Haying Question

[cseger1]

We just agreed to board three longhorns on a temporary basis. We get rent - owners take care of them. Pretty good deal.

We are supposed to be having our hay cut soon - and a neighbor said we wouldn't be able to do it with them on the land...

Anybody know why or maybe know otherwise? The owners said just mow around them - they'll move. Now we just don't know.

There is a barn area they could get into from their pasture to get out of the way. ...not sure if this makes a difference. Or is the problem haying land that has fresh manure?

Any advice appreciated.

[agmantoo]

The owner is correct, just mow around them! Neighbors here do that all the time.

[ozark_jewels]

I would put them up in the barnlot between the cutting and the baling, while the hay is drying. I wouldn't want them crapping in the cut hay.

[Karin L]

I agree with ozark jewels. It'll be safer for both the animals and the person running the machinery. They'll not only take a dump ON the hay but they'll spread it around, eat it, dump on it, sleep on it, pee on it, and spread it around some more, so much so that there might not be much to bale up afterwards.

[JeffNY]

First off, they will dump on it eh? Many funny expressions in the english language "yeah my heifer just took a BIG DUMP". ..


Either way, it would be a no no to let any animals near any hay, dont ruin good hay because of a big dump on the hay. They can spread worms, they can get sick, it simply isn't good practice. So build a small area, keep them off the field, after its baled, let them back out into it. They will only be off it 3 days, since it takes 3 days to dry hay for square baleing, or any type of hay (also depends on the weather). The field will look kind of funny, with all these cow shaped patches. I can see it now, someone reports a crop circle over yonder, and little did they know, it was because someone was trying to avoid some cows!


Jeff

[Jennifer L.]

If you are doing pretty small scale haying, I wouldn't worry about it. The cows will move. They CAN, if they feel like it, scatter the hay around. My herd got out onto a cut field one time and it looked like whirlwind had hit spots.

I wouldn't worry about the manure factor. I don't think there will be that much of it and it shouldn't be much of a problem, anyway.

Jennifer

Edited to add, there's a lot of deer crapping inthe fields around here, and no one worries about that.

[haypoint]

Kind of hard to mow around the poop piles. Even harder to rake around the poop. A gob of poop in the bale will ruin a lot of hay. In the bale, it not only damages the hay around it, it could heat up, just like damp hay does, and cause a barn fire.
Perhaps you could get the cows to poop tiny balls of dung, like deer, and the mower and rake wouldn't pick it up.
If you could fence the cows out of a section of the pasture, scatter the piles, let it dry, then mow your hay, move the cows to the field after you are done baling, then do the same to the other section, you could do it.
Sometimes what works in one area might not be good advice in your area, giving your location is always important. Some areas don't get enough growth during the hot parts of the summer and those cows will need all that pasture and taking the hay off might leave them short on pasture grass. You didn't mention how many acres or expected hay yeild. Rotational grazing would be a way to get some hay off and allow them to graze, too.
You can't mow, rake and bale hay in a pasture because you'll end up with manure in the hay.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by Jennifer L.

Edited to add, there's a lot of deer crapping inthe fields around here, and no one worries about that.

Deer have nice little berries that fall through and to the ground.....cows?? Well....lets just say, it isn't *nearly* as neat or as clean!

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

Little berries are some of the other nice things about sheep and goats.

[BlueHeronFarm]

This is CSeger's wife--

Lots of good advice - I guess we've got to make some decisions about what to do with these guys.

The pasture they are in is way weedy and overgrown - which is fine, really, as they hay is for our goats, who think weeds are great.

It is a small-ish pasture, though - so it may just be less hassle to write off the hay from that part. We don't have cow experience, and moving the bull does sound a little scary to me.

The owners are giving us more money per month than we spend on hay for our goats, so I am actually leaning toward just mowing and leaving it-- but my husband thinks we should just pen them in the barn stall. ...I worry it is too small.

Here's a dumb question -- how hard/unrealistic would it be to just go scoop up 3 days worth of cow patties while it was drying? (Go ahead an laugh - per other posts, the poo we normally deal with here is nice little berries that scoop up and go into the compost pile)

[BlueHeronFarm]

...and I should just add that if it doesn't stop raining (8-10 inches in the past three days and counting) we may never get hay cut anyway!

[Karin L]

Originally Posted by BlueHeronFarm

Here's a dumb question -- how hard/unrealistic would it be to just go scoop up 3 days worth of cow patties while it was drying? (Go ahead an laugh - per other posts, the poo we normally deal with here is nice little berries that scoop up and go into the compost pile)

Well, even with three cattle, that's a fair bit of shoveling. It doesn't sound realistic to me anyway. And it's a bit of a messy job...it'll still leave residue in the hay even after you attempt to clean it up, unlike the berries. If I were you it'd be wise to move them into that pen...no matter how intimidating the bull is.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by Karin L

Well, even with three cattle, that's a fair bit of shoveling. It doesn't sound realistic to me anyway. And it's a bit of a messy job...it'll still leave residue in the hay even after you attempt to clean it up, unlike the berries. If I were you it'd be wise to move them into that pen...no matter how intimidating the bull is.

I agree. Having had cattle for a long time, let me tell you the amount three cows can excrete in three days is considerable!
I wouldn't hay a field with cattle on it and I wouldn't buy hay from a field with cattle on it. I want good clean hay and I've bought hay before that was baled with manure in it....never again!

[sammyd]

I would be surprised if the goats ate it after cows defacated on it. I'd be surprised if they ate it if it even smells the least bit like poop.
I would move the cows while haying.