Hey HAY HAY

[Jill]

ONLY other horse people can relate to this GOOD feeling!

This is the first year we've had a place to store more than 50 or so bales of hay and that was packing it in. H built a new building for the hay and other things (old antique cars -- yuck...). We still want to get a few more loads this weekend but as of now, we have about 140 bales of hay stacked almost to the ceiling of the shed he built! We've never had this much hay ever and by the time we are done with it this weekend or next, we will have enough to last until June 2007.

Also, it's making me smile even more because this year we found two sources of really, truly outstanding sweet smelling orchard grass hay. This stuff looks so nice and just ***sigh*** love to breath it in. The horses love it, too, and ours are picky like lots of our spoiled horses on this board

If it's not good stuff, they barely eat it and waste a lot of it.

We feel really lucky to have been able to find such good hay and actually have a place to store what to us is a large amount. I mean, I've never had anywhere near this amount of hay on hand!

 

[kaykay]

my hay supplier just told me today hes not going to do our hay anymore. im having a panic attack as i type this. I turned down great hay all summer as this one promised to supply me all year. now im back to square one and trying to find hay at the worst possible time of the year.

 

[Jill]

Oh no, Kay! I am sorry about the situation!!!

I know for sure YOU (kakkay) already know the options for hay alternatives, but for others reading and worrying about the winter, you can use complete pellets, soaked beet pulp, soaked hay cubes, and bagged forage to supplement baled hay for your horses.

And, Karla, I am with you about how good it does smell! Nice hay, cut grass, and horses -- those are some of my favorite smells on the planet. Oh, and also puppy breath

:

 

[kaykay]

thank jill. only a horse person knows what a bad feeling it is when you dont have enough hay ughhhhhh. he said my horses eat too much LOL. well ummm i did tell him i have 15 horses. everyone thinks because they are small they dont eat much. everyone here eats really well.

 

[chandab]

I know shipping can get very expensive, but did find a possible on-line source for bagged hay... Of all places Do-It-Best Hardware. They have bagged timothy/alfalfa and straight alfalfa in 40# bags; both with molasses.

Hopefully, this link will work to the right page on their website:

http://doitbest.com/DoItBest/Main.aspx?PageID=64&SKU=730921

I haven't tried this product, so I don't know the quality. But, I am thinking about trying it for my senior gelding. There is a Do-It-Best in town, so I'm going to see if they can order it in to save on shipping fees (it'll probably cost a little more to get it into the store, but not as much as UPS for 40# to my door).

 

[NyborFarm]

I know that feeling. Last year we struggled to find hay up here in NH because it was too wet. At least this year we were able to get all our hay all at once at the beginning of the year. And we still have enough to last the winter for once. Our big mare eats a lot, at least compaired to her mini companion!

 

[dangerranger]

Our horses would not touch anything that was soaked [ they looked at me like Id feed them streight poison!] so on a whim I tryed running cubes through a wood chipper. talk about smell! the whole barn smelled like fresh cut hay. and the horses eat it like candy. Sorry Kaykay, most hay supplyers are trying to sell more hay , not cutting off those that buy more. DR.

 

[NMMack]

ONLY other horse people can relate to this GOOD feeling!

I know *EXACTLY* what you are feeling!!!

:

As soon as we got our last bale in the barn, we both stood back and just Grinned at each other!

: There is enough to last until next summer, enough to feed heavy when it is really cold, and it is all GREAT hay!!!! :aktion033:

Nancy

 

[ThreeCFarm]

I know exactly what you mean! We had our property baled this year by a friend's husband during the time hay was so hard to find (for any price), and even my three year old son knew we had reason to be excited, LOL!

 

[Jill]

Yep yep yep! It's a great feeling!!!

H is getting another 60 bales this morning and then will pick up 30 bales one day this week on his way home. One bale lasts us about 1.5 days, but figuring conservative, we're going to have enough to last us through next July I think and that's if we had to use 1 bale a day vs. every 1.5 days.

You realize, too, if horses were like CATS, then knowing we had a huge supply of the same hay would make them change their taste in hay

:

 

[Minimor]

I wish I could haul in 200 bales & be set for the year. I get 100 bales delivered every 3 weeks plus pick up 1 round bale every week & I had figured we were going to run out of hay about 3 months before the '07 hay crop would be ready. However, I just recently found a guy that can spare me at least 500 bales, so that will give us enough to see us through. Those 500 I will haul myself, a pickup truck load at a time. I'm concerned about next year, if our drought continues, but I guess we'll see what comes.

 

[Jill]

Well, it won't leave us set for a whole year but well into next summer when we can get good cuttings again.

We're currently feeding 14 minis and one small pony (over grown mini). They just get this hay and a small amount of complete pellets. To look at them, though, they pretty much all are getting more than they need since all but one (a mare who just weaned a foal) are quite round

 

[Beccy]

That must be such a nice feeling to have it all stored away.

When we used small square bales, we were using (by the end before we switched to large squares) 140 bales every five days, and for eight years, my poor longsuffering husband, would go every five days to a farm 20 minutes away, and load them up (two loads) whether it was rain, sun, snow, sleet or ice. He always made sure all our animals were warm and fed, even though he was often cold, tired and hungry in the process of getting it home!

Now we use the large squares, which this year are about 800 lbs, and we get 40 a month delivered, what a blessing it is not to have to pick up anymore, but I just readKay's post about panicking because her supplier won't be able to do it anymore, and realised that panic over hay...

whether we had a supplier for the year,

whether they would have enough for us,

whether they could store all/some of it for us,

whether prices would stay good,

whether the weather would co operate to produce and get the hay off,

whether the vehicle and trailer would not break down, and or we could get it delivered,

whether we had enough room to store it here,

now whether the tractor (diesel) will always start up in bitter weather to move those 800lb bales

...has ruled our lives for the last decade!!!

:

 

[Equuisize]

Oh I LOVE that feeling.....

I am at my happiest in September when the barn is full of hay,

the shavings bunker is full of dry shavings - I feel like a chipmunk

that has all it's winter supplies set and ready.... :bgrin

We had 8 tons delivered and stacked in the loft on Sept 18th and

the day before, Michael brought in 2 dump truck loads of shavings.

We are set for whatever Mother Nature throws at us....

Gosh Kay I hope your hay issues get resolved, that is a scary feeling.

We had a hay problem back in 1980 when Mt St Helens blew and little of

the Eastern Washington hay was good and it was covered in ash.

My hay broker brought hay in from Montana but it was a scary wait while

he located good hay.

 

[alphahorses]

my hay supplier just told me today hes not going to do our hay anymore. im having a panic attack as i type this. I turned down great hay all summer as this one promised to supply me all year. now im back to square one and trying to find hay at the worst possible time of the year.

Kay,

I might be able to find you some hay down my way, but it will cost you a fortune to transport. Let me know if you're interested and I'll check with my supplier.