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pecuniumIsaiah said that, "all flesh is grass," and those who have kept livestock know the truth of this.
But there are varieties to grass.
I say this because I am feeding four horses and two mules. That means I am measuring out hay, twice a day.
Bermuda and alfalfa (which is one of two successful crops to come out of Australia... it has the deepest roots of any plant, and is because of this, not despite it, not very tolerant of drought, neither is it truly a grass, but rather a legume) in the morning, oat straw, and orchard in the evening.
They are all different. bermuda is stringy, and dry... full of dust and delicate. Alfalfa is tough, leafy, fragrant; full of small purple flowers, handle it carelessly and it will stab beneath the fingernail like a bit of shredded bamboo. Oh yes, it can harbor blister beetles (depends on how it's harvested) and they can kill your horse.
Straw is slippery, with a waxy feel and a hollow nature... bales of this are what most people refer to as hay bales at county fairs and the like.
Orchard is light, flat, almost fluffy. It becomes a loose mass when the flakes are pulled from the bales (which weigh about 110 lbs a piece).
Each beast averages 16 lbs of grass a day.
And in the evening they also get carrots, beet pulp, red wheat bran, oats, corn oil, vitamins and garlic, all tossed into a salad (the beet pulp [of which![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
akirlu pointed me to a great story about a squirrel] is interesting, the remains of pressing sugar beets for juice, they are dark shreds of dead beets. They smell like a tobbaccanist's shop and are not too bad to chew on, eventually they taste like beets, but they never seem to be done, like gum, crossed with poppy seeds. The horse love them, I think for this reason).
It means I am not footloose and fancy-free while everyone is awake, because horses are not like dogs, I can't skip a meal and make it up the next day. That can kill them (they have digestions that want to be working all the time, grazing animals and all that, so interrupt it for too long [more than about 14 hours] and they can colic. Unlike babies, this usually means an expensive session with the vet. A moderate colic runs about $5,000, an expensive one, upwards of $50,000... we keep thinking about getting colic insurance, but the terms are less than favorable, so we put it off, and try to avoid it... which is not the brightest thing, but hey... that's people for ya').
And I try to remember to go and look in on the pregnant mares in the afternoon, and let them all get about 45 minutes turned out in the ring.
So I'm looking forward to people coming home, and for more than just the company.
But there are varieties to grass.
I say this because I am feeding four horses and two mules. That means I am measuring out hay, twice a day.
Bermuda and alfalfa (which is one of two successful crops to come out of Australia... it has the deepest roots of any plant, and is because of this, not despite it, not very tolerant of drought, neither is it truly a grass, but rather a legume) in the morning, oat straw, and orchard in the evening.
They are all different. bermuda is stringy, and dry... full of dust and delicate. Alfalfa is tough, leafy, fragrant; full of small purple flowers, handle it carelessly and it will stab beneath the fingernail like a bit of shredded bamboo. Oh yes, it can harbor blister beetles (depends on how it's harvested) and they can kill your horse.
Straw is slippery, with a waxy feel and a hollow nature... bales of this are what most people refer to as hay bales at county fairs and the like.
Orchard is light, flat, almost fluffy. It becomes a loose mass when the flakes are pulled from the bales (which weigh about 110 lbs a piece).
Each beast averages 16 lbs of grass a day.
And in the evening they also get carrots, beet pulp, red wheat bran, oats, corn oil, vitamins and garlic, all tossed into a salad (the beet pulp [of which
akirlu pointed me to a great story about a squirrel] is interesting, the remains of pressing sugar beets for juice, they are dark shreds of dead beets. They smell like a tobbaccanist's shop and are not too bad to chew on, eventually they taste like beets, but they never seem to be done, like gum, crossed with poppy seeds. The horse love them, I think for this reason).It means I am not footloose and fancy-free while everyone is awake, because horses are not like dogs, I can't skip a meal and make it up the next day. That can kill them (they have digestions that want to be working all the time, grazing animals and all that, so interrupt it for too long [more than about 14 hours] and they can colic. Unlike babies, this usually means an expensive session with the vet. A moderate colic runs about $5,000, an expensive one, upwards of $50,000... we keep thinking about getting colic insurance, but the terms are less than favorable, so we put it off, and try to avoid it... which is not the brightest thing, but hey... that's people for ya').
And I try to remember to go and look in on the pregnant mares in the afternoon, and let them all get about 45 minutes turned out in the ring.
So I'm looking forward to people coming home, and for more than just the company.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-04 03:28 pm (UTC)By the way, you should friend
no subject
Date: 2004-07-04 07:20 pm (UTC)Snakes are easier, mostly, but they need to eat and that means rats and mice, which have their own quirks.
So chickens, chickens are easier... all I have to do is throw feed (and some oyster shell) at them and collect the eggs... yeah, that's it chickens are easiest.
Right.... I have to muck the henhouse this week, so who am I kidding?
TK
no subject
Date: 2004-07-05 11:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 03:36 am (UTC)I'm deferring a school to be here, though I'll be gone for three days in late August (I think) to Leavenworth for a different school.
So, let's talk dates...
TK