Prepping for winter at Odd Man Inn is no small task. Once the growing season winds down, we can no longer rely on our carefully seeded pastures to provide the cows and goats with what they need. The pigs are also going to require a whopping amount of clean, dry straw to keep their houses properly bedded.
This year’s Hayyyyy Drive will provide:
That comes to $9,475 in hay and straw at current prices. We’re aiming for approximately $10,000 so we can get the Hay Barn properly stocked and the Sanctuary Babes ready for winter.
Rae got her first taste of REAL pig life in quarantine—a bed of fresh straw she could arrange exactly the way she liked it.
Animal Caregivers like Sunshine keep the pig houses clean and cozy year-round—hauling out soiled straw and replacing it with fresh bedding.
Fresh bedding is not a luxury. It is one of the most basic and essential parts of lifelong sanctuary care for pigs.
Pigs build nests. They burrow, root, rearrange their straw, and tuck themselves into enormous pig piles when it’s time to sleep. In cold weather, a deeply bedded house helps protect them from the frozen ground and gives them a warm, dry, comfortable place to rest.
That matters for every pig—but especially for our elderly residents, our giant friends carrying a lot of weight on aging joints, and the more delicate residents who need a little extra help staying comfortable.
Bedding also gets wet. It gets dirty. It gets dragged outside, mashed into oblivion, and occasionally redecorated in ways that make perfect sense only to the pigs. (Just ask Irish!) Our Animal Caregivers remove soiled straw and replace it with fresh bedding throughout the year.
Multiply that by a whole community of over 150 pigs living in neighborhoods across the sanctuary, and you arrive at a fairly ENORMOUS number: 1,500 bales of straw!
The good news is that you do not need to fill the Hay Barn by yourself. That’s what COMMUNITY is for.
Irish believes every love nest deserves special decor. He brings home bouquets for his girl Peppa and helps arrange their nest just the way they like it!
During the growing season, our carefully managed pastures provide much of what our Babes, need. We supplement with hay when necessary, but once winter settles in and the pastures stop producing, stored feed food becomes absolutely essential.
Goats are natural browsers, and their care requires more thought than simply putting them in a pretty green field. Providing appropriate feed food hay through the winter is part of honoring their natural needs and keeping every goat babe properly nourished.
Our nine goat residents need approximately 100 square bales at $10 each.
Mamie and Montag are placing the Goat Neighborhood’s winter grocery order: fresh square bales, please and thank you!
Goose and Popcorn, our two man-cows, require the BIG stuff.
We need approximately 12 round bales to help carry them through the season. Each one costs $50 and provides a serious amount of winter nutrition for these two boys.
Popcorn and Goose have approved the winter menu. BIG round bales are definitely on it!
Providing lifelong sanctuary care means showing up for the ordinary needs every single day: nutritious food, fresh water, medical care, safe homes, clean bedding, and a soft place to sleep.
It isn’t always glamorous. Sometimes it looks like 1,500 bales of straw and a barn that needs filling before winter. Would you consider buying a bale for the Sanctuary Babes today?
Ginny is joining the Odd Man Inn family just in time for Prepping for Winter season. Naturally, we’ve already assigned her a fundraising job.
To celebrate her arrival, we’ll be auctioning a commemorative Poorly Painted Pig in her name. All proceeds will go directly toward the Annual Hayyyyy Drive.
One Poorly Painted Pig. Nearly 1,600 actual bales. A properly stocked Hay Barn. That feels like a pretty good way to begin a Sanctuary Babe life!
Irish believes every love nest deserves special decor. He brings home bouquets for his girl Peppa and helps arrange their nest just the way they like it!