Slow Feeders Perfected

I have been meaning to post an update about my slow feeders for a while, but with one thing and another (Ramsey!!), I hadn't gotten to it.  With drought and horrifically high temperatures affecting much of the country (including here), hay is going to be in short supply this year.  I know we are all getting worried about this and our drought conditions, while bad, are not as severe as many other areas.   I thought it would be a good time to offer this for anyone thinking about how to get the most out of every bale of hay.  Click on the link above to check out my original post about slow feeders then come back here for the perfected and horse tested version....

The biggest trouble I had with this project was finding the right grate material.  I finally settled on the heavy steel "hog panel" with 4x4 inch squares available at Tractor Supply (I borrowed a couple of these grates from my feeders to cover my window opening when Ramsey was born)....

This has proven to be the perfect feeder material, the only trouble with it, is that the panels are only sold in large sheets that have to be cut down to size.  Since I wanted to make several feeders, it wasn't really a problem, but it could be if you only want one or two feeders.  I did find a place that would sell just the feeder grate, but the cost for one feeder was more than the entire hog panel.  If anybody knows of another source for this type of grate, I'd be glad to hear about it. 

Once I found the grate I wanted, I discovered that the grate dimensions were a bit different from my box dimensions.  I found a way to make them work with my original feeders, but I changed the dimensions and design of the boxes that I have built since then so that the grates fit perfectly.... 

One hog panel can be cut down to make eight 2x4' grates.  Larger or smaller feeders could be made depending on your needs.  Just cut the grate to whatever size you want and build the box around it.  I made the ends of the boxes solid so the grate can't slither out of the box and added a hinged lid so that the horses can't pull the grate out....

  

To fill the box, just open the lid, lift out the grate, fill the box with hay, put the grate on top of the hay and close the lid.

The boxes are made to hold an average sized square bale and works well for 1-2 animals depending on whether or not the horses will share.  I made several of these for my riding buddy and her 4 horses (along with Gabe, who stayed with her for a while).  They all tested them out thoroughly and the boxes worked beautifully.  They dramatically slowed down the rate of consumption which meant that the horses never had to go for long hours with nothing to eat.  There was absolutely no hay wasted and after a short introduction period, the horses actually seemed to prefer the boxes over eating loose hay off the ground.  I have spent quite a bit of time watching the horses eating out of these and it seems to mimic real grazing, which they like.  

If anybody would like to try building one of these and you need better pictures or exact dimensions, let me know.  I'll try to help.  I am also thinking about offering some of these for sale locally.  I don't think I can ship them so you would have to come here to get them.  Picking them up comes with the added bonus of getting to meet Ramsey and Emma.  I am asking $175 each.  If anyone is interested, let me know. 

Sunday Still - Fade to Black

The folks who have been running the Sunday Stills challenge are stepping aside.  Fortunately, it looks like someone else is going to take up the torch and continue on.  I am glad.  I appreciate the Sunday Stills challenges because it gives me something to work toward in improving my very minimal photography skills.

I miss many of the challenges and I am often late with others, but that is part of why it works for me.  It provides some much needed guidance and a deadline, but the world isn't going to stop running if I miss some of them.  I have more than enough critical responsibilities in my life, if taking pictures became one of them, all of the joy would get sucked out of it.  I don't know, but maybe that is why Ed and Linda are stepping aside.   Regardless, thank you for starting Sunday Stills and thank you for passing it on and allowing it to continue.

This last challenge was fade to black, include the color black into either the subject or the background.  Here are my fade to black contributions, some are new some are older, but all were taken with Sunday Stills in mind.   

Thank you Ed and Linda

Happy Birthday Emma!

It is Emma's birthday today, she is two years old.  Its been quite an amazing journey since I brought this little, yearling donkey home last September...

Hard to believe where we have ended up...

I've got a couple of carrots and an hour for scratching and currying set aside for my favorite donkey girl so I am headed for the barn.

Happy Birthday Emma!

Ambassador Ramsey

We've been getting a lot of company lately, or at least a certain small donkey has.  I think there have been more visitors to my little farm in the last couple of weeks then I have had in the last ten years.  Ramsey charms them all.  This young lady was quite thrilled with him and wanted to take him home. 

The combination of a squealy, giggly, fast-moving, five year old girl and a two week old donkey baby proved to be too much for my nerves so after she had hugged Ramsey, pulled his ears, patted his nose and was looking like she wanted to start a game of tag, I wimped out and put the donkeys in the barn. 

A few days later, an older friend brought her 94 year old aunt over for a visit and Ramsey put on quite a show.  Unfortunately, it was one of the few times I didn't have my camera in my pocket.  This older lady had grown up on a farm and worked with nearly every kind of livestock, but she had never seen a donkey.  She has been waiting anxiously for months for Ramsey to arrive so she could finally get to meet a baby donkey.

The guy who delivered my roofing couldn't pass up a chance to meet Ramsey either.  He was so smitten with the donkeys, he asked if he could bring his wife over later to see them.  As he pulled out of the driveway he told me that meeting Ramsey and Emma was the best tip he'd ever had. 

Ramsey is a consummate ambassador.

Always willing to greet friends and neighbors.

These folks came all the way from Germany.  Actually, they are here visiting family who happen to be friends of mine, but Ramsey and Emma were definitely a highlight of the trip.

After all, who could possibly resist this....

 

Ambassador Ramsey, hard at work on behalf of donkeys everywhere...

Always Listen to Your Mother

"WHEEEEEE.....ATTACK MOM!!!"

"HA! i GOT YOU NOW"....

"UH OH!  HOLD STILL MOM...i THINK i'M LOSING MY BALANCE....WHOOPS..."

(Insert missed photos of Ramsey tumbling head-over-heals down Emma's side here...)

"GOSH, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN???" 

"REALLY MOM, i MEANT TO DO THAT.  HONEST...IT WAS FUN....i think"....

"Why don't you just stay there for a while, then we can both have a nap." 

"Ya' KNOW MOM, MAYBE THAT'S NOT A BAD IDEA."

Maybe I should have named him Oliver...

"Please, Mom, I want some more."

Looking Good Feeling Good

Much of this year has been rather rough for Emma.  She was so heavily pregnant that she often seemed to have trouble waddling around let alone playing.  Forget about dancing.  Before Ramsey's birth, Emma was spending 8-10 hours a day laying down, sleeping hard.  She was very bothered by the heat.

When Ramsey was born,  Emma did a wonderful job and she is being a fantastic mother, but the birth was hard on her and took a lot out of her.  However, it's been three weeks now since our little monster showed up and Emma is not just looking good, she is starting to feel good.  She is no longer troubled by the heat and has taken to sunbathing while the rest of us hide in the shade and whine about the incessant heat.  She is very, very happy to not be pregnant any more.

I am very happy with how Emma looks right now, I think she is in ideal condition at the moment and I am working hard to keep her that way.... 

(Feeding an underage, pregnant donkey has been an interesting challenge.  I am not sure if anybody is interested in the details, but let me know if you are.  I would be happy to share some of what I have learned.)

Most importantly, Emma feels good.  She is feeling so good that she has started to join Ramsey on some of his gallops....

These were taken on the day my pond was re-dug.  Every day since then, Emma has joined Ramsey in at least one of his many-times-a-day gallops.  This evening, I was on the tractor mowing the field (so Ramsey will have more room to play) and I had to stop and watch them for a while.  Ramsey runs, as fast as he can go, in big sweeping circles.  He weaves in and around any obstacle he can find, making patterns and loops.  Emma stays 20 feet behind him and follows his every move, occasionally adding a twisting kick or a tossed head, but faithfully following his every weave and dodge.  They reminded me of the barn swallows who were also swooping and diving around the tractor, chasing the bugs stirred up by the mower and flying for the joy of it. 

Ramsey is always great fun to watch while he plays and even more fun to play with, but it was such a joy to see Emma finally running, playing and feeling good once again.  My Dancing Donkey is getting ready to start dancing again.