A Bit of Ingenuity

[CattleAnnie]

:idea: A fellow contacted me about an interesting concept he'd developed to feed his stock with. Due to the snow we have to deal with, it's not something that would work here, but I thought I'd post a link to his site for you to peruse. Kinda nifty.

http://www.geocities.com/quik_roll/Quik ... epage.html

Take care.

 

[Anonymous]

That round bale unroller on wheels is pretty neet. I use a tractor to unroll hay with and have to boost it off lots of times in the winter. If I had that unroller I could come straight from the coffee shop to the feeding area and never have to mess with that tractor.
I like the way it carries the bale. People can see around the bale and they have a full view of your tail lights. It works like a hydra bed the best I can tell, but its on wheels. But I bet it's not even close to the price of a hydrabed. Did he mention the price Stefi? Here is the webpages I'm refering to.http://www.geocities.com/quik_roll/QuikRollHomepage.html

 

[Anonymous]

If you have that much snow Annie you could build a set of skis to go under the tires and boomer the ski onto each tire. Then in springtime you could have your wheeled vehicle back.

 

[Anonymous]

Spreading hay out like that is a good way to prevent foot rot too and root damage to the grass. I'm not even going to try to convince anyone to unroll hay that hasn't realized the advantages allready. I could convert politicians easier. I've noticed that If you ask 100 farmers 1 question you get 100 different answers.

 

[Anonymous]

I got the same feeling when I read "feed hay on the ground or in feeders?
" posting section. Lots of FUZZY MATH in those statements could result in a new term, "FUZZY AG". If I were that worried about wasting hay I would store it inside and hand feed each bite to the cattle. That might be a little time consuming but I could brag about saving hay.
Just unroll what they can eat in one day and there will be noting left for them to use for other things. That unroller would be good to unroll a partial roll and take the rest away for feeding later or for feeding to cattle in another pasture.

 

[Anonymous]

Done a search and found a place in Winfield Alberta that uses an unroller in snow country and uses a forcart to pull it with. If they can use one I'm thinking just about anyone could. Check it out! http://www.westernrancher.com/chores.html

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Move South.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Thanks, Fuzzy. I've peeked at Winston's website before and he has some nifty equipment for teamwork. Actually, went to their production sale a couple of years ago and bought two nice strawberry roan belgian fillies.
The Curtis' are very nice people.

Drifter, I don't know exactly what the model markets for, but the fellow that manufactures them said they are a lot less than the Hydraswing attachment for pick-ups.

CT , the only difficulty with either runners or wheels is being able to have the team back up square to the round bale. Doesn't sound too difficult in theory until you're contending with three foot drifts on the lee side of the bale. We've got a bit of a hybridization where we use a detachable yoke that we carry to the bale, unhinge an arm, and stab one end into the bale core, then re-hinge and stab the other end into the opposite side's core.
Then you just have to step the team up until the bale is lined up with the end of the sleigh (or wagon in mud time), then winch 'er up and off you go.

DR Cattle, moving south isn't an option. Pretty attached to Canada, and besides, the grass is stirrup deep here in the summer (not to mention no poisonous spiders, snakes etc here, no twisters, dust storms, or terrible heat to deal with in the summer). Yep, it's cold here in the winter, and that's a fact, but one can always put on more layers of clothes ...how many can a body take off in those scorching summers in the south and be comfortable? As to the snow, it's just another fact of life and makes for water to fill dugouts and wet the hayfields and pasture in the spring.
I guess it's just all what a person's used to, and no offense because I'm sure it's wonderful for you, but I'll just stay and take my chances with the wolves amongst my cattle than deal with nasty sneaky critters like brown recluse spiders and cottonmouths. Besides, spring is coming! Snow is starting to melt, roadbans are on, and the moths are starting to flutter around in the evening. Grass should be making an appearance in a month, hooray! Sorry, just getting that old spring fever! Horses are shedding, bulls are scrapping, life is great.
Take care all.

 

[Anonymous]

Annie couldn't you use the yoke you described to pull the bale out to flat ground then pick it up with the Quik Roll. I dont see much difference in that and what your doing now. You situation just requires more work no matter what you use because of the snow drifts. If it were me, I would pull out enough bales for a week or more so I wouldn't be bothered with that problem every time I went to feed. Can you turn the row of bales so that there is no lee side? If the snow blows longways passed the row of bales there shoudnt be any drifts. Here the bad weather always comes from the northwest. So if I lined them up from northwest to southeast there souldn't be as much of a problem if we got a lot of windy snow.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Yikes...struck a nerve. Just being a smarty pants Annie. I've never been North of the Appalachians, but I know that even that far North is unbelievably beautiful (when it's warm). Never been bitten by a snake or a spider, neither have my cattle or anyone I know. That must be a stereotype. But there is a story every now and then about someone getting eaten by a gator or getting shark bit. Ahhhh....the diversity. Don't be too hard on us Annie, we are supplying most of the fresh food when the rest of North America is frozen out.

 

[TXBobcat]

Rattlesnakes are starting to move here (Central Texas). Had one for supper Sunday night.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Ah, DR, no offense taken! Florida sounds awful nice, just addicted to the north, I guess. Gets in the old bloodstream. And you better believe I LOVE those Florida oranges. Keep 'em coming, neighbour!

Just out of curiousity, TX, what on earth does a rattlesnake taste like (besides a rattlesnake)? Had some excellent blackbear that was shot in a barley field (no nasty old dump bear, blech gross), it was pretty darn tasty (like pork), although initially I did have to talk myself into eating it.

What sort of cuisine is unique to everyone's geography? More of that darn cat killing curiousity....

Take care.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Alligators are high on my list and served in some of the finest cracker restaraunts. Froglegs are darn good too. Had rattlesnake once, tasted like chicken. Softshell turtles from freshwater and queen conch (big snail) from the ocean are also high on the list in cracker country. Let's see what am I missing. When I was a kid I tested green and loggerhead turtles. These are giants that come from the ocean but are protected now. I've heard of oldtimers and indians eating manatees but they are fiercely protected now too.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

By the way oranges and orange juice from Florida should be getting noticeably cheaper, except for navels. The crop estimate for this season was something ridiculous like 250 million field boxes. Hope noone here was an OJ futures investor.

 

[Craig-TX]

I've tried alligator and was impressed with how good it was. Eating frog legs is fun, but not as fun as getting them. Rattlesnake is OK. Doesn't taste like chicken to me – it's better than chicken. Of course that's not saying much. On the other hand, anything is good if it's chicken-fried. I imagine frozen dog would be good if you thawed it out and chicken-fried it. I've heard that bear meat is greasy but excellent, like pork.

Around here we will eat just about anything that runs, crawls, flies or swims but the most popular delicacy is dove. I grew up eating them fried but have become a convert to the grill method. For those who haven't tried it, all you do is take a paring knife and filet each side of the breast, put a slice of jalapeno on each half, wrap it with 1/3 slice of bacon and run a toothpick through to hold it together. Or you can fill a skewer with them. Throw them on the grill for a few minutes and get ready to be at peace with the world. They are good enough to make you slap your mother-in-law.

Craig-TX

 

[dun]

Have eaten roof rabbit (cat), monkey, horse/mule/donkey, the nastiest was possum, the best 4 legged was moose followed closely by elk. Best feathered was grouse followed closely by non-domestic turkey.

dun

 

[Craig-TX]

Have eaten roof rabbit (cat), monkey, horse/mule/donkey, the nastiest was possum, the best 4 legged was moose followed closely by elk. Best feathered was grouse followed closely by non-domestic turkey.

dun

"roof rabbit" - Mind if I use that now and then? Now that's some good material. Still laughing. I used to tell the kids the only reason we kept a cat in the house was in case times got hard, we'd have one last good meal. Barn cats pull their weight. House cats are kept strictly for contingency needs.

Craig-TX

 

[TXBobcat]

the most popular delicacy is dove. I grew up eating them fried but have become a convert to the grill method.They are good enough to make you slap your mother-in-law.

Craig-TX

Have to agree with Craig on this one. I love a big plate of dove cooked on the grill. I've tried them deep fried but like'em on the grill the best. I cooked about 15 of them last week for me, my wife, and daugther. I cook them the same way, fillet dove breast, put 1 slice onion and jalepeno inbetween breasts, and wrap in bacon. I cover my grill with foil and place dove on grill. That kind of keeps the fire from flaming up too much from the bacon grease. Let them cook until bacon is done and you have a delicious meal, probably my favorite, next to a good ole juicy steak.

As far as rattlesnake, it wasn't that bad. White meat, somewhat like chicken. Good backstrap meat, but to many bones otherwise.