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Bales of Corn Stalks for Bedding or Nesting islands?

sandbur

sandbur

5 year old buck +
I just read where geese in our state are having poorer nesting success because of a decline in muskrat houses and nesting sites.

It used to be recommended to put bales of meadow hay in wetlands for nesting sites.

Is that still legal?

Some of the new balers use mesh and get the corn stalk bales quite tight. Put a bale in a wetland, add some willow cuttings around it at a later date????
 
I need to look into this.....and I think it's a great idea. Just recently, I heard some local folks were using straw bales to grow some garden veggies and / or trees or cuttings ?? (my memory escapes me - but I know where to ask.) I need to ask some questions.....but I think it's a viable plan. May be a solution for my swamp.
 
I know of a few guys who used large round bales of old hay for this very thing. They would use a bale fork on their FEL to move them into place during the winter when the marshes and swamps were froze over. Worked out great from what I saw of them. After a few years as they start to break down and spread out they planted a few conifers around the edges. The straw acts as a good mulch to keep weed competition down. A lot like what foggy is saying.
 
I like this idea but even in early spring how would you get a round bale out into the swamp? You are talking the large round bales and not the small rectangular bales?
 
Freeborn said:
I like this idea but even in early spring how would you get a round bale out into the swamp? You are talking the large round bales and not the small rectangular bales?
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I would get those bales delivered in the fall and then move them out on the frozen swamps.

Maybe a chain of them across a swamp?

Those big square bales could be placed tightly, end to end. I'm not sure how well they are wrapped.

I'll bet those round bales could be rolled and then tipped over so flat side is up.
foggy said:
I need to look into this.....and I think it's a great idea. Just recently, I heard some local folks were using straw bales to grow some garden veggies and / or trees or cuttings ?? (my memory escapes me - but I know where to ask.) I need to ask some questions.....but I think it's a viable plan. May be a solution for my swamp.
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I read that also. They used liquid fertilizer on the bales.
 
sandbur said:
I'll bet those round bales could be rolled and then tipped over so flat side is up.
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If you had enough guys maybe if the snow was gone and the swamp was frozen solid. Still a tuff job.

If you could get to the other side of the swamp you may be able to winch them across depending on how many feet you need to go. You could drive a narrow pipe in the center, hook chains on the ends and then winch it accross to where you want to tip it over. It would still reguire a few guys.
 
I was thinking that if your equipment was too small to lift it, you might be able to push or roll it with equipment.
 
Or pack the snow with a snowmobile and let it freeze.
 
Maybe use an old car hood for a sled.....and pull / winch the "sled" into the swamp. I gotta find some loooong cables......and winch across my swamp.

Of course this would require that I spend some time here in the winter......and that ain't gonna happen. :D
 
I think I could find the carhood. We used to pull broken down snowmobiles out of the "hills "with it. Could you do it in the fall if the cable was strung?
 
Hard to say, next winter lets all head to Foggy's Place in Arizona and plan something ;)

What does a bale like that weigh? I was thinking 1500 lbs but maybe I'm all wrong. I think its possible but the technique could take a couple tries to get figured out.
 
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What if a guy would purchase them in the fall and store them until a dry August?
 
Freeborn said:
Hard to say, next winter lets all head to Foggy's Place in Arizona and plan something ;)

What does a bale like that weigh? I was thinking 1500 lbs but maybe I'm all wrong. I think its possible but the technique could take a couple tries to get figured out.
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I think my tractor and FEL grapple could pick up a bale like that.....and I believe I could get bales near the edge of the swamp. So.....while I'm in AZ if you guys want to try the 'ol car hood technique.....be my guest. ;):D

Really......I like this idea. Gonna think on it some more.
 
Is it necessary to use the large bales? You could stack the old fashioned square bales and accomplish the same thing.

This has gotten me thinking, could you use straw bales to start Tamarack in a swamp? This would be worth a trial to see if this would work. Hollow out part of the center of a bale so the plug roots would just touch the water moisture line. Allow the top of the bale to absorb water and dry as necessary.
 
I love it, thinking outside the box.
 
Freeborn said:
Is it necessary to use the large bales? You could stack the old fashioned square bales and accomplish the same thing.

This has gotten me thinking, could you use straw bales to start Tamarack in a swamp? This would be worth a trial to see if this would work. Hollow out part of the center of a bale so the plug roots would just touch the water moisture line. Allow the top of the bale to absorb water and dry as necessary.
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Jerry-cut some long willow switches and give them a try. Push them well down thru the straw bale.

I think the mesh wrap on some of those round bales could hold them together for years.
 
My bro-in-law has some bales sitting around. He said the meadow hay and corn stalk bales both weigh about 1300 pounds.

He said the meadow/bedding hay would be $60 or 70. He could sell corn stalk bales for less in the fall. He say people have run 4 wheelers across the tops of the big bales. His idea was to cut a bale and unroll it. I felt it might blow around.
 
I was looking for several lengths of old HD cables......maybe each 50 to 100 yards long. My idea was to then "stage" trees (or in this case bales) on one side of my swamp in the fall. After hard freeze-up......I would then pull the cables across the swamp with my 4-wheeler thus having my trees or bales on one side of the swamp and my tractor positioned on the other side attached to the cables. Then pull the trees and/or bales into the swamp.....repeat, repeat.

I never did locate any cables and the snow this year (and last) was far too deep to give this a try. I've got an endless supply of big downed timber.....and I'm sure I could locate some big old bales nearby. I'd have about a 300 yard pull across my swamp. The deer will not cross the damp, open monoculture swamp. Maybe a row of bales and trees would promote growth and get some willows or such growing?

I think its a viable plan......I just don't know if I will pull it off in my lifetime. AZ winters are in my future.

One fear I have tho.......is that if I accomplished this plan....I may be spending my winters at the grey-bar hotel instead of AZ. ;) :(:rolleyes:
 
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