case of hay preparation, may not be 

 typical for other periods in the barn 

 feeding season. The physical task 

 of moving hay out of storage changes 

 as the season advances. The hay may 

 come from a more difficult location 

 and more hay may be fed when silage 

 supply is low. The man minutes 

 spent daily on hay preparation varied 

 from 3.7 to 18 (adjusted to a 40-cow 

 basis). 



Attention has been called in previ- 

 ous pages of the importance of mak- 

 ing chore tasks more flexible as to 

 time of day of performance. Prep- 

 aration of hay is a task that can be 

 reorganized and done occasionally 

 rather than just before each feeding. 

 This type of arrangement may or may 

 not reduce total man minutes ex- 

 pended, but more important, it can 

 aflford more flexibility in the use of 

 available labor. In the following dis- 

 cussion on handling the three forms 

 of hay the possibility of arrangements 

 to do this chore only once or twice a 

 week and at some convenient slack 

 period is stressed particularly. More 

 flexibility in the use of labor as well 

 as greater efficiency can be gained by 

 developing special methods of get- 

 ting hay to the feed alley. Because 

 of the many combinations of forms of 

 hay and pattern of mow-feed alley 

 arrangements, only general problems 

 will be discussed.* 



Baled Hay 



Baled hay lends itself most easily 

 to special handling methods. It is 

 a compact package 18 x 12 x 30 inches 

 weighing approximately 60 pounds. 

 One feed of 400 pounds will require 

 about seven bales. In one trip to the 

 mow, provision can be made for suf- 

 ficient bales for several feeds. One 

 procedure in barns with some free 

 mow floor space is to stack enough 

 bales for one feeding on the edge of 

 the trap door opening. These can be 

 tripped (Fig. 24) to fall to the feed 

 alley when needed. One group of 

 bales on each side of the trap door 

 will supply four feedings. With an 

 additional trap door the supply can 

 be doubled to eight feedings. To do 

 this each group of bales is stacked 

 on a quarter-inch rope, one end of 

 which is fastened near the chute. 

 When the bales are in place the rope 

 is thrown over the bales, the free 

 end in reach of the operator on the 

 feed alley floor. A pull on the rope 

 dumps the bales through the trap 

 door. 



Another practical arrangement is 

 to balance the bales near the edge of 



* As a result of this study, the Department 

 of Agricultural Engineering of the New Hamp- 

 shire Experiment Station has initiated a proj- 

 ect to develop mechanical means of getting 

 hay out of the mow. The Harvey P. Hood 

 Dairy Foundation granted funds to the Experi- 

 ment Station for this purpose. 



II 



m 



Fig. 24, These sketches indicate inexpensive methods of preparing baled hay 

 in advance so that it is available to the operator from the feeding 

 floor. 



29 



