Alfalfa hay would as Spaceman wrote .... not make good building
material... though after being "processed" by a horse if you could
figure out how to bale or block it, it might be quite a good material.
A horse has the ability to get the minimum... soft material only....
out of feed, leaving the tough cellulose fiber behind in a form known as
"pucky" as in "horse pucky". ;-)
I propose using horses to produce building material by mixing type S
lime with their feed and inducing them to deposit their pucky in a
suitable mold....... or perhaps simply into a mixer to make "pucko". In
a mold the result would be "puckyblocks"
semi rigid material which could be used like brick for building.
In modern society the horse is an anachronism.
used as a beast of burden, eaten, or anything else. Millions of hoses
live out their miserable lives in small so called suburban "pastures"
ridden once or twice a year... perhaps a little more, eating hay and
producing prodigious amounts of "pucky".....
different...
daily in ranching where the rough country makes them slightly superior
to the four wheeler. The urban horse just as well be making a real
contribution to society. The puckyblock could be that contribution.
Seriously though...... I intend to use low grade year old dryland grass
hay rather than actual straw. It is very similar to straw. very course,
little "leaf" matter, and highly stemmy, very like straw, at a bit under
twice the weight.
Lest we get into the standard "hay is food" discussion .......this is
NOT at all similar to what urbanians think of when they use the word
"hay".......
in winter due to the low cost, low protein / high carbohydrate content
that produces heat without wasting quality feed. Beef cattle that live
outdoors all their lives.......
birth if it is -30 and blowing and they have to be kept alive until
mama's milk kicks in and starts generating heat........
a few moments just before being "taken down" in the abattoir....
other end of life.
Howard
Joyce E wrote:
> Not thinking about building, thinking about feeding it to my critters:
> ponies and goats. I could never do without them...
>
> :-) Joyce
>
> Spaceman wrote:
>> No hay here. You can get alfalfa for over $5 per bale if you go to the
>> river valley, but that's not good for straw bale building. I suppose
>> you could have straw bales shipped in from the midwest.
>>
>> Spaceman
>>
>> Joyce E wrote:
>>> <G> Save that the DH has grown roots here, I think it'd be nice to move
>>> to Texas. How are hay prices in your neck o' th' woods?
>>>
>>> Joyce
>>>
>>> Spaceman wrote:
>>>
>>>> Yep, El Paso County is bigger than many states, and Hudspeth County
>>>> next door is bigger than many small countries. I wasn't born in Texas,
>>>> but I got here as fast as I could!
>>>>
>>>> Spaceman
>>>>
>>>>
>
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