New pullets need quarantine advice please :)

[farmerjan]

Baling wire is still popular in parts of Canada, and some other places you will occasionally find it. The balers are harder to maintain, and the cost of the wire had gotten prohibitive. When I was a kid, we would get "sq bales" with wire and they were HEAVY, not wet but just packed tight. Most came out of Canada.... I lived in CT at the time. A typical sq bale would weigh 70-90 lbs and today one of that "size" will weigh 45-60 lbs. It also seemed that it used to be easier to make hay "dry" and the weather today makes it more difficult to get the hay as dry as it should be. So they are not packed as tight, and so much is rolled due to lack of help. Plus, "back then" , there were all kinds of kids, young guys, that were eager to work hard physically and then be able to brag about their day of helping make hay and how heavy the bales were and how many they helped make that day. Today, they don't want to even get out in the heat and work up a sweat, let alone build some real muscle. Rather do that in an air-conditioned gym...

Twine is easier to work with, it can be cut with a pocket knife, and is more easily disposed of. Also, the bales will be lighter and are not as tightly packed.....yet usually cost the same or more of comparable wire bales.
And yep @Bruce , we held up many a muffler with baling wire; and fixed fences and held gates to posts and any number of things.
We don't use the plastic twine, we use the "old fashioned sisal" twine. It will rot and you don't have to worry about the calves eating it and it getting into a wad in their rumen and blocking everything up. Better for the environment. I HATE having to deal with the plastic twine. Bad enough to have the net wrap for the one round baler and have all that plastic waste. We don't use it alot, but sometimes we have people who want hay with that. It does help shed the water better and will keep a "falling apart" bale together to handle more easily.....

 

[thistlebloom]

Here in the west the sq bales (2 string) I get run an average of 70-80 pounds. That's grass mix, alfalfa is always heavier.
When we lived in SoCal the alfalfa hay that came from the Imperial Valley (3 wire bales) ran 100-120 pounds. Those are exhausting to stack.

@farmerjan I always enjoy your posts. You are so knowledgeable!

 

[farmerjan]

@thistlebloom , you are fortunate to live out there as far as the hay situation, I think. You have pretty good drying conditions don't you? Like real low humidity, and lots of sunny days in a row? The weather has a big effect on the hay making here. There are next to no farmers that irrigate anything here EXCEPT the dairy farmers that irrigate corn for making silage. And some will irrigate alfalfa but it is nearly all chopped for haylage since it will have a very good protein content and it can get made with a short "drying window" since it doesn't need to be "dry" like hay. Are you in an area where there is much irrigation for hay crops? It is so much easier to control the "finished product" if you can water it when and how much it needs..... not when Mother Nature decides to / or not to , water it.
We occasionally got a few 3 wire bales from Canada, and you are right. They were so heavy, you were exhausted from having to buck them off the trucks and into a haymow.

Thank you for the compliment. I think that is is mostly just the school of experience, not really being that smart. He//, if I was so smart, I would be a rich "gentleman farmer" !!!!!; not a poor working wornout farmer

 

[farmerjan]

"GentleWOMAN farmer ????? Guess that is more proper???? Oh what the he//, no one ever accused me of being politically correct or proper; why start now?

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

I'm going to add in my 2 cents. I have purebred chickens. Have shown off and on for 40 + years. I have raised laying hens, free range on pasture, simple sex-links in different colors/breed combinations. I am lucky to have connections with a couple of commercial "concentration camp" broiler poultry farmers. I get the "left-behinds" when the birds go out every 45 +/- days and bring them home and fatten them up on dirt as opposed to the confined enclosed houses they are raised in.

There are diseases that chickens get. I had a bout with Mareks one time years ago. It sucks. BUT, if you are getting the birds from someone who has decent looking birds, if you take the time to look them over and check for external parasites, and they are reasonably clean, if their eyes look bright and they aren't droopy or raspy, then bringing them home, housing them in whatever you have available, that gives them some room and reasonable accommodations, separate from your existing birds for a few days or a few weeks.... then you should be fairly safe.
Letting them out to get some of the "germs" that already exist in/on your soil/grass etc is a good way to get some exposure to and develop some immunity to what is existing. I find that more than the "horrible disease exposure" is the co-mingling of birds. There are always bullies in chicken flocks. Different breeds have different temperments. Different ages can cause some concern when co-mingling.

Anyone who spends $650 on a chicken is out of their mind. Sorry if that offends anyone. There are more chickens. I would hesitate to spend that on one of our cows/bulls etc. I cannot justify spending more on an animal than it is worth, in MOST cases. There are cows that I have put down, that have been a favored animal, and just "swallowed" the salvage value rather than ship it to market. But, you have to be reasonable and accept the fact that they are animals..... they do not have the same value of a human life.

Do reasonable precautions. Take good care of them. Address their needs and provide as safe and healthy an environment for them that you can.

I also hate to tell you but you do not have any "silver laced orpingtons".... The blueish looking ones are just that , blue orpingtons. They will be that slatey blue color with darker blue/black edging on the feathers. Silver laced is basically a white feather with a black edging. There are silver laced wyandottes, silver laced cochins, silver sebrights and silver polish which are basically the same pattern. Orpingtons only come in white, black, buff and blue. They may be mixed with something but what you have definitely are not silver laced anything. NOT bad looking birds, don't get me wrong. But this is what is the matter with all these "EXPERTS" because they don't really know what the true breeds are, or their characteristics. I am not a fanatical show/purebred person. But I like a breed to be what it is, and things like these "easter eggers" gets on my nerves, because they are also one of those crossbreds that get touted as a "breed" when they are not. Great for a home laying flock, but they are just a crossbred that has the blue/green egg laying gene.

I. Wondered my my farmer friend at a party tonight looked ar funny when I called them silver orbs...I get it...they’re blue!

 

[thistlebloom]

@farmerjan , yes, we have a very arid climate, generally. This year was a difficult one for hay farmers as we had a lot of summer rain, which is very unusual for us. Trying to time the cutting to allow for enough dry days before baling was a crapshoot.
I go in with a lot of neighbors and purchase loads from a farmer up near Canada and he was able to get his hay all cut and baled with no rain damage, which was pretty remarkable.
Mostly only alfalfa is irrigated around here, to my knowledge. More and more farmers are making the huge squares since they are more cost effective, and many are shipping them to Japan. It's getting tough to find small squares. I can't use big sq or big rounds as I don't have a big storage area or a tractor to handle them.

Don't undersell your smarts, you are rich in knowledge and common sense. I guess it's too bad you can't take it to the bank, but you are certainly enriching a lot of peoples lives by sharing.

 

[Sheepshape]

I didn't think anybody baled with that anymor

You should come to Wales.....time warp....and we don't even speak English all of the time.

We bought some square bales at the feed store that had baling wire. I carefully hoarded it...….. LOL

I should think so, too. I have old feed bags full of knotty, useless old bits of orange string which i jealously guard from being disposed of.......'might come in useful', needs to be re-cycled/re-used, you never know when your works pants will need to be reinforced' etc etc.

I love that floating duck house.....bet the drakes do, too.

One of my 'not so breed standard' ewes had a trip to the vet yesterday. I found her with blood pouring from somewhere around her eye and thought she had had a dog attack.Long story short, she had a single large gash over her eye....no signs of ripping etc or teeth marks. That could cost a bit being a Sunday, but she was areal trooper about the whole thing.Over here a ewe of her type would probably only realise about £40 at market....but she is probably in lamb.

Well, one thing is certain. The 'output' of our animals is an excellent product. Giant vegetables....

 

[thistlebloom]

You should come to Wales.....time warp....and we don't even speak English all of the time.

I'd love it!

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Baling wire is still popular in parts of Canada, and some other places you will occasionally find it. The balers are harder to maintain, and the cost of the wire had gotten prohibitive. When I was a kid, we would get "sq bales" with wire and they were HEAVY, not wet but just packed tight. Most came out of Canada.... I lived in CT at the time. A typical sq bale would weigh 70-90 lbs and today one of that "size" will weigh 45-60 lbs. It also seemed that it used to be easier to make hay "dry" and the weather today makes it more difficult to get the hay as dry as it should be. So they are not packed as tight, and so much is rolled due to lack of help. Plus, "back then" , there were all kinds of kids, young guys, that were eager to work hard physically and then be able to brag about their day of helping make hay and how heavy the bales were and how many they helped make that day. Today, they don't want to even get out in the heat and work up a sweat, let alone build some real muscle. Rather do that in an air-conditioned gym...

Twine is easier to work with, it can be cut with a pocket knife, and is more easily disposed of. Also, the bales will be lighter and are not as tightly packed.....yet usually cost the same or more of comparable wire bales.
And yep @Bruce , we held up many a muffler with baling wire; and fixed fences and held gates to posts and any number of things.
We don't use the plastic twine, we use the "old fashioned sisal" twine. It will rot and you don't have to worry about the calves eating it and it getting into a wad in their rumen and blocking everything up. Better for the environment. I HATE having to deal with the plastic twine. Bad enough to have the net wrap for the one round baler and have all that plastic waste. We don't use it alot, but sometimes we have people who want hay with that. It does help shed the water better and will keep a "falling apart" bale together to handle more easily.....

It’s soooo funny that you talk about the people working out...my son..is an exercise fanatic. He’s is the stren and conditioning coach for SlippRey Rock University...he has his own website for training people..he just ran 50 miles in a day and is training for his next ultra marat...100 Miles....BUT...he’s too busy to do farm work!!! Lol drives my hubby nuts!! Appare he woulent know how much he’s actually lifting... I tell hi to stick it in his ear!

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Here in the west the sq bales (2 string) I get run an average of 70-80 pounds. That's grass mix, alfalfa is always heavier.
When we lived in SoCal the alfalfa hay that came from the Imperial Valley (3 wire bales) ran 100-120 pounds. Those are exhausting to stack.

@farmerjan I always enjoy your posts. You are so knowledgeable!

So...can I be so blunt as to ask...how much is alfalfa hay? It is hard to get around here...we have to drive 63 miles one way and it’s $9. Is that normal? We’re not thrilled. Plus..it’s no way that heavy..bulky...mayby 40-50