The Fat Ewe Farm and Bed and Breakfast
The Fat Ewe Farm and Moose Hills Inn
Organic Permaculture Farmin' for
the Lazy Ewes
  • The Fat Ewe Farm
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • The Fat Ewe Farm Store
  • Livestock Breeds (click here to see all the breeds)
    • Angora goats
    • Icelandic Sheep
    • Jacob sheep
    • Old English Southdown Babydoll Sheep >
      • Babydoll Sheep on the Fat Ewe Farm
  • Contact Us
    • Photo Gallery (click here for some awesome photos or watch the slideshow) >
      • Video Slide Show
    • Phone Number
    • Map
  • Sale Barn
  • Recipes From the Fat Ewe
    • Old Stuff
  • How Much Meat Do You Get?
  • Ukrainian Easter Eggs
  • Moose Hills Inn

Hay Net Progress

7/4/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
The theory of using hay nets to feed animals is that it saves hay because they cannot pull out huge mouth fulls and drop it, and waste it. There is less to clean up because the waste is so little. The animals eat slower and are healthier. 

That is the theory. 

I put a bale of green feed in the net and gave one bale to the sheep, who never touched it, and one to the goats, who only pulled each straw out and ate the ones that had any green heads of grain and discarded the rest. They also climbed the bale like a mountain and pooped and peed on it, so then lost interest in the feed inside, which to them was soiled. The sheep had no interest. 

The sheep do not eat green feed, except if they readily can get at the grain heads. I know now because I fed them some in their feeder and they did not eat it, just cleaned up the grain.  At least the goats ate the stems and leaves if they were green, but not the yellow ones. So, I had two bales of feed to deal with. 

The one in the goat pen had begun to compost on the bottom. It was sitting on top of 2 feet of hay, but that was not the problem. The goats had been climbing it and trampling it and soiling it, so they  left it alone. Getting the net off the hay bale was not easy. The bottom was gross, smelly and very yukky. I had to get some help from the skid steer to lift it enough to get the net undone and started and then basically had to take the bale out a little at a time. For a first experience, it was terrible and did not fulfill any of the theory whatsoever. 

The one in the sheep pen was almost the same, except it still was a whole bale, just rotting at the bottom. I opened it up and peeled the net down and the sheep have been picking through and eatiing the grain head. Now, I have to get the skid steer and the forks and lift the net out of that mess. It is also smelly, yukky and in a quagmire. Gross. 

In all fairness though, sheep and goats do not eat green feed, so I have learned. So, I am going to try with hay. Today, since the goat pen was cleaned yesterday and the the feeders removed, I put hay in a small net designed to hold 2 square bales. I had to open the net and push the hay in by hand. It was not easy either, and it did not hold much that way, maybe 20 pounds, versus 100 pounds or so if it was filled with 2 whole hay bales. I may invest in the bales this winter just for the goats. Then I tied the top and set the bale in the goat pen. Immediately they jumped on it. No!

So I tied the opposite end so it was not a jumping site. The little ones may still climb it and jump on it. The other option is to rig up a way to hang it so it is free moving and vertical. That way they cannot climb on it and it will entertain them. It would be good to do that for winter in their barn. They were eating the hay from the net quite nicely. 

Tomorrow I will retrieve the net from the sheep pen and put a whole round bale in it and see how the sheep do. There are enough sheep that for winter 2 nets would be used so that they can all feed at the same time. The goats would be fine with two square bales, which should last them 2 or 3 days if there is not waste, maybe longer. With no waste, my hay bill should be cut in half. Yes, in half. That would save about a thousand dollars a year, not quite enough to pay for the nets the first year, but after the second year, they would be paid for in full. I am still rooting for the theory. 

Wish us luck .
Picture
This is after the two ends were tied to elevate the bottom off the ground. Much better.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Airstream Land Yacht 1964
    Alpacas
    Alpine Goats
    Ameraucana Chickens
    American Buff Geese
    Ancona Ducks
    Angora Goats
    Angora Goats
    Angora Rabbits.
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Bed And Breakfast
    Berkshire Pigs
    Blue Faced Leicester Sheep
    Blue Swedish Ducks
    Boer Goats
    Border Collie
    Border Collie
    Bronze Turkey Standard
    Bronze Turkey (Standard)
    Canadian Horses
    Canadian Horses
    Cats
    Chickens
    Cotswold Sheep
    Crafts And Hobbies
    Cream Legbar Chickens
    Dorset Sheep
    Ducks
    Embden Geese
    E'st A Laine Merino Sheep
    Farm Life
    Farm Life
    Farm Store
    Finnsheep
    Flemish Giant Rabbit
    Flowers
    French Lop Rabbit
    Galloway Cattles
    Gardening
    Gotland Sheep
    Guinea Fowl
    Herbs
    Holstein Steer
    Icelandic Sheep
    Jacob Sheep
    Japanese Bantam Chickens
    Jersey Cow
    Kahaki Campbell Ducks
    Karakul Sheep
    Kiko Goats
    Kilo Highland Cows
    Light Sussex Chicken
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Meishan Pigs
    Miniature Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    Moose Hills Inn
    Muscovy Ducks
    Norwegian Red Dairy Cow
    Nubian Goats
    Nygora Goat
    Ossabaw Hogs
    Partidge Chantecler Chickens
    Pekin Ducks
    Permaculture
    Pied Guinea Fowl
    Polish/Ameraucana Bantam Cross Chickens
    Polled Dorset Sheep
    Potbelly Pigs
    Pygmy Goats
    Recipes
    Rigit Galloway Cows.
    Romanov Sheep
    Romney Sheep
    Rouen Ducks
    Saddleback Pomeranican Geese
    Saxony Ducks
    Sebastopol Geese
    Sheep And Goats
    Shetland Sheep
    Silver Spangled Hamburg Chicken
    Soap And Hand Made Cosmetics
    Standard Jack Donkey
    Sustainability
    Swiss Blackneck Goats
    The Llamas
    The Llamas
    Toulouse Geese
    Tunis Sheep
    White Chantecler Chickens
    White Danish Geese
    Wool

    Author

    Fluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. 

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    view old blog site

    RSS Feed

Contact Us
Home

The Fat Ewe Farm 

All text and photos are the sole property of The Fat Ewe Farm  and may not be used without written permission.