Surprisingly enough many horse owners do not know how to properly feed their horses. Many very caring horse owners have thin horses come spring and its not because they don't feed its because they are feeding inadequately or improperly.
In an effort to support the education of horse owners I will be posting horse feeding info. I will most often be getting that info from Michigan State University's site. In addition I will be posting helpful tips and tricks to help you with work and fun around the barn.
Here are a couple links that can help you understand the importance of feed during winter.
http://cvm.msu.edu/alumni-friends/information-for-animal-owners/winter-energy-needs-in-horses
http://cvm.msu.edu/alumni-friends/information-for-animal-owners/equine-winter-starvation-syndrome/
My tip for the week is a green tip that can help with your energy bill and the enviroment.
One of the best things I ever did was put a rain gutter on my barn and channel that rain into a barrel. I use that water to water flowers I have planted at the barn. I use it to clean feed tubs and troughs. I even have one that I use to fill stall buckets at night.
This all started because I do not have a well at my barn and it is too far from the house to drag a hose. I have to haul water in dry season and winter but in spring summer and fall I usually have enough water for the things I mentioned . We do not have polution problems where I live so I dont mind giving this water to my horses if I lived someplace that had smog or pollution issues I would not want my horses drinking it but I would still use it on flowers and for cleaning
I found my barrel at the local feed store. We live in by the Cherry Capital of the World and so there are cherry packing plants and orchards. They have waste barrels that they have kept cherries packed in and often sell them instead of throwing them in the landfill. These barrels come with a screw on lid. .
Green time and Money Saving Water Barrel
Get a barrel take the lid off and under it is a flat piece of plastic that works as a gasket so that the cherries do not spill out. Take that flat plastic and drill 1" or larger holes in it. Then get a piece of screen material ,the type you use for a screen door, cut it to fit on top of the plastic piece between the screw on lid and the platic. This will make a filter for leaves and bugs and pine needles but it will allow the water from your downspout to pass into the barrel. I have an additional barrel that I purchase on Ebay it came with a plastic water spigot attatched at the bottom and an overflow pipe on the top. This one also came with a note saying pottable water but it has a plastic oder and I never water my horses from it, Although the cats do drink that water.
These barrels have been wonderful to have and they are very convenient. Even after I put a well in I will continue to keep them.
One word of caution:
It is a good idea to leave the lid screwed on when your not using it because small animals can and will get into the barrel and drown. Not a pretty site and it ruins the whole batch of water. Even your barn Cat might fall in and drown so be careful to replace the lid when your done.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Share Box
From time to time I plan to post some templates and crafty patterns I can share with you so you will be able to just click the link below and get a copy
Get your own Box.net widget and share anywhere!
Get your own Box.net widget and share anywhere!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Hunt Is On
Today is opening day of firearm Deer season in Michigan. This time of year is almost a holiday in Northern Michigan. The men and some women seem to go crazy with the thought of getting in the woods and killing a buck. Most never make it into the woods due to a serious drunk the night before, and many never see a deer, but some do.
I and my honey both come from a long line of hunters. It is a big part of life for our families. His family usually hunts for a couple months in the fall. Heading West to Idaho, Colorado, Montana, and so on. His family makes it a tradition to go every year. That is their respite from the daily grind of owning their own business and from the constant influx of visitors to their home. My family has hunted West too but most often stay home to hunt, only hunting West occasionally as a vacation.
In our ageing process, my other half and I have both found that we love to have the meat and the break in the grocery bill but we hate the killing. Its a very mixed thing. We live very close to the bone with regards to our financial situation and so the meat is a great benefit. We have been fortunate in that the last few years not having to kill a deer ourselves. On several occasions someone has hit one with a car in front of our house and we were able to harvest that meat rather than let it go to waste. When this happens or he shoots a deer I always remember to thank the animal for its sacrifice and the nourishment its body will provide us. I guess my Native American blood has brought that to light for me.
This all does not seem very profound to some I am sure, but let me tell you a story about this that might give you an in-sight on the power that it has.
One evening a doe was hit in front of our house and the person that hit her with the car did not stop. We went out to see what needed to be done and were thankful to find she was dead and not out there suffering in pain.
Most of the time when they are hit by a passenger car there is of course some damage to the meat but sometimes very little. If the internal organs have not been damaged you can harvest the meat that is good and what is not fit to eat can be left for the other wild creatures to nourish themselves on. This particular doe had not been damaged very badly so we put her on the pickup tail gate and hauled her to the nearby woods to clean and dress the carcase.
As we sat the doe's body on the ground I quietly thanked the little doe's spirit for her sacrifice and thanked her for the nourishment her body would provide for us and for the animals that would partake of what was left. While I was watching my other half clean and dress the deer something made me look up and over his shoulder to the hill behind where he was knealing. As I looked past him I saw a shadow standing there in the shape of a deer. At first I thought it was another deer but as soon as I spoke to tell my him to look it was gone....It was not another deer. At that moment I knew beyond a doubt that the shadow I saw was that little deer's spirit leaving this world and I knew at that moment that my thank you prayer was accepted.
Profound? You decide.
I and my honey both come from a long line of hunters. It is a big part of life for our families. His family usually hunts for a couple months in the fall. Heading West to Idaho, Colorado, Montana, and so on. His family makes it a tradition to go every year. That is their respite from the daily grind of owning their own business and from the constant influx of visitors to their home. My family has hunted West too but most often stay home to hunt, only hunting West occasionally as a vacation.
In our ageing process, my other half and I have both found that we love to have the meat and the break in the grocery bill but we hate the killing. Its a very mixed thing. We live very close to the bone with regards to our financial situation and so the meat is a great benefit. We have been fortunate in that the last few years not having to kill a deer ourselves. On several occasions someone has hit one with a car in front of our house and we were able to harvest that meat rather than let it go to waste. When this happens or he shoots a deer I always remember to thank the animal for its sacrifice and the nourishment its body will provide us. I guess my Native American blood has brought that to light for me.
This all does not seem very profound to some I am sure, but let me tell you a story about this that might give you an in-sight on the power that it has.
One evening a doe was hit in front of our house and the person that hit her with the car did not stop. We went out to see what needed to be done and were thankful to find she was dead and not out there suffering in pain.
Most of the time when they are hit by a passenger car there is of course some damage to the meat but sometimes very little. If the internal organs have not been damaged you can harvest the meat that is good and what is not fit to eat can be left for the other wild creatures to nourish themselves on. This particular doe had not been damaged very badly so we put her on the pickup tail gate and hauled her to the nearby woods to clean and dress the carcase.
As we sat the doe's body on the ground I quietly thanked the little doe's spirit for her sacrifice and thanked her for the nourishment her body would provide for us and for the animals that would partake of what was left. While I was watching my other half clean and dress the deer something made me look up and over his shoulder to the hill behind where he was knealing. As I looked past him I saw a shadow standing there in the shape of a deer. At first I thought it was another deer but as soon as I spoke to tell my him to look it was gone....It was not another deer. At that moment I knew beyond a doubt that the shadow I saw was that little deer's spirit leaving this world and I knew at that moment that my thank you prayer was accepted.
Profound? You decide.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
