There just aren't enough hours in the day sometimes! So the pastures still haven't been divided, which means the large animals are just roaming about, trampling the grass, and wasting most of it. Instead, we should have been shifting them between a few small paddocks so they eat up everything that is in one paddock, while the others rest, re-growing the grass.
To keep the cows in & happy we've had to go to round-bales. Which sucks during the summer, but I'd rather pay for that, then pay for cow damage if they got out again.
They've actually eaten very little of it since Saturday. I'm sore I didn't have my camera with me, but the little guys were laying on all the hay yesterday afternoon, lazily throwing it over their backs and making quite the little nest!
A hay-feeder would have prevented most of the waste, but it's part of our management plan to allow the calves to sleep in the old hay during the winter. It keeps them nice and warm! Plus the livestock would all much prefer fresh grass anyway. At least this way, instead of rotting in a feeder where they can't reach the bottom, the hay will stay out out in the air & sun and hopefully not mold any more.
We're getting the hay for ridiculously cheap at $20/round bale w delivery (no I'm not giving out any names/numbers! My hay guy, MINE!) but unfortunately they were stored outside in the open, so they are already mouldy and unsuitable for the horses.
So the question becomes, can we get under here cleared out enough, stabilised enough, and weather-proof enough that we could get a whole load of round bales delivered when they second cut comes in.
It would probably save us a few $$$ but I doubt they are going to add any more daylight any time soon, so we'll see.
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