Caught in a Net

Almost two years ago, I fabricated a couple of these barn-wall feeders.  In the comments after that post you'll see info from Lisa at Laughing Orca Ranch and Paddock Paradise on her past research into slow feeding methods.  It was these sites and Sarah's posts at Food for Founder that inspired my first efforts at slow-feeding.  (Sarah, or dp--dangerous penguin--is also probably the person who started me on the road to blogging.)

It was nice because I could feed from inside the barn--in one case, straight from the haystack.

The girls all did pretty well with these feeders.

But they have a couple of drawbacks:

• First, the girls have to twist their necks a bit to access the hay;
• Also, their noses get sort of grubby looking from rubbing on the galvanized screen;
• The mesh is a little big: 3" by 3"--optimal for slow feeding is 2" by 2" or less;
• Last, the horses' polls get dripped on from the overhanging roof above the feeders.  (This last will be remedied, hopefully this next summer, when the last wing of the barn is  added.)

So when this box arrived from Arizona Sports Equipment a few weeks ago, it was time for the next generation of EvenSong slow feeders.

(PanKake wonders what's in the box...)

(...down to investigate.)

("The dog will never find me here!")

I purchased 16 feet of 60 inch wide hockey goal netting, thinking to do one big feeder for Kate and Maddie, and a smaller one for Misty.  Then I decided to allow Maddie a little relief from Kate's bossiness, so I cut the netting in three equal pieces.  The strands are actually woven together, making a very strong mesh, that I couldn't even hope to unravel when I tried.  I melted the ends where I cut, as well as reinforcing the heat seal at the two manufacturer's ends, just to be sure.

I had hoped to hang the netting from the factory edge, but it stretches better the other direction.  I wrapped the mesh over the second rail of a fence panel, and wove baling twine through to secure it; then I repeated the process with the other end on the next rail down--leaving an open gap between.  Then baling twine to close the sides, and secure them to the vertical stays of the panel.

Maddie says "I'm ready!"

Each "hay pillow" holds two generous flakes, and there is still a bit left at the next feeding (12 hours).  I just drop the hay in from the outside of the panel, between the two horizontal rails to which the netting is attached.

Both girls figured out how to get the hay out within a couple of days. (I left some loose hay on the ground for them at first.) Notice that, though there is another feeder less than 5 feet away, the girls choose to share.  At least Maddie has the option to leave if she wants.

These little wispy mouthfuls more closely mimic the rate of eating in grazing--resulting in a slower, more natural consumption.  The hay lasts longer, and less boredom ensues.

Not only does very little hay fall to the ground, it is very quickly Hoovered up, as it is much easier to get to than that in the feeder.  There is very little waste (though their are a couple of not so little waists that we'll be working on diminishing this winter).

I haven't put together the last one for Misty yet.  My debate is whether to put it in place of the current galvanized feeder, thereby avoiding the dirty nose and twisty neck issues, but still having the drips on her head.  Or I could put it on a panel of her paddock, requiring carrying hay outside to it, as I already have to do with the girls.  When the new wing is added to the barn (again, hopefully next summer), there will be three run-ins and three paddocks, so feeding over that wall will be really quick and easy with the nets build into the wall.

A Passing Grade, Five Fs, and a PhD, and We're Ready for Winter

Well, we got the edge of the big Alaskan storm through here Friday night a couple of weeks ago (when I first started this post--now I've got to update it so I can actually get it published!).
 
The wind started howling something awful about 8 pm, and I worried that I hadn't even gotten you a picture of my new barn-end curtain yet!

Last winter's cheapo tarps about beat themselves to death in the first big storm, and had lost most of their grommets by the end of the winter.

Would my new "wind screen" (70% shade cloth) from Farm Tek survive the night?

It passed the test!

Not only does it let a certain amount of the wind travel through it, thereby preventing the pressure of the full force of the wind, but it's nice that it also allows some light and visibility! (I still have a couple of tweaks to do with it before next year, but it looks like its good to go for now.)

You can see how impatient RT gets for his Senior Mush by his well-worn path along the fence.

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I had a honey-do list of five "F" projects to try to get done over that long Veteran's Day weekend.  Then I'd be ready for winter.  Actually, none of them were absolutely necessary, but they would pretty much finish off my list for the year.  (Of course, there's the tack room insulation waiting, and a list already brewing for next year!)

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The first F:  Feeders

Last year's feeders have been okay, but the girls have to twist their necks a bit to access the hay.  They also don't like it when precipitation drips off the roof line above onto the back of their heads.

I fabricated these two feeders from hockey net material from Arizona Sports Equipment and they came out so well that I think they deserve a post of their own at a later date (don't, however, hold your breath).

An ancillary project finished that weekend: the water tank experiment.

 See the layer of foil/bubble insulation between the two tanks?  See the ripples on top of the water?  There's a "Clean Flow Tank Filter" (essentially a pond filter) with a small (500 watt, a third the size of my other tank heaters) heater in this tank.  I'll let you know how it works out.
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The next F:  Feet!

Everyone's due for a trim.  With my back, I can usually do two feet at a time.  My goal is one horse a day, but I will often settle for one horse a weekend.

I got these four feet trimmed Friday. 

 The old gray mare ain't what she used to be, but Misty looks like she's ready for the weather--fat and fuzzy!  She's pushing 25!

And started on RT's fronts Saturday morning, and finished that evening. 

 The old guy looks pretty good for almost 32!  I like to keep up on his feet pretty regularly, as he has one slightly clubbed fore foot (the right, exaggerated here by the sticky snow balls in his hooves.

The girls coming in--they figured they needed some extra breakfast...

 Maddie got done on Sunday, and Kate the next weekend, so I"m probably good until Christmas break, when I'll give everybody a quick touch-up that may get me through to spring (or at least late winter).

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Another F:  Flowers

 These flowers from Pat now needed to be "dead-headed"--I'll scatter the seeds in various beds for next spring.

The flower heads laid in composted manure along the back yard/paddock fence.

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 One more F:  Fencing

The driveway Fence is all done.

Along with leveling these two piles--Fill dirt from Hanks and Fine gravel where I didn't need to build up the driveway any.

I'll get a load or two of big gravel in the spring to go over the fill dirt, and then a healthy layer of the finer gravel to smooth it all out.

I just need to add some garden mesh to a couple of my arena gates, and Sandy will have the bigger yard I've been promising her all summer.

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The Final F:  Fixtures

These ugly brass Fixtures have needed changing out since we moved here 9 1/2 years ago!

The cover on this one finally gave up against the Ellensburg wind a month or so ago, and now they really need to be replaced!

 The fixture issue, however, has not yet been addressed.
Partly because I made a last minute trip to northern California over Thanksgiving weekend to visit my Mom's new assisted living apartment.  With the hubby, who didn't get to go down last summer (though Mom was in such bad shape at the time, she may not have remembered him).  And the dog... And my daughter...And the grandkids!

This is the woodsy view from Mom's apartment!

And partly because the fixtures will require a decent-weather day:  I'll have to work gloveless to do the wiring, so a warm-ish, windless day will be a must.  Might not happen 'til spring...

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The PhD:  My "new" post hole digger

I've had this auger for most of two years now, borrowed from Terry and Anita.  It became "mine" as part of the deal for Beth.

Done for the season.

But I'm not quite ready to put the sn*w plow on yet!

 Another random chore:

 I never got around to washing blankets, but the E-burg Saddle Co. is having a special right now: 3 for the price of 2.  So RT's two will go in next week, plus one back-up for the girls, just in case.
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And some random winter pictures.

The spoiled baby blue Buick that we adopted from my Mom in California,
 when she gave up driving this last summer.
Not! Happy!

 Speaking of spoiled, Hubby Al feeds our fat birdies year round.

Final image:

A Cure for Busy Beavers

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a board down in Kate's paddock. Thinking she and Maddie or Beth had gotten silly over the fence, I went to retrieve it.

What I found was not a knocked loose rail, but this piece of lumber-fodder:

Upon closer inspection, I found several more devoured boards.

I didn't do it, Mom!(And I don't think she did--the gouges all seemed to be from the opposite side of the fence.)I have never had trouble with the girls chewing wood in the past.
I thought about what was different, that this would come on in a week's time. (We currently feed in the dark morning and night, but I'm outside every weekend, and I hadn't noticed previously.)
I figured it could be one of three things:
Hunger.
Boredom.
Something missing in their diet (either fiber or some mineral).

Misty has not attacked any of her fence, but instead decided the one straw bale that I kept in her stall (reserved when I switched to boys to the east paddock and pellet bedding) was fair game.

So, my project two weekends ago was to replace the worst-gnawed boards.
Beth helped.
Then, I did four things:
I liberally soaped the top edges of all the paddock fences.
I added some lower quality grass hay to their regular ration of timothy hay for additional fiber.
I added Purina's 12:12 mineral supplement to their daily ration. The last time I talked to the local Purina representative, he said the 12:12 wasn't necessary, since I was feeding their "Enrich" vitamin mineral supplement; but it seems odd that the first winter I didn't include the 12:12 was the first winter I had fence boards chewed on.

Lastly, I finished the project I started last fall of creating feeders along the south wall of the barn. dp at Food for Founder has gone through a series of prototypes for slow feeders (search her blog using the word "feeder")--designed to give a slow-motion but continuous supply of hay, to mimic more natural grazing patterns, thereby relieving boredom and not stressing their digestive system in the way that twice daily bulky feedings do.

Originally I was going to construct the feeders outside the main aisle of the barn, and dug two post holes in three locations to serve the three paddocks. This would have required not only the feed grid of 4" by 4" galvanized steel, but sides, a slanted bottom, and a small roof to keep out both rain and horses.

But in an "AHA!" moment a couple of weeks ago, I realized that if I pulled a few of the tongue and groove boards from the bottom of the barn's exterior walls, I could mount the grid on the inside, slant a less expensive sheet of OSB (rather than plywood) against some hay bales (instead of permanent posts) and not have to weather- and horse-proof the feeders.

I got Kate's small 6 foot feeding station in last weekend, and she figured out pretty quickly how to use it. She has never quite cleaned it out, but is eating slightly less hay than previously.

I have a rubber mat on the ground in front of the grid, and there is very little waste, as Kate cleans up her droppings regularly, as they are easier to access than the hay behind the grid.
(By the way, Funder, please note that Kate is, indeed, one dirty pony!)
The 4" by 4" openings are a bit larger than recommended, but I'm tracking her intake and haven't noticed that Kate is eating too much too fast at this point.
So this weekend's project was for Maddie and Beth's paddock. This will be a wider grid, about 11 feet, between the barn posts, because it will serve two.
The site from inside the barn, immediately adjacent to the hay stack (Kate's is at the far end of the barn, and bales of hay need to be moved down for her each week).

Unscrewing the boards.

Boards out.

Tacking up the grid.

Leaning the 4'X8' OSB against hay bales stacked two high. It is necessary to have enough of an angle that the hay will slide down continuously against the grid, otherwise the horses can't get to it with their lips. If it doesn't slide, I may have to line the OSB with a cheap poly tarp.
Throw down some hay.
Feeder full. Can the girls figure it out?
Beth was the first one to come over, but Al had gone inside with the camera.
A fringe benefit of this system is that it meters out the hay slowly enough that we may be able to put two meals worth in the feeder at a time, and, during Al's early morning "quick feed," a check to make sure the hay is still shifting against the grid properly may be all that is needed.

At first, I think Beth and Maddie thought they were putting one past me, sneaking into a forbidden snack shack. (Again, Funder, notice the mud-packed horsies.)By evening, they were wondering why I hadn't put their dinner in their tire.Beth nose.
Maddie nose.

We'll see how much they have eaten in the morning.