Hay - what kind?

[katharinad]

So today they did finally deliver our ton of rye hay. They had a mix up and forgot to deliver a week ago. Can happen. Anyway I'm very happy with the stuff. It is a good mix of hay, straw and grains. They cut hole rye plant and sell it as a cheap feed for cattle. I don't think my ducks care what it is. They are so happy shifting through it trying to find all the seeds there are. I can't complain, they delivered it, stacked it onto our pallets and we covered it with tarps to keep the snow off it. We ended up with 18 bales and paid including delivery 95 dollars. It's a local farmer and they are really nice people. He wanted to know what kind of ducks we have. He said they end up with lots of wild duck eggs when they are doing the harvest. They are all wild mallards, They incubate the duck eggs, and then raise them for food. Not sure, if that is legal, but that is what they do here. Plus the rye needs to be cut and cannot wait on eggs to hatch. He said they always end up with about 50 ducks and they eat them for the rest of the year. He said not to much meat on the wild ducks, but they like it. The Klamath Basin in known for its massive waterfowl population.

 

[katharinad]

They like it. Now taking a nap in the nice rye hay.

The hay is in our pallet shelter:

 

[Wifezilla]

Sounds like your climate is much like mine. Oat straw is what I can usually get at the local Big R. No mold issues here either.

Since your ducks like what you bought, you got a good deal as far as I am concerned

 

[maggiemmm]

Awesome idea about the pallets - gotta try that!We got snow last week but it did not stay. 63º today. Looks like we may have a temperature drop by next week. So long Indian Summer! My ducks are still laying - better than the chickens right now. I use straw all over their pen and then rake the leaves into the enclosure too... it gets pretty deep but they are having a field day rustling through the leaves. Like kids jumping in piles of leaves. By next Spring I should have some mighty fine compost too!

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I bought some straw this spring and apparently it was mixed with hay. I knew I shouldn't have used it, but I did. A few of my ducks ended up with respiratory problems because of it. We had a very wet spring and I suppose mold grew on it. I don't use hay for anything but feeding my goats.

 

[katharinad]

We live in a very dry climate I don't have to worry about mold. 15% humidity is normal for us, and we have over 300 days of sunshine. It's almost like Las Vegas only greener with the Ponderosa Pine trees. It rains so little here that you have to have inground sprinklers or you don't have a lawn at all. We get all our moisture in winter with snow. The snow pack is what give us water for the rest of the year. The air is actually so dry that snow just evaporates without melting. We are lucky if it rains in summer. You may get a little every 2 months, but most of the time you get nothing. Not even a single cloud. We live at 4000 feet.

 

[Wifezilla]

5,500 ft here. I think our average rainfall is only 17". Hay or straw in Wisconsin would be a nightmare, but not in the high and dry country.

 

[Redwood Violet]

Here we don't worry so much about the snow because it rarely ever snows so close to the ocean. What we do get, however, is mega tons of rain. 70-80 inches is normal for us in a year. Things never dry out here and the mud is constant battle. My night pen (the one that's totally contained) is a slimy sloppy mess. We've ditched it for drainage but it's still gross. I just put a wheel barrow load of hay and straw from the hay barn floor in the driest end, but they don't like it because it's different. Or something. So they all hang out in the slimy end. I need wood chips but those are hard to come by around here.

Anyway, long story short, I don't like to use straw because it gets wet so fast. Of course, it would probably work better if snow actually happened here.