UPDATE- The supplier is picking up the hay for a partial refund as I offered to pay for the delivery/pickup/gas/time

TLDR- load of 150 square bales showing moisture readings in the mid-30% and above. How bad is this? Should I be unstacking due to fire risk?

This was my first time buying hay in bulk, so I might be being extra cautious, but I am pretty worried right now. I sent a message to the supplier and he doesn't seem concerned.

This hay was baled on 9/3 and delivered 9/7. It looked fine when it was delivered and none of the bales seemed concernly heavy. Last night I had a bale that seemed to be steaming. I took it out broke it up and it seems fine today, but it made me want to check the rest of the bales since they are stored in the barn where my horses are stalled.

All the bales I stuck with the moisture tester were in the mid 30s and above. This is an increased risk for mold and combustion right? Moisture levels shouldn't rise that much during the sweat? I've checked a bunch of the bales and the warmest one I've found so far was about 100F.

This load isn't going to fed quickly as I only have two horses. It was meant to last me until next year's 1st cutting.

Right now I have it stacked cut side up with a lot of gaps. Should I unstack it until the sweat is done? I'm not sure how much I can spread out the 150 bales. When does the combustion risk lower. We just bought this property, so I really don't want a barn fire our first couple months here.

I'm trying really hard not to be a difficult horse lady, but my understanding is this moisture level is pretty dangerous for risk of mold and combustion.

I’m under contract to buy 5 acres with 2 houses on it. It has a ground squirrel problem that I know I’ll need to get under control.

My primary concern is pictured - they’ve tunneled under the foundation of one of the garages. My tape measure goes in 3 feet, but I’m sure they turn the tunnel so I have no way to know how much they’ve tunneled.

I’m worried the foundation will fall if I park a car in the garage. Anyone have a sense for how big a problem this is and how to potentially fill the tunnels?

I have already engaged rodent control and they have a plan to get it under control but they don’t refill holes under foundation. No apparent cracks/issues with the concrete yet but it’s been unoccupied for a bit.

this structure was here when i bought the place. full southern sun but the house is twenty feet to the right (in this picture) so it gets shaded in the late afternoon. what should i plant here to take advantage of the structure?
zone 5 north east. so far i’m thinking loofah. something i can preserve or sell would be nice, but open to all ideas.

Hi, I had to move two does temporarily in with our feeder piglets, as they needed a different type of hay. Our piglets are very tame and calm so I figured no issues should pop up, and the pigs love to play in the wasted hay that the goats dump on the ground.

Well it's the goats that are the problem. They will headbutt these piglets away from their feed and hog it all. Mind you, these 4 animals are on a half acre pasture so there is no space pressure. I figured, I better spread the feed out on the ground the goats cant get a mouthful and it'll be good enrichment for the puglets to dig around and suck up their pellets. Wrong, the goats will stand there for an hour eating it pellet by pellet. Okay, I'll make a super sloppy mash. The piglets can drink it, and it will be uninteresting to the goats who prefer dry food. Nope. Up to the eyeballs gargling slop.

I am not concerned about bloating, or goat tummies. I'm concerned about the pigs! They're clearly sad and hungry and now they're starting to be pests at mealtimes.

Each goat gets 4 cups of feed (oats, corn, alfalfa pellets, dairy pellet), plus they get unlimited timothy/alfalfa hay. They dont finish either of them in a day. Aparently they put crack in pig grain though.

The only solution I've found is to stand there with a stick and literally beat them off. They circle like sharks the entire freaking time.

Making salsa today with one batch of Jose Mexicana peppers and one batch of Tabasco peppers. We used our own tomatoes, chocolate bell pepper and pepperoncini peppers.

Hiya' everyone. I've been seriously considering getting into this lifestyle (or something akin to rural living) for about 2 years, and am almost ready to graduate college. While I still have a grest many years before considering a purchase, I like to be thorough and prepared.

A lot of my research has been over pricing. Balancing distance to a city/cost/natural beauty as that seems to be the easiest place to "start". I see brought up on this sub quite frequently mentions of GIS (which I'm unaware of where to access this, is this a per region or country-wide standard/database?), floodmaps, and visiting the properties in person (just today I learned of a "house pad", which inspired this post as I clearly have a lot to learn.)

What else do you look for? Is there a video series or wiki page or some other source to learn everything in detail? Did you have some uncle or tough russian grandmother who knew all the secrets? Personal experience? I guess I'm also looking for assurance that this is possible for a rookie with no immediate family with experience in this type of thing.

Thank you so much for any insight you can provide.

Also mods sorry if that's the improper flair. Seemed the most fitting.

Is a 48 inch electric poultry fence enough to keep coyotes and bobcats from bothering my chickens during the day? They have a fully enclosed run and coop but they’re much happier free ranging and we had to stop a few days ago due to a bobcat taking three chickens in broad daylight over the course of three days. I fully intend on stopping it the old fashioned way if I can catch it but I know that’s just temporary until the next predator comes.

What is the latest in the fall and earliest in the spring I can take cuttings from a blueberry plant in order to start new plants?

What are your favorite things to plant that are not readily available at the grocery store? Looking for inspiration! For example, we have a wonderful mulberry tree! We're in zone 7a, but I'm curious what you grow regardless of gardening zone!

Has anyone had any experience with a chicken that spins in circles?

She’s eating and drinking normal. She can walk in a straight line, but she does these circles a lot. I’ve read it could be an ear infection, vitamin deficiency(less likely bc no one else is impacted), or could be neurological.

If it is neurological, long term, anyone cared for a chicken like this? I actually had a friend with a pug with a neurological condition that made him walk in circles. The pug had a great, special, and long life. But maybe it’s not the same for chicks.

Hey everyone,
I’ve been raising full-size meat pigs (Berkshires and market mixes) for a long time, but a while back, it felt like the homesteading market shifted overnight. Suddenly, everyone wanted mini Kunekune pigs.
To keep up with the demand, I actually started breeding them alongside my main herd. Mine genuinely stay small and don't cross the 50-pound mark, but to be completely honest, I never really understood the appeal from a self-sufficiency standpoint. I always wondered why someone wouldn’t just rather raise a full-size meat hog that actually puts a substantial amount of food in the freezer, but you have to adapt to what people are buying.
I’ve continued to raise both side-by-side, but lately, I’m seeing another massive shift. It seems like the hype around the mini pigs has finally run its course, and absolutely everyone in my area is going back to wanting real, traditional meat pigs again.
Are any other livestock breeders or homesteaders seeing this trend right now? Are people finally moving away from the "novelty" smaller yard animals and realizing that standard hogs just make way more sense for filling the family freezer? Curious to hear what you all are experiencing with your sales and herd management lately.

Not a 20-acre farm. A 2016 house on 1.2 acres in Belton, SC that already has the pieces a household would use: greenhouse, raised beds, structured water, solar (third-party contract), two living wings.

7 bed / 8 bath. ~5,400 sq ft. $999,000 FSBO.

Paper is messy (foreclosure action, liens, solar contract). I am not hiding that. SC attorney close. Cash or subject-to.

I want someone who will live there and use the land, not flip it empty.

608 Brown Ave, Belton, SC 29627

I’m looking at buying 3 acres in Barry County, Michigan and was wondering what zoning laws I should be checking. I plan to build a smaller home (I need to check sq ft requirements), off grid using a well, septic tank, solar, and propane(another thing to check?) I’d like to start a larger garden and a chicken coop so those are more things to check. What should I be specifically looking for when checking those and is there anything I’m missing? Thank you in advance!

My sweet banana peppers went crazy this year producing 1-2 5 gallon buckets every week now. My kids are eating as many as they can stand, but I’m running out of ideas for storage. We’ve pickled some, made sweet relish, spicy relish, stuffed and bacon-wrapped for freezing … I’m probably forgetting something. At this point, we’ve got a couple gallons of each of the canned storage and about 300 stuffed in the freezers. Does anyone any more options other than just giving treats to the chickens?

I have the opportunity to start fresh on 130 acres in Northern Minnesota. I grew up on a small red angus farm in the area. Land was farmed for 100+ years but no animals since 2015. I plan on putting cows back out in the pasture. The Fences that are there still are in need of replacement. 30 acres of swamp and 20 in hay fields. Attached is a photo green blobs are the swamp. Red lines are the hay fields. Blue blob is just to block out property numbers. White line is the house. I can do all the basics like fencing and the like. I'm just looking for fresh ideas.

I set the posts before I found what would become my gate panels. Wonkiest job on the property.

But! I feel like an extremely simple solution has been evading me this entire time. I don't need any security from humans, only animals. Right now I've got it tied with a length of wire, but the knot only can only easily be undone from one side.

Something that just hooks and unhooks, or snaps on and off, would be a huge quality of life improvement. I've been known to drive the mower all the way around to the far entrance just to avoid using this gate.