[Jacob-list] Hay from Heaven

[Thomas Simmons]

Well, welcome back from hiding, Gary!

I suppose down in where the seasons are long wet and hot, yuo probably have
more of a parasite issue than I do in New Hampshire.....but, having tried
every possible permutation of haying known to mankind (and some unknown), I
have learned two important rules in my flock:

First, any hay placed habitually at or above shoulder level will result in
several humdred thousand pieces of chaff and seed dep down in the fleece of
the sheep.  If you plan on using your fleeces for sale to handspinners or
processing into roving, this may slow down the process just a tad :-)

Second, any hay placed lower than shoulder level which is not
well-constrained will end up at least 50% wasted, trampled on, defecated on,
etc.  I have several sheep whose favorite pasttime is to "paw" at the hay
bale in order to get at the one stalk of hay deepest in the middle of the
bale.  They kick the rest all over the place and then wonder where all their
hay went....

So, for me at least, the key to haying is to keep it low (though "on the
ground" is probably not the best, expecially in hot climates), but not
"loose" either.

Hope that helps.

thom