Breezy acres

Hay’s not just for horses!

By CHELSEA GRASSE
Posted 11/10/21

November greetings, friends!

As the chillier weather keeps heading our way, the previously luscious green fields that the animals spent their summer days grazing on are now turning brown and …

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Breezy acres

Hay’s not just for horses!

Posted

November greetings, friends!

As the chillier weather keeps heading our way, the previously luscious green fields that the animals spent their summer days grazing on are now turning brown and weedy.

Now is the time for the farm to really stock up on hay bales for the winter months to come. Hay is crucial for the donkey and goats because it provides them with the nutrition they typically get from grazing in the fields.

As the seasons progress from late summer to winter, the animals will start gradually eating more hay every week, and from the end of winter to summer, their consumption of hay is cut back.

During winter, when there is nothing left to eat outside, since there’s vast amounts of snow on the ground, the animals will go through one full square bale of hay each day. The hay is given to the goats and donkey twice a day, broken up into shanks, or sections, to be shared in different hay racks in the animal’s pen.

To ensure that there is enough available, hay is bought in bulk and picked up from a local farmer before the first snow of the season. The hay is then brought back to Breezy Acres and stacked in a large barn next to the animals for easy access. Not only is it used to feed Daisy and the goats, but it is also used as bedding in all the animals’ shelters and given to the guinea pig as a snack.

The chickens enjoy sifting through and pecking at excess hay that falls from the hay rack too. The hay can be used as mulch on garden beds and keep the weeds away, and even as a fall decoration, making the hay more versatile.

hay, animals, Breezy Acres, Chelsea Grasse

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