Biblical rainfall and feeding hay....

[Texas Gal]

We've had almost 20 inches of rain since the first of September. This has me thinking ahead to feeding hay in these conditions. At this rate the mud around the hay rings will be 3 feet deep even moving them every time we feed. What do y'all do to mitigate the mud issues when feeding hay in the super wet/muddy winter conditions????

 

[Bright Raven]

Kentucky:

Wettest year on record. I bet half my round bales have rotted. On the plus side, fall has been our spring. Pasture is lush. Weird!

 

[bird dog]

Put a couple of pallets in the bottom of your ring will help some with the hay. Won't do much for the animals. If you don't have a gravel pad or a ranch road to feed on. about the only thing you can do is feed at the very highest point on the property. At least it will drain and dry out quicker.

I noticed my animals have been sleeping on top of the terraces. It was 85 degrees yesterday, 45 now as I write this. Not good weather for newborns.

 

[1982vett]

Spread out. Feed on hard packed areas that could use the churning in of waste organic material. I usually don't have much issue with feeding areas fo much over a week or so but the trails to and from the barns can get pretty messy if I have to feed a lot.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

We've had record rainfall/snowfall this fall/winter also and I've already been feeding some hay already. So far I've had no issues rolling out hay in different locations everyday. No way would I want to be feeding in rings.

 

[Supa Dexta]

The last thing I'd want is broken pallets ending up in my mud.

Concrete. Only thing that works.. And I know mud.

 

[greybeard]

Put a couple of pallets in the bottom of your ring will help some with the hay. Won't do much for the animals. If you don't have a gravel pad or a ranch road to feed on. about the only thing you can do is feed at the very highest point on the property. At least it will drain and dry out quicker.

I noticed my animals have been sleeping on top of the terraces. It was 85 degrees yesterday, 45 now as I write this. Not good weather for newborns.

I fed on pallets inside a hay ring ONCE..several years ago. It was heck digging the wooden pallet remains out of what was left of the hay the cows didn't eat and I still avoid driving over those areas if I can.

 

[littletom]

Got one place in every herd just make a pretty big mess everyyear. Then start moving to dryer ground 3 weeks before calving. Push the **** up and haul it away in summer, disk and repeat.

 

[MtnCows93]

id feed in the woods different spot every day

 

[kenny thomas]

id feed in the woods different spot every day

Lots of damage to the timber if it's valuable that way. Plus no way of recovering the manure to spread.

 

[pricefarm]

I have a lot that I feed in when it's bad. When the ground is decent I unroll hay in different places. Once it gets really muddy I feed in the lot. Makes a mess but doesn't tare up the pasture.

 

[Farm Fence Solutions]

Mud and if I'm going to be gone are about the only times I use bale rings. Otherwise, just unroll what they need for a day. Also reduces the need for cleaning up/spreading manure.

 

[MtnCows93]

id feed in the woods different spot every day

Lots of damage to the timber if it's valuable that way. Plus no way of recovering the manure to spread.

yea ive done cut all my valuable timber lol

 

[Dave]

Years on the Washington coast with rain nearly everyday all winter there is only one solution. Concrete. Even better concrete with a roof over it.

 

[True Grit Farms]

id feed in the woods different spot every day

Lots of damage to the timber if it's valuable that way. Plus no way of recovering the manure to spread.

I'm feeding round bales straight on the ground this year in the woods. Now I have two good reasons, first is to seed the woods so grass will grow, second is to kill the dang trees.

 

[TexasBred]

We've had almost 20 inches of rain since the first of September. This has me thinking ahead to feeding hay in these conditions. At this rate the mud around the hay rings will be 3 feet deep even moving them every time we feed. What do y'all do to mitigate the mud issues when feeding hay in the super wet/muddy winter conditions????

Wait a couple of weeks. Probably won't have any moisture at all.

 

[Texas Gal]

I

We've had almost 20 inches of rain since the first of September. This has me thinking ahead to feeding hay in these conditions. At this rate the mud around the hay rings will be 3 feet deep even moving them every time we feed. What do y'all do to mitigate the mud issues when feeding hay in the super wet/muddy winter conditions????

Wait a couple of weeks. Probably won't have any moisture at all.

Indeed. This is why we Texans in general don't have the fancy feeding set ups referenced above. :lol:

Thanks for the awesome ideas.

 

[MtnCows93]

yea true grit i do the same thing. i bring 2 bales on a old trailer behind my little tractor in the woods, set them out and cut a trailer load of wood while im there. just slowly growing pasture

 

[True Grit Farms]

Unroll them ?

I don't, I just let the bahia go to seed before I bale it. Then I just let the cows stomp the seed in and fertilize while their doing it.

 

[ddd75]

concrete feeding barn to feed.

concrete hay barn to store hay.


easy.. right? lol