Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Kris5902]

With 3 horses the hay never runs out. When we hit 20 bales it is time to restock. If it is packed tightly we can fit 100 bales, but the majority of the time we leave enough room for air circulation so it does not mold and have around 75 bales. The downfall to that is yes sometimes eggs slip through the gaps to be found later. I really did not think to check in the back as they tend to lay in the front of the hay pile and never more then 2 bales high. I was starting to think they were going under the hay like momma hen did and risked being snake bit yesterday laying on the ground shining a flashlight to try and spot a nest. I know one of these days fooling with the hay I will run across a snake worse then a black snake.

The farm doesn’t buy hay!usually, they will buy straight alfalfa bales Though. Here there are three dedicated hay barns and three additional barns with large hay lofts on the farm proper and another huge hay barn on the other side Of the island which is where the alfalfa usually gets delivered because the hills and they always forget until September-November that they need to order it. I won’t go into the mud and location issues with the barns, but generally they just pack it in when it is the correct time of year (regardless of weather or growing conditions or dryness) and hope for the best. There is a lot of mold by the end of winter.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

The farm doesn’t buy hay!usually, they will buy straight alfalfa bales Though. Here there are three dedicated hay barns and three additional barns with large hay lofts on the farm proper and another huge hay barn on the other side Of the island which is where the alfalfa usually gets delivered because the hills and they always forget until September-November that they need to order it. I won’t go into the mud and location issues with the barns, but generally they just pack it in when it is the correct time of year (regardless of weather or growing conditions or dryness) and hope for the best. There is a lot of mold by the end of winter.

I'm curious, I've always heard it said that cows and goats and donkeys can eat moldy hay and it not hurt them. I do not mess with any of those so I've never really looked into if there is any truth in that. I do know giving moldy hay to a horse is colic waiting to happen. Someone I know lost their 15 month old colt by accidently feeding moldy hay a few years ago. Some may say we are obsessive over our hay. Besides trying to properly store it each time we cut into a bale we inspect it before feeding it out. Horses are always trying to find ways to kill themselves. The last thing we need is to help them on their quest by feeding moldy hay. The same goes for their grain, a few times we have opened a bag of grain to find it had mold in it. Those have been promptly returned to tractor supply.

 

[BY Bob]

Well have a good rest of this weekend. Catch you soon

Thanks Marie. You too.

 

[ManueB]

Goats are just like Ponies… and you can easily trim their hooves yourself they are also better able to forage for winter (clearly team GOAT here ) so there’s way less work with hauling hay (that would be my concern with ponies) the horses here go unshod, but they also aren’t ridden, and don’t encounter pavement. We have a farrier once or twice a year that comes for a hoof trim. There are other people on island with miniature horses and we often share the farrier costs as it’s hard to get one out here as well. The prospect of a full day and 7 horses makes it worth his time, and he charges extra for the travel as it’s a full day because of the ferries. Same thing here for things like septic tank pump outs, getting the sheep shorn, or booking trades like plumbers or chimney sweeps, they all want to have multiple jobs lined up so the 6-8 hours on the ferry is worth it for them. I suppose the other option would be getting a horse trailer and taking the ponies on a road trip to another place for hoof care. I think it’s a little more specialized in cows and horses than most owners would want to DIY, especially if you are shoeing them (horses… not cows!)

I'm aware goats are far lower maintenance than ponies, but horses are my dream animals, whereas goats are little devils with furs and beards.

We're definitely not as isolated as you, but still sufficiently that it would be difficult to have someone come up there just for one or two ponies. Sharing a trailer or finding out if someone could lend or rent us one would definitely be useful.
As for the hay, for the time being we are hauling hay out from our land to our neighbors who breed cows on our backs as it's too steep for tractors, and the parking where they can bring the hay baler is another 300 m away....so having to haul some in will probably not be worse . We're used to having a bunch of people coming in to help us for that.
Horses are not the most simple animals to care for so I'd rather take more time to anticipate some of the worse problems!

 

[ManueB]

Caturday tax : brother and sister fighting like stray cats!

 

[GregnLety]

3 cottonmouths so far this spring, that is more than I usually see all summer. The one yesterday was about 3' and laying by the entrance to the coop for the naked necks. Good thing we keep the grass cut extremely short and am grateful that my dogs were inside.

 

[rural mouse]

Karen says Momma Hen told her she did not have to reveal who her real mother or father are.
View attachment 3107632

One of my babes looks much like her....not so much on the behavior...so far....now to go find some wood to knock on....

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

One of my babes looks much like her....not so much on the behavior...so far....now to go find some wood to knock on....

She may look angry at times, but she wants to be friendly. I can go out there and sit and as long as I do not move she will come close. She has made it as far as sitting on my boot before Momma Hen realized what was happening and threw a fit. If I make a move towards her, Momma is on the war path. I'm fully confident when the time comes and she lets her go I can have her just as friendly as everyone else in just a few days time.

 

[WhoDatChick]

Before and after eating crawfish

 

[Ponypoor]

Raven has finally laid her egg and has shut up. I wish I could say the same about Baby. The only good thing I can say about this mornings and now afternoons egg laying drama is due to one of the nest site fights they alerted me to where Holly and Squirrel were laying. Those 2 sneaky devils had stopped laying in their usual spots about 5 days ago. The only problem is I am going to have to get a ladder to reach it, they are laying on top of the hay pile. I tried standing on a chair but nope, could not reach. Right now I ONLY like my boys and the chicks.

I found an egg behind the round bale, I almost rolled the bale onto it hahahaha!