[Rosemary]

After I've posted this, I'm going out to clear up the wasted hay from around the sheep hay rack.

We've got two covered hay racks with wheels. They are great EXCEPT the sheep waste huge amounts of hay. I was appalled yesterday when I started to clear up the area.

The holes in the sides are quite big and I wondered if putting more weld mesh inside to reduce the size of the holes would help, without being detrimental to the sheep - bit like putting the ponies' hay in double haynets.

Views please.

Also, can I compost the hay? There's some of it quite covered with dung and urine but some is quite dry.

[robert waddell]

hay takes longer to rot down than straw   and it is an absolute bugger to grape out of pens to long and strong of the stem      sheep do waste a lot of feed even hard feed they drop it when munching
a steel stockholders will supply weldmesh you can get it in different size squares  that only leaves you with the problem of fitting as Dan has not mastered welding yet

[lill]

recycle it Rosemary and give some to your piggys  how are they getting on, need to give us updates.

[Dan]

a steel stockholders will supply weldmesh you can get it in different size squares  that only leaves you with the problem of fitting as Dan has not mastered welding yet

We've got plenty weldmesh, and why go to all the bother of welding, that's what baler twine and cable ties were invented for. 

[Bramblecot]

Good old baler twine - back to that again 

[robert waddell]

aye but just think of the brownie points you would get    welding is a dawdle compared to working a computer

[VSS]

We have got weldmesh lining the hay racks in the lambing shed. Use cable ties - so much neater and much more professional than string.

[Rosemary]

We have got weldmesh lining the hay racks in the lambing shed. Use cable ties - so much neater and much more professional than string.

 

[Dan]

welding is a dawdle compared to working a computer

One day we'll do an exchange Robert; you can teach me to weld and I'll teach you to use a computer. 

[Sylvia]

Sheep are fussy and pick out the choicest bits of hay, discarding the rest. My chucked out hay goes in the hen houses, at £5-50p a bale I'm not going to waste it!

[colliewoman]

The only way I have minimised hay loss is to cram a whole bale at once into the feeders and extract the baler twine from around it without 'fluffing' the hay up.
It takes them longer to eat it as they can only pull a few strands at a time.
My feeder for the sheep is an upcycled modified babies cot, and I put a ledge to catch any spillage and bung it back in.
My hay is £2 a bale am I'm still too tight to waste it