Small scale hay harvesting?

[FourRingCircus]

Anyone do it by hand, on a small scale? What is your process?

We built our house on 1 acre cut off from a hay field. 5 years later weeds have infiltrated quite a bit so I contemplated sectioning off an area to redo/reseed with a new kind of grass/hay (not sure what yet) and then have another area for fresh foraged plants (clover, plantain, dandelion, etc.). I know there are a variety of ways to harvest by hand, and do small scale storage - looking for tips, tricks and/or ideas

 

[Nika]

 

[FourRingCircus]

Of course! :slap: YouTube has a whole bunch of videos! Are Scythes readily available? Or special order items?

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

if you do facebook there is a group on there for scything and info. I used to have a couple links saved on them. lehmans.com I think has one or two.. there was a website of a guy who got really really into them and different styles and came out with like his own line of them and different blades and handle types and lengths. cant find it at the moment...

 

[Preitler]

Aren't scythes normel household items, like sickles, knives and spoones?

I use only scythe and sickle for forage and hay, no power tools. Once you get used to it that is pretty efficient. Importent thing is to keep them really sharp, the sharpness comes from the hardening of the metal when beeing beat out, and from whetting the cutting edge.

I beat them out about twice a year, or when the very thin part of the blade is gone, the whetstone is used daily, or after about 20 meters when making hay, alternating with a kitchen knive steel.

Really, it is so much easier with really sharp tools. And, well, have band-aid or something like that readily to hand :?
Be careful, I cut myself more then once when whetting or mindless handling the blades, these cuts easily go pretty deep.

 

[alforddm]

Just mow it with the lawn mower, let it dry, then rake and bag it?

 

[Preitler]

No.

The mower with its dull blade repeatedly hitting every bit of grass destroys lots of cells of the grass, leading to massive bacterial growth. This grass spoils within minutes. Perfect nutrient for a petri dish, but no rabbit food.

A power scythe, or trimmer with a sharp blade would be ok, I think, but at small quantitys that is more trouble than using manual tools.

 

[alforddm]

No.

The mower destroys lots of cells of the grass, leading to massive bacterial growth. This grass spoils within minutes.

A power scythe, or trimmer with a sharp blade would be ok, I think, but at small quantitys tht is more trouble than using manual tools.

I can see if you were using a mulching mower but just a regular mower? What is the difference between that and a tractor and mower? The tractor pulled mower my Dad uses has spinning blades in it as well.

 

[Preitler]

Well, it will depend on the blade desing and speed of the blades, a normal lawn mower will hit every single blade of grass dozens of times, crushing it.

A harvesting tool with slow rotating, sharp blades will not cause that much damage.

 

[alforddm]

I believe the blades on a regular mower cuts the grass and then the wind from the blades move it up and out the grass port to the side of the deck. Now a mulching blade would be a completely different story.

I can tell no visual difference in the grass cut by my lawn mower and the hay in the bales I get from Dad besides the obvious fact that they are shorter because the grass is shorter in the lawn vs the hay meadow.

 

[Nika]

This is also a handy tool

And if I don`t feel like harvest fresh grass with scythe, I use this

It doesn`t shred the grass so it should be ok.

 

[Dood]

Lawn grass is not much healthier for a rabbit than lettuce

Hay is old grass full of fibre and complex carbohydrates and nearly ripe seed heads full of protein and fat

Besides a lawn mower is not going to be able to handle 2+ foot high field "weeds"

A bush hog is too rough and a lot of the seed heads are going to be mechanically removed and hence the protein and fat lost

I use a hand scyth/sickle as I don't have acres of a monoculture crop to harvest but must pick out the "good stuff" from the fallow fields around my home

 

[FourRingCircus]

I was contemplating a hand tool - after getting my hand torn up with some horsenettle that was hidden in a clump of grass it is looking even more desirable :x .

What should I reseed with? I live in central NC, zone 7 if that makes a difference.

 

[Dood]

My local fields are full of white clover, which the rabbits love, so I'm thinking I might set up a row or two of red clover and I should get 2 or 3 harvests out of it to supplement their winter rations.

I may add some Timothy as vertical support for the clover so it doesn't get flattened if we get a heavy wind or rain

My rabbits also love trefoil and vetch but they don't do well as a hay as they tend to fall apart and loose a lot of leaves when handled too roughly

 

[Deer Heart]

approx. how much square foot of hay should be grown per adult meat bunny? Anyone here good with maths? (I'm not)

 

[gash]

I have 8 rabbits who plow through 2 small bales of hay (H- 2ft, W- 2ft, L- 2ft) weekly. I don't know how many square feet of grass it was before it was cut and baled, so I really can't tell ya. But hopefully that'll help you a bit.