Re: [blackbelly] Winter strategies
I live in Amish country!!! There is an Amish owned/run sawill just about a mile from me--I have to load myself, so I bag it in feed bags, then put it in the truck bed. Some sawmills actually have a way for a person to pull under the discharge chute, and the stuff drops right in as the wood is cut. It IS less expensive than buying from the supply stores. I get the peat from a feed store-- less expensive than a garden supply source. Look for places that make furniture in your area. Hard or softwood, it is always very dry before they start to cut it into lumber-- makes for soft warm bedding. I didn't even consider sawdust until I bedded the pony ride ponies down in mud one night at the fair-- the sawdust soaked up enough moisture that the top layer was dry, and the ponies stayed nice and clean over the night-- yes, they lay down to sleep at the fairs- With hay being kind of messy, I feed a couple flakes outside in good weather, and in bad weather, I feed it in the evening. Then, at the morning checkup time, I pitch anything on the ground out the stall door to become part of the pasture fill process. I have a longer walk to fill low spots every week!!! There is a warning with this process-- spilled grain becomes seed for new plants outside--it is not something I mind, but many people with a monoculture mindset do mind. I look at it as a way to introduce seeds of the plants that my guys are eating into their pastures, which in turn, in a managed grazing program, turn the pastures into a good mixed hay field. Terry W --- Kyla Robbins [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Terry, Where do you find sawdust for $5.00 a truck load? That sounds like a great deal. If I can locate some in my area, I would love to give your method a try. Do you feed your sheep in the stall also? If so what do you do about the hay waste? My sheep eat the tender parts and leave a mess of stems behind. We end up with quite a pile of stems in our stall. How often to you need to clean out the stall using your combination of products? Thanks for the advice, Kyla R. Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
[blackbelly] Winter Strategies
I've been waffling around with winter bedding strategies for my sheep stall for a couple of years now. I've used a deep bedding system, but without tractor access, mucking out in spring is a soul destroying project. All that long straw locks together and has to be broken up in chunks with a mattock before a fork will lift it out. I seem to have hit on a pretty good tactic. I've discovered I can mulch the old hay I use for bedding with my 18 horse Sears riding mower. I line up the tractor with the stall door and semi-fluff a couple of flakes of hay behind the mower in a swath as wide as the rear tires. Then I back over it with the blades engaged. Wallah. Nice chopped hay gets shot up in a pile against the far wall. It took me about 15 minutes to mulch a 65 lb bale of hay today. It would have taken less time, but I had to figure out that if the rear tires don't roll over the hay to hold it down, the machine will just push it backward. Can't drive forward over it, either. Then it's just a matter of raking it out. The sheep pull enough of their hay out of the rack to keep adding to the bedding, but it's the compacted stuff on the bottom that is impossible to muck out. The stuff they add to the top layer stays nice and dry. I figure they'll be good for at least a couple weeks on a stall stripping, and I won't have the backbreaking work of breaking up the bedding pack in spring. Hubby wrapped the barn's water heater in an insulation blanket for me and adjusted the temp so that the water comes out deliciously tepid. Jeez, I stuck my hand in 40 degree water to scrub the water buckets and almost suffered pain! No wonder horses are so prone to water-intake-related colic in winter! So all the outside water systems got disconnected today and the sheepies and horses will all get a shot at some nice warm water twice a day. Hope everyone's staying warm and dry. We are toppling rainfall records here in W. Oregon. Regards, Barb Lee Blacklocust Farm American Blackbelly Sheep http://www.blacklocustfarm.net ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] Winter strategies
Hey Barb, Wish I had power in my barn- I know what you mean about cleaning a winter water trough. My only solution is to carry down warm buckets of water so the sheep will drink. I just wanted to make a suggestion about your bedding problem. I found out that when the county trims trees you can get on their list to have the tanbark dropped off on your property. I use this in my shelter and the pathway leading down to the sheep pen. It's easy to wheelbarrow loads because it's lightweight. It is easy to clean and if you do at least 8 inches deep it doesn't smell at all. When its time to change it ( every 6 months) I just shovel it back into the wheelbarrow and dump it in the garden. It doesn't solidify in clumps like hay so it really is easy to work with. I've tried the packaged bedding stuff from the feed store and it was a waste of money. The tanbark is free and works great. ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
