are definitely in a better place than some but still, added stress we don't need when we were finally at a place to get some big projects done, like fencing rebuilds and auto waterers. Oh well, next year!
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Well, at least you have a good attitude, and that's the most positive thing you could do to help get through it all.
We'll still pray for rain for you. I'd love to share some of the rain we get here in Florida -- we're in our rainy season now, and it's pretty constant. I'd love to pass some along to someone!
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Sending Rain your way HarmonyMeadows :)
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Finally rained all night here :) and is still raining! Maybe it will stay awhile and the crops will get a drink.
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That is so good to hear!! I've been praying hard for you. Prayer does work, and I love when there is confirmation!
And, as a second benefit to me, we have only gotten sprinkles yesterday and today so far -- so just LOVELY!!
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Prayers sure do work :) and that's great!
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We got some rain! Yay! Not lots but some. Here is to hoping we get more.
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Awesome ! Some is better than none! Hoping for more to come for you!
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Tomorrow I go first thing in the morning to get a load of hay, will be quite the trek by myself, usually my MIL comes along and keeps me company while I pick the bales, but she's not available, and Shayne is busy harvesting our homegrown hay. I buy small squares for the barn, our homegrown is large rounds. Not looking forward to the trip alone, but must get it right away or someone else might get my hay. I pick a certain field that seems to be a good fit for the donkey and two smallest horses.
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Im in the middle of making a million phone calls to see who I can buy hay off in bulk to get me through the remainder of winter here.
Unfortunately due to the lack of rain last year everyone seems to be low on hay or the quality isnt good enough for horses.
With the amount of rain here at the moment (200mls) in the last two weeks, I have my fingers crossed that there will be an abundance of hay at low prices next year. And also Ill be slashing the back paddock and getting someone into bale it which will also bring down the costs.
Hope you beat the rain Chanda and got it all packed away :)
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Well, Florida is sending rain your way......if I could only make that happen!!!