Hay

Winter is an important time for us. Grass becomes scarce and we lay in a supply of hay. Our family maintains livestock, just a few goats and a pair of heifers. My father and mother raise them on a separate homestead. Now that we have sided in what originally was a cattle shed, we can fit about ten rolls inside.

Pressure treated studs were cut to fit in between our posts. They were toenailed in with screws. As we are using pressure treated lumber, we covered the pressure treated wood with felt paper. Untreated furring strips could be used also, to raise the metal away from the pressure treated wood. Metal was measured and cut to length from the supplier, roofing screws with a rubber and metal washer were used to secure it over the studs.

In between putting the metal on the walls, we also had to purchase and collect the hay. Took two trips, the last leg of the last trip home had a mishap.

The driver side rear tire gave out on my father as he brought the remaining five rolls home on our truck and trailer. So I loaded up the needed things in my truck and met him out on the highway. Changing the tire and getting the hay home, we got it in the shed. The very next day, the spare tire went flat too. Good thing we did not wait!

We cannot be angry, the tire got us home. Things went well for us.

My father desired to have a door on one side of the shed to further protect the hay. Here in northern Florida, the rain often comes sideways. Even in winter, things are much wetter than we would like in most cases. He had planned every stage of the process out and purchased all the additional metal needed to build the door.

As the door frame is made of pressure treated lumber it also had to be covered with felt paper. We cut strips and applied it with staples just enough to hold it in place until the metal was on.

We screwed the metal into place and took the door as it was on the trailer. The hinges were already applied before the metal and felt paper went on. Hanging it was a fairly straightforward operation. Blocking and a lever got our fine tuning of position.

With the hay inside and protected from the rain, the whole family breathed a sigh of relief. At least I did, I know!

This was not the final end to our labors however. Also we put in a stanchion for keeping the hay safe. Cattle are wasteful. They like to get a mouthful and pull it out as much as they can. They also like to strew it around on the ground so they can pick through it for what they find to be the best things. There is no way to stop them from this, but you can mitigate it somewhat.

This is not the end either. The stanchion is built, what remains is to weld up an old sled trough we have and put it immediately behind the stanchion. This way a bit of hay can be forked into the trough. They may still be able to waste, but there will be less for them to do it with. That is a project for a future article.

I hope you have enjoyed this article and little update on what we have been doing. We will try to resume our schedule of posting as best we are able. We recently have been inundated with things that must be done. Perhaps some will make it into a future article, such as the dryer we just had to repair.

Thank you for spending a little time with me, reading my thoughts about what our family has been doing. I hope you got some enjoyment from it. Until I am able to write to you again, be safe where you fare dear reader.

Warm regards,

Wulf