Topic of the Week - "Off-grid" Feeding - Homemade feeds, etc.

[TwoCrows]

Because of severe drought that has hit our state, quality free ranging probably wouldn't be an option to keep my chickens alive and well for very long. Alfalfa is a good maintenance feed for many types of livestock, it is loaded with Vitamins A, B, E Selenium, Calcium and other good stuff. If is high in protein and calories. It makes for wonderful forage. I free feed 3 strand alfalfa (2 strand can be all stems) along with poultry feed and have done so for years. I keep several bails on hand at all times and should issues arise that I was unable to purchase feed, the Alfalfa could keep them alive and healthy for a very long time. Hay stores for years in the right conditions and a bale can feed a lot of birds for a long time if worked properly .

 

[Dr.Dale]

Hay stores for years in the right conditions

What do you have to do to ensure that?

 

[pennyJo1960]

What do you have to do to ensure that?

need to have to keep dry no leaks is main thing but never had enough to last that long

 

[TwoCrows]

What do you have to do to ensure that?

What @penny1960 said. Keep it in a completely dry area, out of weather, sunlight, wind, rain, etc., and preferably as cool as possible. They say it lasts 3 or 4 years if kept well. The high levels of Vitamin A will break down fast within the first 6 months, however whats left of the Vitamin A then stablizes. I am currently feeding the last of a 3 year old bale. It still smells pretty fresh, leaves stills very green, just as the day it was cut.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Would a root cellar be a good place to store hay, or would that be too humid?
We have a pile of old hay in the haymow that I am going to move to the run this weekend. It is horse hay, so just a little bit of alfalfa, but a lot of stems and leaves of birds-foot trefoil, grass, weeds, etc.
I just pulled a pumpkin out of the root cellar for the hens, they sure went to town on it. Just a thin shell of rind is left. I found one of the squash was starting to get black spots on the rind, so I tossed that to them also.

 

[Folly's place]

Root cellars are too damp for hay. It must be dry.
Mary

 

[wyoDreamer]

Root cellars are too damp for hay. It must be dry.
Mary

That's what I thought. I will need to find a corner somewhere to stack a couple of bales. Once the last of the stuff in the barn is gone, I will need to buy some for the chooks for winter. The area of the barn where hay is now, is going to be renovated into a heated workout room.

 

[Kusanar]

That's what I thought. I will need to find a corner somewhere to stack a couple of bales. Once the last of the stuff in the barn is gone, I will need to buy some for the chooks for winter. The area of the barn where hay is now, is going to be renovated into a heated workout room.

A trick is to stack them on edge rather than flat (strings go around the sides not top and bottom) and leave gaps in between the bales so that they can breathe nearly all the way around. If you pack them tight and they get any moisture in the stack they will mold, if you pack them loose, they dry back out if they get damp from heavy humidity.

 

[pennyJo1960]

nice add there @Kusanar

 

[Kusanar]

nice add there @Kusanar

I have horses, putting up hay is kind of my thing.... lol