Free Bedding Hay

There's a farmer over in Hogeye (can't get a more Arkansasan town name than that!) who's got an awesome old oak board barn that's got a stash of very old hay in it. The hay is over 6 years old, and it's a testament to the quality of both the hay and the barn that it is such good condition. The bales are square bales, and are stacked in the hay loft. There's no mold on any of them.

The hay isn't worth a darn for feed, and it' just been occupying space. So in a win win type situation, I go and pick up a dozen or so bales every so often - getting free beding and ground cover for covering/reseeding pasture bare spots while the farmer gets his barn cleaned out.

Now, the hay is going towards bedding for the birds in the greenhouse. The chickens will sniff..err scratch out every bit of grass or weed seed in the hay and the hay will give the carbonaceous material needed for composting the chicken poop.

Here you can see little Simmey in the greenhouse with his stuffed bear (sorry about the pic quality) playing with the chickens and turkeys. The squares are chunks of hay bales, the hens will break them apart for me on thier own. Saves labor and keeps them busy - idle beaks are the devil's tools in a plastic covered green house!