for those of you who feed round bales.....

[miss_thenorth]

can you peel off flakes? We have never used them, but are considering them this summer. but we don't just want to throw out a bale--for our two horses, that would be wasteful, so we were wondering if you can peel off flakes.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

You can definitely do that. You just have to be careful that the rest of the round bale is covered tightly so no water can get in. Once water gets into the center of the round bale, the whole round bale can be ruined. Be careful with tarps too, not all of them are completely waterproof.

We had the same problem with waste so my dad went out and bought a metal round bale feeder. It's basically a large ring that you set around the round bale and the horse's stick their heads through to get at the hay. This prevents them from stepping on the hay and kicking it all around. You still have some waste, but not nearly as much as when the round bale is just set in the field. I'm not sure how much my dad paid, but it was more than a few hundred dollars at tractor supply.

 

[bheila]

We have customers who use round bales for their horses. They either peel the hay off or use a pitchfork to get the hay off. Just make sure when you store the bale to keep it off of the ground with pallets or something like it that will let the air circulate under and around it.

 

[2468herdsrgr8]

Hello ! I have seen this cover that goes around the round bale.....I think its easier if you have a tractor to flip the bale over to put it on ...But the waste is minimal...they had about 10 horses eating off it ...and I remember they even compared the waste...I remember seeing the vendor at local clinic's...if you want I can find more information for you if your interested...Pm me

 

[Countrymom]

Be sure to wear a mask or something over your face so that you don't breath in the dust from the bale when you remove the portion you want. They seem to be more dusty and moldy in general verses square bales. That is why I don't bust into ours, but feed the main herd an entire round bale and use square for the individual show stock.

 

[miss_thenorth]

thanks! We only have two horses, so I don't want ot put out a whole bale, and have it go moldy. I just want to be able to peel off flakes, weigh them , and feed them to my boys.

The bales would be stored inside, so I'm not worried about them getting wet. In the past, we have put our small square , and large square bales on pallets, so that they get plenty of air circulation. The price for the round can't be beat, not to mention for us, it would just be easier to have larger bales--for the amount of work involved. Small squares require more manpower, whereas, machinery can move large bales. We have a skidsteer to move the bales around. We prefer the large square bales, but there are not alot of people around here who do large squares

Are you saying that even stored in these conditions, the hay might mold faster than small squares?

 

[Farmer Kitty]

If kept indoors they shouldn't mold any faster. Just make sure you get round bales that are not moldy to begin with.

 

[helmstead]

I only have two horses, and we use rounds. Takes them a week to go through about 700 lbs. We just set them in the field, and never set one in the same place. Yes, there's waste, but its not too bad. We've never had one mold in the time it takes them to eat them.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I only have two horses, and we use rounds. Takes them a week to go through about 700 lbs. We just set them in the field, and never set one in the same place. Yes, there's waste, but its not too bad. We've never had one mold in the time it takes them to eat them.

This just confuses me...considering a horse should eat 2% of its body weight per day, my two horses should get roughly 40# hay per day-- x7=280. That bale should last two weeks at least. Or do I have my math wrong?

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I only have two horses, and we use rounds. Takes them a week to go through about 700 lbs. We just set them in the field, and never set one in the same place. Yes, there's waste, but its not too bad. We've never had one mold in the time it takes them to eat them.

This just confuses me...considering a horse should eat 2% of its body weight per day, my two horses should get roughly 40# hay per day-- x7=280. That bale should last two weeks at least. Or do I have my math wrong?

How long have you had your horses?