Spent the 4th cleaning up & mending fence after some pretty wicked storms came through. My curiosity got me lost in the interweb reading up on "Tree Fodder".
The cows are LOVING the storm damage. Wind brought down about 5-6 nice sized Basswood trees, between the feed value, shade & fly control, maybe I should wish for storms more often
Well..... Against all you guys recommendations, I didn't have time to restack before the rains came and decided to keep The Pyramid & covered it, 30 bales of first cutting. Tied down & knotted every eyelid, will also throw straps over with telephone poles as anchors so it doesn't flap & rip as bad during storms/blizzards.
But I will take everyone's advice going forward. What's left on the trailer will get stacked single file, end-to-end tight, on pallets. I still have 40 left out in the field that I wasn't able to get to before mother nature opened the sky up for the first rain we've had in weeks.
And I should have prefaced my original post with the fact that "we are a homestead." I am not in the cattle business and I'm not in the hay business. Everyone on here is so so knowledgeable but I realized many answers were from those who do this for life, with margins & waste at top of mind.
I know I will have some spoilage but I believe my cost on first cutting is <$10/bale. The expensive alfalfa squares are where most my money is spent and those get a nice dry corner of the barn.
Thank you all again for the great advice and recommendations!!!!
Currently in the stacking phase after getting first cutting off, looking for affirmation or advice as this is only my second season needing to store hay for the bovines. Location is SW Michigan, 30 miles from the lakeshore, and swampy.
Yes, swampy.... Muck ground, 12-18" water table, 1200ft river frontage, 1 acre pond, feeder creeks run through as well. I bring this up because im learning that it's all about keeping the hay DRY. I have no inside hay storage except for 100-150 small square bales of alfalfa I like to feed out but the barn is full of equipment. Lots & lots of ground moisture
Grass/clover round bales. Bales were dry (we haven't seen rain in a couple weeks now), left to sweat in the field 2-3 days, little to no warmth when hand shoved into center. Stacked on pallets, pyramid style. Tarping with either A) Heavy Vinyl tarp from the tops of boat shore stations or B) Big heavy duty tarps from Rural King/TSC.
If you look at the pictures, there's about a 2ft slope off the side near those extra quonset sections. Stacking North/South, and hoped the pines would give extra protection from Mother Nature & Old Man Winter.
Last season I seemed to have a lot of mold issues because the tarp kept too much moisture in, either from the ground or the bales sweating. Bales had damage were they touched the tarp but this is also the first time I've had more than 2hrs after baling before the rains came.
Should I not go to the ground with the tarp??
Should I leave about ⅓-½ of the bottom bales exposed to allow for airflow or shouldn't that be an issue since these are much dryer than years passed??
Should I keep 1st, 2nd, 3rd cuttings separate and how should I plan feeding out?? 2 pregnant cows & 3 calves (2 weaned 600lbs & 1 nursing calf 250lbs), November calving & December gleefully house a bull for a few months
Really trying hard to reduce waste and not run short this year. Mostly grass fed, I'll take maybe 5-10lbs corn daily just to keep accustomed to feed bucket and friendly
What website do y'all use for a reliable tide chart? When I Google "Apollo Beach Tide Chart" I'm getting 2 different websites giving me 2 completely different sets of numbers. I'm leaning towards Tidechart.com because the numbers are very similar to a bit so friendly NOAA site. But the "first hit" that Google gives is tide-forecast.com gives wildly different info.
Example..... (Tidechart) Today is showing a low at 7:58am(+1.18ft) rising to a high tide at 1:56pm(+2.82ft) and then falling to is lowest at 9:36pm(-0.69ft)
(Tide-Forecast) Today is showing a low at 5:26am(+2.03ft) rising until 11:34am (+4ft) and then falling to a low at 7:10pm (-0.2ft)
We're fishing a lot of mangroves and shallower waters for snook & reds in my dad's flats boat, so a reliable idea of tides can make or break our day
Finishing up my alley & headgate install today and looking for suggestions before running the cows through. I tend to over analyze & over think certain projects to the point where I'll be blind to the obvious.
So here's how I planned it. I've got a 20' x 20' catch pen that the cows are pretty comfortable with. I designed it so that I can 1/4 open the gate to the pasture but route them through the alley. The other 20' green gate i can unchain & swing as well if needed to squeeze them through if being difficult.
The telephone post are spaced at 4ft & sunk 4ft into the ground. 2 x 6 boards spaced at 8-8½ inches. I was going to add 2 x 6 cross members along the top to help against bracing. The headgate will be attached to the end posts with 1/2" x 14" bolts w/ heavy duty washers on both ends, I'm thinking 4 each side if possible, may have to chain certain spots that won't have clearance due to my "Unmeasured Hillbilly Helen Keller" construction skill.
My plan before use is to bring them into the catch pen, close the gate, leave the head gate open and just keep walking them through with feed/alfalfa to get comfortable. Bad idea??
Honestly, I don't think i will run 100 cows through this thing over is life span but wanted to have something reliable for vet, preg checks, hoof maintenance, etc.
What am I missing??
First time posting, long time lurker & learner on the site though. Thought id share some pictures of my herd, just got into beef last summer here on the homestead in SW Michigan. Been homesteading full time since leaving the office setting 5yrs ago, was in finance.
First picture is Dufus, he's our steer calf. We'll be first in the freezer this coming winter. He was a cow/calf pair i bought in June but lost his mom pretty quick to Johne's (yo-knees). First time getting burned at the sale barn
Second pictures of my girls. The small heifer calf was born here Nov 24th. Snowed Nov 25th and we didn't see ground again until late February, was a great first calving experience. Her mom's the fatty on the right, bought her 5mo pregnant for $1500 at the sale barn. The other heifer calf is daughter to the cow on the left, I believe she was born around May 1 last year (if I were to guess)
Pictures 3 & 4 are for you to tell me if you think the BCS are ok. The fat cow has FINALLY started slimming down some, she used to be about twice that size.
Picture 5 is Bueford, he was my bull on loan from the neighbor. An absolute UNIT and stud, was a gentle giant though and we enjoyed his stay (he did not wantvto leave) Arrived New Years Eve and I took him home end of March. Praying he blessed me with 2 Black Baldies
Moved everyone to spring pasture, then we got massive flooding rains for weeks, so they're back in the winter sacrificial pasture until things dry up. Probably not enjoying the old hay after gobbling up fresh greens for 2 weeks.
They currently have access to last year's 1st cut hay, trace mineral block, fly block & 37% range block.
So how do they look?? Any suggestions?? Picture 3 you can see she needs her front hooves trimmed, currently installing a alley & headgate so i can get that taken care of. No idea on breeds other than mostly angus heavy crosses.