Hay Harvest (‘photo documentary’)

[Deleted User]

This year I made no hay from timothy in my yard, as my rabbits ate up most of my grass fresh and we had had so much rain this summer making it hard for me to dry anyhing. With four rabbits, too, it would be a daunting task…

Last fall I ended up getting a pretty lousy batch of baled hay, and I wanted no repeat of this.

So I bought my hay when it was still on the ground… I must dedicate this thread to Sarita and to everyone who feels they spend much money on hay: It is money well-spent!

So here is the patch I picked in a pasture near my house that is mostly alfalfa used to make silage. The spot I picked has no alfalfa because the seeder is a pain to get in between the island of trees and the forest patch that is there. Nothing was seeded there, it is a wild pasture of mixed grasses, some clover, lots of dandelion and the odd pine or spruce tree shoot coming through.

Just before the first cut.

My rabbits have eaten from here before leaving no left-overs. I took this as approval x 4.

This machine cuts the little patch in no time.

It has extremely sharp large blades…

Here the big machine is cutting through the grass patch.

 

 

Just cut.

this is the main part of the pasture: all alfalfa

 

here the grass hay is beginning to dry. Just in the nick of time, the daily rain we’d been getting for weeks, stopped! A perfect harvest.

up close you can see the blades of grass and greens are already drying in the hot sun. The sun does beat down on the pasture.

It won’t allow me to attach more photos so I will continue below.

 

[bunnymum16]

that is so cool you get to have your own fresh hay.my bunnies snub some store bought hays.picky lil furballs i tell u.

[Deleted User]

After having sat and dried for two days in the hot sun, the hay rows were dry enough to be flipped two lanes into one.

then they get raked up once more to dry them out thoroughly

the raking up brings up the bottom layer that is still juicy but quickly the clover heads turn brown

this batch dries up fast. It can cure in a ventilated place, but to transport, I bagged the row of hay that I bought. I was supposed to get enough hay to last one year for my friend’s seven rabbits, another lady’s two, my quartet, to fill some dog beds with, and have a bunch to spare in case… but this 200′ row never ended: in fact I ran out of bags and space before the hay was all picked up. The heat got to me and my pace slowed… it is better to pay a high dollar and buy your hay as you need it…

… waiting for the truck to pick us up.

the alfalfa bales are ready to be moved to be made into silage.

the pasture is all bare for now

the round bales are really big.

Some of the round bales get turned into a concentrated feed and shipped all the way to China, this type of hay business is worth it for the hay farmers.

 

 

[Deleted User]

After this hay experience I a thinking of changing my avatar to this

But I don’t want to change my avatar… In truth, I want to forget about the red spots on my arms that I broke out in during the bagging of the hay, as well as my achy feet and my parched skin.

 

[Deleted User]

Thanks, bunnymum, but I bet you can get fresh hay nicer than mine here: in spots I had to pick out raspberry bush stems that are such a pest around here.

[Monkeybun]

dang thats alot of hay! And alot of work! Definitely not something I could do thats for sure

[Sarita]

LOL, thanks for the dedication!

That is so neat to see that – did you get to drive the tractor :~)

[mocha200]

did you get help or did you have to do that all by your self?

[LittlePuffyTail]

Oooh, haying! That’s loads of fun! (sarcasm!!!!!) I can see why hay is pricey, as I’ve participated in many hayings at my stable, work from sunrise to well past sunset but why is it that horse hay bales go for around $2.00/bale and that’s enough for the farmers to profit and a bag with like 1/18 of a bale of hay is $7.00 at the petstore? Someone definetly makes a nice profit on bagged pet store hay!!!! When I’ve helped with haying the work in the field is actually pretty fun but the hard, dreary part is stacking 2,000 hay bales in the loft.

Your lucky to own so much land to be able to make your own!!!

[Deleted User]

Oh, I wish… but that’s not my land. I just bought a row of hay there. It’s my neighbor’s land. If I owned this land I’d be rich and buying the expensive hay in little bags, LOL
I am not sure if there is much profit in the square bales for two bucks you mention, LPT… around here nobody wants to make square bales because it isn’t as lucrative.

No, I did not drive the tractor… and I had no help. I bagged hay for two days straight.

Next year, this pasture will be turned to grain.

[MirBear]

Posted By Petzy on 07/29/2010 12:58 AM

in spots I had to pick out raspberry bush stems that are such a pest around here.

 

are bunnies not allowed to eat raspberry stems and leaves??

[Sarita]

That’s too bad you didn’t get to ride the tractor. It sounds like hard work but fun. The land is truly beautiful there too.

Since they don’t grow timothy hay in Texas I won’t get to experience this unless I move up north. I hope you took a nice long nap after all that haying too.

[mrmac]

That is so neat! What a process, but well worth it! I am sure the bunnies are pleased!

[4Lily]

WOW! Hay is expensive, but harvesting it is really hard work, no wonder it’s expensive! I was thinking of growing it myself every year, but not that much! I only have one bunny & a piggy to feed! & Lily’s so picky about what hay he gets! Hope you got to recoop after! & your bunnies enjoy it! (After all that hard work, if they didn’t ohhhhh I’d be upset) LOL!

[Deleted User]

Yes, recuperating now! I had a nice bath to wash off all those hay fines… no kidding.
Mirbear: yes, raspberries and their leaves are rabbit-safe, but if you look at a raspberry bush you can see its stems are covered with fine thorns and just nasty to humans and animals alike. so no stems!

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Petzy on 07/29/2010 10:13 AM
Oh, I wish… but that’s not my land. I just bought a row of hay there. It’s my neighbor’s land. If I owned this land I’d be rich and buying the expensive hay in little bags, LOL

Or selling expensive hay in little bags!

Petzy, thanks for the pic doco. You are a true rabbit slave!  I found this really inspiring actually. I may even check out a spot at my brothers to grow my own hay. 

About that avatar…….maybe it is time for a change.  That hare thingy kinda freaks me out.

[Barbie]

That is so cool! I wish I could do that… though idk where I’d go to bag my own hay around here, lol.

[Author]

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