# hay



## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

not sure where this would go, but I was curious if anyone out there is making their own hay. I have a buunch of rabbits now, and hay where I am is a premium... solately I have just been finding good long grasses and wacking them down... I can be seen driving through twn with a ton of grass on my roof... 
I then place it on a 2x4 welded wire rack and let it dry.. I am hoping to get enough saved up to make it through winter...
does anyone else do this


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

OK, you have officially lost it. 

What does a bale of alfalfa cost you? Or a bail of mixed grasses? I would think in the long run it would be less expensive to purchase a bail that would last for far longer than the long grasses that you are trying to collect.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

if you count the fuel I have to spend to go out and get it im looking at over 25 a bail... likely wont be able to save any through winter.. but at least im not having to get any right now during the summer... haha... 
25 bucks I save on hay for the rabbits can cover a section of roofing for the coops... penny saved is a penny earned right


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Except for your time and gas involved in all of that finding tall grass to cut down. Then you have to rely on no one cutting grass in the area that is close by. And you have to be able to find at least 50 pounds when dried to last you through the winter. From a quick search it looks like you'd have to collect about 60 pounds of grass to yield 50 pounds of dried grass. 

I also saw something that I hadn't known. Its not about how tall the grass is before cutting, its about what stage it's at for water content, something like 16%. How that affects the dried grass I'm not sure about but I bet it has something to do with it getting sour.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

there is a lot of tall grass around... no one really does much with it and this years been really wet and the grass has grown a lot. The first cutting was 2 weeks ago and I dried out about 20 lbs... the rabbits eat about half that a week.. I dont know if I would be able to make it through winter.. but I do know I can at least take advantage of it while its here... 
I rabbit mentor I have siggested that if the rabbits eagerly eat it.. then it is of good quality, as the rabbits will generally not be eager for something they dislike in taste or texture.. my bunnies love the stuff.. both fresh and dried.. I have been placing it side by side the purchased archard grass and they go for the stuff I cut everytime... 
plus I like swinging a scythe... people think im crazy and I enjoy that fact... keeps them at a safe distance


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

powderhogg01 said:


> plus I like swinging a scythe... people think im crazy and I enjoy that fact... keeps them at a safe distance


Careful, we might end up reading about you in the news.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

im sure you will... but in a good way not a bad. one farm at a time... one person one idea.. it all adds up to making this world or at least this country we live in a better place


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## myhppyndng5221 (Apr 4, 2015)

At Tsc (in pa) a compressed bale of alfalfa/Timothy grass/hay is about $18


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

myhppyndng5221 said:


> At Tsc (in pa) a compressed bale of alfalfa/Timothy grass/hay is about $18


That's what I get for the my chickens. I don't like the solid green bags they use now because I can't see what it looks like.


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## myhppyndng5221 (Apr 4, 2015)

Ours get the alfalfa oat cubes and I soak just enough in a little bit of water that they freshen and fluff right up in no time. The chickens go nuts for them.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I've never been able to get mine to try the cubes. They all look at me like they think I'm nuts and won't touch them.


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## myhppyndng5221 (Apr 4, 2015)

That's why I soak them so they fluff up, I actually tried putting it in the FF first and it literally blew up out of the bucket on me so I just do a little bit in a bucket of what and they love it


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Dry or wet, mine won't touch it. I had heard of others using it. Mine just never would even get near it. The hay bails though are like candy to them.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

the nearest ranch store to me is murdochs and they run 18 for the bail.. that is a solid 50+ miles away and currently I drive a gas hog... unless I am going for something else... there is little reason to get the hay there. Especially since I can go out and cut grass and make my own.. 
likely not a real feasible to save it for winter, but why not make it here. by feeding a majority of the grass I harvest with a smaller amount of alfalfa I can make one bail last all summer... even with the many rabbits I have.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I thought the hay was for Winter feeding. What did I miss?


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

that was my firs thought... but you make a good point that I would have to collect and store a lot of hay... and likely with the amount they go through and how it grows I will not be able too store enough to last all winter. I am still going to give it a go... who knows perhaps it works out and I manage to store enough to get me most the way through at least


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Its been a long time since I've had a rabbit. How much do you think what you have now will go through in a month? Do they get other rabbit feeds?


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

my adults go through about a lbs a day, the younger ones go through maybe 2 lbs right now.. I expect that to rise.. though as the count gets bigger and the bunnies get larger... they will be moving down to their yard enclosure to grow out... this is simply an experiment to see how it works out.. they should not be able to tunnel out, being that I buried the cage wire a foot down or onto bedrock.. but if any do escape im hoping to spot them in the yard before they are gone completely.. and if I loose a few.. well thats alright too.. not many want to buy rabbit here... I doubt I will eat them so often that I need to worry about loosing a few..


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

So, depending on the numbers you have it's not that far fetched to think of them going through a bale in a couple of months. Dang, that's a lot of hay. 

How many have you got hanging out now?


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

4 adults, 5 near fryer, 20 more in a nest and 2 of the 3 females are pregnant... My idea was that I expect that I will loose a few here and there... its bound to happen. as long as I do not loose my adults I am a happy guy. By doing this now and learning what I can I know that when the time comes I will have everything I need for successful rabbit farming. 
as rabbits get out, or predators get in I will know what needs to be addressed.I already am working out kinks, turns out that the fryers can just squeeze through the wire I used. I shut them in their hutch for the night.. will address the issues in the morning when I can watch them a bit more.. I will likely wrap the lower portion of the hoop in chicken wire and then line the outside with larger rocks


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Son of gun, that's a bunch of bunnies.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

Well I figured I would loose a few as the kinks for my on ground colony pen get worked out... I wanted to insure I never ran out of bunnies... I will say a few have escaped already.. not sure where this one smaller one is getting out.. I have boarder up the entire inside ground level perimeter... they should not be able to get out.. If they are all in the pen when I return from work I know I have finally gotten close..
another week and they will not be able to fit through the slots no matter what, just shows that perhaps I need to make an in between stage cage for them when they are too big to be with momma but too little to be on the yard..


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Can you just use smaller opening wire? Or are you seeing it might be a good idea to have the extra pen for the different age stages.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I could do smaller wire opening along the bottom, which is likely what I will do.. right now I am just trying to do it as cheap as possible and I happened to have a bunch of 2x4 fencing.. with some boards running along the outside I was able to keep all of the rabbits in the tunnel, it was a 11 hour work day today, figured a few might get out but they did not.. and as a bonus my rooster chased a random bunny right to me.. it literally went right into my net.. it was pretty sweet. I think I lost this bunny a few weeks ago... as thats the only time I noticed a missing bunny.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

LOL Roosters have more than one benefit. 

At least it was still on the property. Bet its happy to be back where the food comes on a regular basis instead of having to hunt for it.


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