Hay Storage

piccololily · #1 05/31/14, 03:32 PM

Wanting to get a family cow, but have no hay storage. Our winters are extremely cold and snowy, and large round bales are probably out since we have no equipment to handle them. Anyone have ideas for a super cheap way to store maybe a month's worth of hay at a time? We've tried simple tarping in the past when we had a steer, and it was a disaster.

Dixie Bee Acres · #2 05/31/14, 04:38 PM

Depends on your budget.
Those flimsy all metal garden sheds from home depot and lowest can be bought for a couple hundred, about 8 by 10 foot or so.
Another option could be one of those metal car ports. Around here an 11 by 18 foot is about $550 installed. Put one of those up, then enclose the walls and ends with a tarp, more metal, plywood, etc.
Find some old pallets to put down to keep the hay up off the ground.

65284 · #3 05/31/14, 09:23 PM

I bought 3 repurposed billboard tarps. Very heavy vinyl, tough and inexpensive.

Spamela · #4 06/01/14, 01:18 AM

I like the metal garden shed idea. I bet you could find a real cheap one on craigslist.

idigbeets · #5 06/01/14, 05:48 AM

One cow will need 1 square bale a day in the winter, maybe a lil less, depending on her weight. So if your winters are anything like mine, you'll need hay from late Nov. - May.. basically 6 months, around 100-150 square bales to be safe.

You can tarp that pile really well on a side of a building....

sammyd · #6 06/01/14, 06:53 AM

We did that one year.
Bought a big tarp and nailed one edge of it along the end of the garage using boards about 8 foot up.
Laid down 2 rows of pallets and stacked the hay on them and tied the tarp to the bottom of the pallets.

piccololily · #7 06/01/14, 05:32 PM

Thanks to all for the good ideas. Will have to do some brainstorming. Where does one find repurposed billboard tarps?

idigbeets · #8 06/02/14, 05:32 AM

https://billboardtarps.myshopify.com/collections/tarps

Jennifer L. · #9 06/02/14, 06:07 PM

If you have a neighbor who can deliver round bales to you with a tractor, just have them set the bales out spaced out along a fence line. Then put a temporary electric fence down the line that you can move back as you need a new bale. If you only have a cow or two, that would probably work.