Tag Archives: Baling

Baled out!

We finally make hay but not in the sunshine…

What a difficult month it has been with regard to haymaking!  We started out with high hopes for August, thinking it would be filled with long sunny days.  How wrong can you be?

There wasn’t a day went by at the beginning of the month when it didn’t rain.  Sometimes not a lot, but just enough to dampen our plans.

As the month wore on, we were getting desparate and in the end settled for baling on an overcast day, so the hay wasn’t as dry as we had hoped, but not sopping wet.

We couldn’t risk storing it in the barn so stacked it outside and covered it with tarpaulins, which is not that easy in the strong winds.  Each morning it had to be uncovered so the sun and air could get to it.  Every so often we were caught out by showers, some so heavy we were soaked through trying to get the tarps back on!

Thank goodness it’s all done now and we have winter fodder for the hungry beasts.  The goats have sampled it and declared it edible so we should be OK with the sheep.

The dogs are delighted too as they have their field back and see where they’re going when they chase the swallows.  The babies have fledged the nest so there is plenty to keep them occupied.

We are also busy sorting the ewes ready to receive the tup and preparing the lambs for the mart.  This years lambs are our best ever and we are expecting top prices.  Let’s hope the buyers agree!

Baling out

Disaster strikes when cutting the grass

The last few weeks have been a tense time, constantly watching the weather and being disappointed when day after day we had rain.  And not just a shower, but gallons of the stuff pouring from the clouds.

We got off to a bad start when the wheel broke off the tractor when we were cutting the grass.  A neighbour had to winch us out of a very boggy area.

Whenever there was a hint of sunshine we were out there turning the grass and making plans to bale. Time after time we were disappointed when the black clouds moved overhead.  We thought we would never get started and were worried that the grass laying in the field would be ruined.

There have only been a couple of days in the whole of this month when it has been possible to bale any hay and we took full advantage, working late into the night and bringing in the bales by moonlight.

Today we weren’t expecting rain until 4pm so we were working furiously to get the last of it done.  Typically the heavens opened up at 2pm and it was a race against time to get them all loaded onto the trailer and into the dry barn. We can only hope that they were dry enough to prevent rot and spontaneous combustion!

Despite the bad start we have 333 bales to feed the beasts over winter and the problem facing us now is where to put them.

Cow and goat

Baling, calving and a co-operative goat

Our delight at cutting the grass in July lasted about 24 hours, after which it rained and rained and rained (and rained). We expected rain of course, but not as much as we got!

Eventually we managed to bale it, but due to a number of factors we got only 100 bales – about a third of what we were hoping for (and need). At least we managed to do it all with our own equipment this time, and mechanically speaking, everything worked a treat!

Meanwhile, Rosie, one of our Dexters, delivered a calf for us a week earlier than expected. This was her first calf, and although the birth was fine, regrettably she didn’t seem too keen on feeding it! After quite a lot of fiddling about, we admitted defeat and separated mother and calf, and started feeding him from a bottle. He is called Albert.

One of our local dairies supplied colostrum, and another was happy to give us fresh milk for a couple of weeks, but unfortunately Albert just hasn’t taken to bottle feeding at all.

Luckily, the goat kids are already eating solid food, so the most sensible solution was to separate them from the goat and let Albert suckle it instead (pictured). Unusual perhaps, but working nonetheless. Kids, calf, and goat are all doing beautifully!

A knotty problem

We buy our own baler

The remaining sheep all sheared, we turned our attention to this year’s crop of hay.

We were lucky enough to spot a square baler for sale in the local ads paper, and after an inspection and a quick trial (stationary, feeding straw through manually) all seemed in order. Having sealed the deal we arranged to have it transported to us, but had to reverse our neighbours borrowed tractor onto the low loader to tow it off. Hair raising!

The bad news was that after trying it out again, it wasn’t working properly – the knotters weren’t knotting! After taking a closer look we thought we had identified the cause, and to confirm it one of our neighbours came for a peek. It turns out that they used to own one of the same model (over 30 years ago!), and were familiar with it.

Suitably instructed, we set about the repairs, and within a day our neighbour returned with his tractor for a trial run. Success! Straw in one end, bales out the other.

Feeling confident, we watched the weather closely and arranged to have the grass cut at what later turned out to be the perfect time. What followed was 4 days of scorching weather, and on the fifth day, we produced 250 bales with our baler (and borrowed tractor!).

Blitz (pictured) declared the bales suitable, and went off for a snooze…

Time for baling!

We get to grips with baling thanks to a little help from our neighbours

We’ve been quite busy outside. We were lucky enough to get a week without too much rain and got our hay baled a couple of weeks ago. Wow, was that hard work?

One neighbour baled, another watched, another lent us his tractor and cart. Quite a circus! After about 9 hours, a gallon of diesel, and with arms dragging along the ground, we finally deposited the 428th bale in the barn. Ouch, ouch, and thrice ouch!

Since then another paddock has been fenced, and gates are next on the agenda so that the expected inhabitants (piglets from our Gloucester Old Spot) can move in.