How much straw, when to buy winter hay?

[bocephus]

We actually just had raccoons started showing up, I think the drought is making them look for food in new places. They just started getting into the trash at the curb about two weeks ago and have been visiting the barn for the last week and knocking the cat food over. I've got a deer cam I've been putting all over the property for the last 6 months, this is the first time I've seen a raccoon on it or any evidence of raccoons on the property. The poop in the loft was pretty old but I'll check with the deer cam to make sure they aren't going up there.

I might use the deep bedding method over the winter. For equipment I've got a tractor with a back blade but no front loader.

 

[sdsmowen]

I found this post very informative thank you. We are brand new to Sheep and have 1 ram and 1 ewe (black shetlands) they are 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 months old we are in west central Indiana and the drought is really impacting hay production (well all crops really). I also wanted to know how much hay i should lay in for the winter months with 2 younger sheep.