[bdcasto]

horsedrawnpromotions.com uses rubber bits or latex covered bits exclusively in their busy business of training harness horses of all kinds.  Visit their youtube channel (BarryHook2 I think) and search for rubber bits.  I’ve used a bit similiar to what you describe on a limited basis with good results.

BD Casto

New Carlisle, OH

 

[bdcasto]

I found this article to be of great help in the past. I’ve also had good pasture response from rotating birds like this.

http://www.plamondon.com/chicken-coops.html

BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

@Carl Russell 37686 wrote:

However, the argument I got was that we just need to stop growing plants to feed to animals, and start growing plants to feed to humans……. So what changes in that equation to make modern Ag any more sustainable? Not much to my eye….

I’ve encountered this same vegan argument and have wondered how do you keep raising crops for people without fertilizing the ground from which that crop came? Many of the people who make this vegan argument are also opposed to petroleum based fertilizers so what are the recommendations for returning to the soil the nutrients lost with every crop harvested?

BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

We must have found the same plans because I made one almost identical to yours and used it for 2 or 3 years before finding a Wisconsin powered New Holland baler. The hand baler is common practice in the south for making pine straw bales where labor is abundant and cheap. Not sure what I’ll do with mine now but you’re right, it is a workout. Maybe I could sell memberships to those with New Years resolutions in a month of so.

BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

@Jen Judkins 5821 wrote:

If you want to read a good book about simulating a natural environment for horses (and it is cheap to do) read Jaime Jackson’s book ‘Paddock Paradise’. Once you set it up, there is very little maintainence and the horses just do their own thing.

I know this is an old thread but we have very good experience with the “paddock paradise” idea as well. It basically turns out to be a much more usefull sacrifice area than the typical small paddock of mud. Our track does get muddy at times and other times it’s rock hard. Some of horses are able to extend the time between hoof trimmings because of this track. We ride in the middle of the track which the horses also graze. Just a thought that’s a little outside the box that I’m glad I came across in the book Jen mentioned. Heres a google maps link to our track:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=39.930675,-84.049018&spn=0.001914,0.002403&t=h&z=19&vpsrc=6

BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

We get good results with electrified rope. Our horses respect it and this type of fence is easy to construct. Corners can be single posts rather than braced even with 5 strands (wood post) or 2 strands for T-post corners. Line posts can be 20-30 feet apart. Hand tension with spings to hold tension at end posts. Easy to repair (just tie a knot) and most blow downs onto fence do not break the rope.

BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

Farming can be flexible or oppressive especially with off farm full time work. I will admit Marshall, I have considered just mowing the whole place more than once but glad I didn’t give in. Basically we keep a small farm for lots of reasons but one priority is to teach the kids to work. Don’t know how old your kids are but children can easily take care of poultry once housing is built. Same thing for larger animals if you have good fence. I prefer to keep animals because when things get oppressive, we just butcher our stock and then take a break while the freezer is full. Children can be trained pretty early to be safe with knives and butcher the poultry and even do tractor work. I have found that giving the kids Sundays off gives me a chance to do the chores so I can “check up” on their work on a regular basis. I have no idea if any of my kids will farm once they leave our roof but at least they will have an idea of how to work and be able to do a few things for themselves.
BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

I like Tim’s idea of a side by side comparison. As far as getting a more uniform grazing, the answer often is the idea of “mob grazing”. This refers to grazing high poundage of animals/acre for short periods of time. This increases competition for availabe forage resulting in a more uniform consumption of forage as well as even distribution of urine/feces for fertilizer. I see better results with regrowth if we graze a small area with several animals for 1 day versus larger area for several days. It’s better for the plants to be bitten once or twice in 24 hours and then rest rather than bitten several times to a shorter height over several days before rested. Usually the limiting factor for us is moving water. Moving electric fence is simple but getting water to each small paddock requires a plan. We’ve mob grazed with ruminants as well as poultry and even horses. It does work but requires more than just opening a gate each day.
BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

This type of wheel rake is all I’ve ever used (mine in a 3 point attachment). Will not work as tedder but angle is usually adjustable so can control how heavy a windrow you make and can act as a windrow inverter for extra drying if necessary. Main disadvantage to me is that the rake only does straight or mild curves. Any severe turn results in a mess so your raking pattern is different than with other styles. You can start in the middle of the field and work your way out in straight line windrows or start from one side and do down and back double windrows. Resist the temptation to “clean up” perimeter with the rake as raking across finished windrows tends to pile the hay up in big balls.

BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

@ethalernull 35572 wrote:

Anyone every collected hay from brush hog mowing? got a small budget, now mower, and little time here but plenty of people brush hogging fields around me, dries up decent on a hot day…?

Evan

I did it for several years using a 6 foot brush hog. Nice green hay that sustained several horses. Main drawback to me is the bales tend to be more fragile and volume of hay is less. I still do it for some hay we take off of wetlands if weather is not cooperating for drying or growth too thick for my old sickle bar mower. I’ve baled it the day after brush hogging several times. It dries quick. Some folks have even removed the discharge side wall of their brush hog to reduce chopping effect but I never thought it to be necessary.
BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

@JaredWoodcock 35521 wrote:

So I have been cutting hay with my scythe because I dont have a mower. I rake with an old wooden hay rake and then load the wagon with a pitch fork, its not bad but I have a haflinger that Im retraining and Im trying to think of some tools I could make to put him to work with the hay. I have spent all of my budget so I was wondering what people used to use before side delivery rakes and such. was there any sort of walk behind hay rake that could be made. Im a pretty handy guy and a capable welder.

any ideas?

thanks

jared

Hi Jared,
I used to do hay similiar to what you’re describing. One year I made easy to build racks to store hay in field to limit transporting the loose hay very far. Looks neat but racking the hay was time consuming. I then switched to a wooden hay baler I built using a design I found that long leaf pine harvesters use for pine straw baling. Easy to build and use. It makes square bales that are only about 20 pounds. Once again, I would take the baler to the hay by trailer and load the trailer as I baled so I didn’t have to keep moving loose hay. I’m all for getting the hay indoors if possible for best quality. I now use a gasoline powered baler (NH 66). As far as raking, some people seem to be able to scythe in a way that leaves the cut vegetation in a windrow at the end of each stroke. Let dry in windrow and go straight to baling, pitching, racking or whatever and skip alot of the raking. I was able to achieve this with winter wheat but never scythed mixed species type hay very much. Just some thoughts. Loose hay is much harder work than baling if you don’t have the equipment to pick it up and get in inside.

BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

@kbauc657 34619 wrote:

Hello,
I am searching for places around Allentown pa to learn how to drive horses. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Possibly contact info for Steve burkholder?
Thanks for any info you can provide
K-

There is no substitute for a mentor (which I don’t have), but if you just need inspiration and see what is possible in carriage driving, check out Barry Hook’s website and youtube channel. His web is http://www.horsedrawnpromotions.com. Very talented family of trainers (Barry, his wife Melani and Barry’s son Fletcher) in the UK.

BD Casto
New Carlisle, Ohio

[bdcasto]

Amen to golden comets as a breed. Ground predetors are history with Premier electric netting, a good fence charger and locking birds up at night. Expensive at first but the protection pays back over and over and leaves only flying predators to worry about. We free range birds inside the netting and move when turf gets beat up. Moving netting is not the most enjoyable job on the farm but 20 minutes is pretty good insurance to keep birds where you want them and 4 legged predators out.

BD Casto
New Carlisle, OH

[bdcasto]

@grey 34592 wrote:

bdcasto: What size are the openings in your welded wire panels? Do you have any condensation problems on your bubble foil insulation? We used the same product under the metal roof of our chicken coop and haven’t had any condensation, but the coop is very well-ventilated and we did leave an air gap of 1″ between the roofing tin and the bubble foil, by using purlins between the two.

Sickle Hocks and Grey are both correct – this camper is modeled after a sheep wagon design except for the short door (I wanted a window above) and no stove. The cattle panels I mentioned are indeed the welded wire type measuring 52 inches tall and 16 feet long with field fence size openings of about 6-8 inches). As far as condensation, that is the purpose of the alluminized bubble wrap insulation. My first chicken coop was of this design but with sheet metal roofing attached to purlins on the panels. No bubble wrap and a small footprint with 30 hens results in pretty good condensation if not ventilated. The bubble wrap is waterproof and cancels any condensation effect. If using with turkeys, don’t take it all the way down the sides because they will eat the alluminum foil. Robert Plamondon has a good tutorial on this type of building construction on his website http://www.plamondon.com/hoop-coop.html Here’s another version I built for meat birds that has a floor http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?3036-Hoop-style-Mulit-purpose-Housing-for-Pigs-etc.&highlight=hoop+house

[bdcasto]

@dlskidmore 34589 wrote:

How did you bend the panels?

Basically just fence staple one 4 foot end to the frame and then push over and staple opposite 4 foot end to other side of frame. One 16 foot long panel makes a 5 1/2 to 6 foot high arch depending on how wide your frame is. Then for a longer (deeper) hoop, just staple another panel next to the first and wire the long (16 foot sides) together. I found on this camper project that leaving the hoop alone after stapled for a couple weeks resulted in a better/symmetrical shape. On previous chicken/calf houses, I had a hard time getting a symmetrical hoop shape because I was building all in one day. Start with relatively straight panels, staple to frame and then leave alone so the soft steel can take on the shape – much easier than trying to force it all in one day of construction. Hope that’s not confusing.

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