Thursday, August 27, 2015

Insurance

I bought hay a few weeks ago in the form of these giant square bales.  They should be an equivalent amount of hay to what I bought last year based on weight.  However, all the weights involved were estimates and there seemed to still be an awful lot of empty space in the hay sheds....

I could easily have fit three more big bales in here.  

I wasn't really concerned because the bales are highly compressed and I was going to get several more of the big bales of straw to fill in these gaps.  The farmer had also promised to hold a few more bales for me just in case.  Then....I got a phone call last week from his daughter.  The farmer has been badly injured by one of his cows when she got pissed off, charged him and did her best to kill him.  He will (hopefully!!!) be OK eventually, but he has several broken ribs and vertebra.  I very much hope that he heals up quickly and without any complications, and not just because I want more hay.  He's a really nice guy and I hope he will be alright.  He sure won't be delivering any more hay though.

This all left me a bit uneasy.  I thought I had enough hay, but then again, if we have yet another winter-from-hell (please God, no!), well, I wasn't sure and that is not a good feeling.  It is also going to be a terrible year for finding hay in this region because we had so much rain right up until the third week of July.  I am already seeing many signs of panic, inflated prices and growers hoarding hay in the hopes of even higher prices come winter.  Farm Buddy had also intended to buy some of those Big Bales and that, obviously, wasn't going to happen.

So, when a friend sent Riding Buddy the name of a guy they had just bought hay from and we found out that the guy still had some left at a good price that included delivery, we both jumped on the opportunity before it was gone and bought a hundred bales each.  That was yesterday and today and he has already sold out.

They are nice, big, 60lb bales of very nice looking hay.

My sheds are filled to the brim now and I am breathing a bit easier.  There is nothing worse than running short of feed in the middle of winter and you can never have too much hay.  Or firewood.

The cats are very happy too as they now have numerous little hay dens to hole up in.  Those Big Bales aren't nearly as comfy.  Oliver would tell you all about except that that would require pulling his head out of the feed trough.

I hope everyone has their feed lined up for the year.  With all these horrific fires, drought, excess rain.....it could be a very tough year to get feed no matter where you are.  There are already portents of doom on the horizon, it's time to stock up.

9 comments:

  1. I never realized how difficult it is where you live to get hay in winter... Of course, I like to stock up on hay as well (as a good donkey mommy should do), but whenever we fall out of hay, we never have any problems in buying new stocks, even in the middle of winter... I realize now me and my donkeys are lucky girls to live here in in Belgium...

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  2. I completely missed the 'naming' post! Love the name Oliver. Your family is now at seven. Nice size!

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  3. I know exactly what you mean. I'm only happy when I know that I have too much hay. My husbands likes to try to figure it out to the flake but I pull rank on that one. After a year where we paid double to get hay in the winter he understands that it's worth it in the end.

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  4. I'm so glad you went with your gut regarding hay. You're right about inflated prices and no sense spending Christmas money on hay.
    Your poor, poor hay man! I don't think cattle are an animal I could ever own. My farrier owns cattle and was out of work for 6 months from a broken hand, thanks to a cow that was uncooperative.

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  5. Whew! You are right, livestock feed and firewood - definitely people are thinking about that big time here too! I see your lovely trees are changing now too - I just noticed the same for ours. Fall is coming fast!

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  6. It was worth it just to make Kipper and Oliver happy.

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  7. So glad you found more hay. One always likes to be prepared.

    That hay will make definitely cozy areas for the cats to snuggle in.

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  8. I have nothing in the barn yet and yes, I am marginally worried. My hay is always a late cut - orchard grass and the hay guy has never let me down before, but still...much better feeling to have it in the barn!

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  9. No kidding, there is an abundance of hay this year for us which is very odd, but...all my farmer neighbors are willing to deliver the hay from their fields as they make them. This is nice and I hope we get all we need for the winter.
    I'd like to sell off some stock also as I am still doing most of the chores by myself.

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