Feeding BIG Round Bales?

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LKR
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Feeding BIG Round Bales?

Postby LKR » Sun May 29, 2011 4:18 pm

We are trying these. We have been feeding the big 4X4X8 alfalfa bales, but I have found some very good quality alfalfa round bales for 2/3s the price. Can't beat it with a stick. Does anyone else feed round bales and if so, do you remove the outer covering if it is plastic mesh, or are yours baled up with twine? The 4X4 type we have been feeding is baled with twine. We left the twine on and removed it as they ate the bale down. The round ones have a plastic mesh type covering and we cut it completely off the bale. How do others do it? We don't have round metal feeders, we just put the bale out by itself. These weigh about 1200 lbs each.
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cewright
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Feeding Round Bales

Postby cewright » Sun May 29, 2011 8:37 pm

I always remove all the string or wrapping from the bale when I use them. I have seen some very nasty ankle wounds from the round bale string. One vet bill eats up all the savings!

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Postby LKR » Sun May 29, 2011 10:19 pm

Thanks for the reply. That seems the most sensible.
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Postby griff » Sun May 29, 2011 11:02 pm

I also feed large round bales of orchard grass but I believe round bales increase the danger of dead rats or rabbits inside the bales so make sure all you horses are vaccinated for botulism

also personally would not feed straight high grade alfalfa free choice.
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Postby kimberley mine » Mon May 30, 2011 7:34 am

Do a google for Big Bale Buddy....it's a giant tarp-meets-sock thing that holds/wraps the bale, so that the horses have to eat it from the top down and waste less hay. With a bit of care, it can also be used to keep the hay dry and out of the mud.

I think they are manufactured in New Zealand and there is a distributor in Canada?

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Postby Shammy Davis » Mon May 30, 2011 1:43 pm

I feed large round bales. There are three big problems that occur when using round bales. If left in the paddock 24/7 with multiple horses, you will find a significant amount of wastage. Horses tend to stand around the bale even when the hay is in a feeding ring. With no feeding ring, the hay gets dispersed and manure laden. With the ring, manure is not a big problem, but natural hay moisture compounded by compaction, by damp environs, and by humidity causes mold to form because it takes a number of days for horses to consume an entire bale. The third problem is that horses often eat much more hay than is required for good health which reduces the cost effectiveness of buying the large bales and you actually end up spending more than you would with small sq. bales. A horse can eat one pound of hay every 20 minutes. So I calculate how much to leave in the paddock knowing that 20 to 30 pounds per horse/day is ideal in addition to two beet pulp/sweet feed rations per day. The horses will probably finish the daily hay ration in a few hours, but will nimble at stems etc. which gets them through the night without too much boredom.

My method is to leave the round bale on the tractor's spear and strip the roll of the hay in the paddocks that will get the horses through the night. As I said, I leave somewhere about 20 to 30 lbs per horse. Then I take the remainder of the bale back to storage and repeat the next day. During the summer I only feed at night. During the height of winter, I feed at noon and at 6 PM. I adjust the ration depending how cold it is.

You cannot do this with 1000 lb square bales. If you are using the oversized sq. bales you will need a small flat bed trailer and a fork lift attachment for your tractor. You can peel off individual flakes which are about 50 to 100 lbs. These flakes are very hard to handle once you have cut the string.

The reason I ration the round bale is to control wastage which is minimal using my method and it prevents consumption of manure laden hay by the horses. This method is also a very good fly and pest control method.

With 9 mares and two geldings now, I can feed all them using 1/3 of a bale (We use 800-1000 lb round bales) per feeding dispursed in 3 paddocks. This means I get 3 feedings out from each round bale. So essentially two round bales (3 in the winter) will get us through the week.

I've not seen the bale buddy that KM is talking about, but there is containment called a Hay Buddy that is being advertised. It is a closed containment like a shed with large portals. It is well built and sturdy. My concern about it would be that an enclosed containment or bale cover might encourage mold as the hay bale releases moisture and heat. As I recall, the hay buddy has a pretty hefty price also. Certainly, it is something that I couldn't afford but it is certainly a step up over the hay ring.

Hope this helps.

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Postby kimberley mine » Mon May 30, 2011 2:39 pm

This is the big bale buddy:

http://www.bigbalebuddy.com/bigbalebuddy.html

They also have a slow-feeder net, with the caveat that it isn't safe for shod horses.

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Postby Maureen » Mon May 30, 2011 3:08 pm

This is what I use to feed rounds.

http://www.duplessishorsefeeder.com/Home.html

Just finished my fourth winter with the original two I purchased. The design keeps waste to a minimum, and there doesn't seem to be as much fighting as when I used a tombstone feeder.

I have five TB mares out, 24/7, and generally go through two 450# bales in a week, in extremely cold weather. During milder spells, I might get 10 days out of the same amount of hay. I am able to flip them over by hand, and back up over again, by myself, and I'm 5'6".

They were $500. each when I purchased them, so the durability and amount of hay saved has certainly been worth the seeming hefty expense.