Mike (one of the farmhands) came in yesterday morning and asked for help unloading a rack of hay. He surmised that it would be better to do it in the morning when it was cooler than in the afternoon when it would be ninety degrees and humid. Tharren and I changed into our "chore clothes" and went out to help Mike. Tharren stood on the hay wagon and tossed bales to Mike and me as we stacked the hay.
Photo: Tharren hopped off the wagon for a few minutes to snap a few shots. If you're wondering where the wagon tongue is, it's shoved between the bales in the center of the stack. The wagon was pushed into place front first so the gallice wouldn't be in the way of our stacking. The bales are stacked from the sides inward (this leaves a slight gap in the middle of the stack).
The hay (clover/grass mix) was baled last weekend from a field on our North Farm. 3 racks (about 300 bales) were loaded before a breakdown ended the fun. Baling was about a third complete before the breakdown. With 2/3 of the field left and a broken baler, the fellas pulled out the round baler and baled the remainder with that.
We feed the square bales in our lambing jugs and lambing barn. When feeding single ewes in a jug it's hard to take a flake off of a round bale. We'll make up our lack of square bales by square baling one of the fields on our East Farm.
Photo: When we stacked the hay, we had to make sure the bales didn't touch the roof. If roof and bale touched, the bale would absorb moisture and lose quality.
Photo: I had to show off my bale throwing abilities when we finished the rack.
