question about round bales...

[shynbvs]

What are the benefits about having a round bale vs. feeding flakes. I know that it would save money if you had a big field with lots of horses in it, but if it got heavily rained on wouldn't the middle get moldy?

[WashingtonBay]

Your concerns are the reason I don't feed round bales in my climate. I think maybe they make sense with a number of horses in a fairly dry and warm location.

Well, that and the quality of them in this region is usually substandard, they're really considered cattle food.

Well, that and we don't have a tractor to move them around :rolleyes:.

[shynbvs]

ahhh... thats makes sense

[Arrow]

In the winter, a herd of horses can have hay available 24/7. Roundbales are fine if the horses eat them in a 3 or 4 days--you don't want them sitting around. Some roundbales are indeed crap, fit for nothing but cattle, but some of it's the same as baled hay, if you get the right supplier. In the winter, we've had 3 roundbales for a herd of 14 or so--they eat them in a week or less.

[shynbvs]

yeah, i would imagine that they would be awesome for a larger heard.

[42many]

Still really hard to move around, though. Don't you need some sort of fork lifter operation?

[Ranger44]

Some roundbales are indeed crap, fit for nothing but cattle (this was supposed to be a quote)

Around here the dairy cattle get the "good" hay and the crap stuff is considered "horse hay."

I have fed round bales and had pretty good luck. I'm very lucky in that my horses do well on most anything. A big round (about 1000 pounds) lasted about a week for 8 horses. If I just feed twice a day off that same round bale by taking it apart myself it will last at least twice that long.

I have moved them by dragging/pushing them with my pickup. I don't have a tractor or a skidloader so after I had them delivered I had to get creative.

As mentioned the quality varies just like it does in any other bale.

[RosieRox]

Our horses are dry lotted in the winter to allow the pasture to rest and we've rarely had a problem with round bales. It's important to make sure it's horse quality hay and the supplier has stored it inside. Most of the cattle fodder around here is stored in the field and looks like crap. Even if we get an iffy one once in a while, our horses won't eat the bad stuff. It usually ends up spread on the ground and they use it for bedding. We burn the leftover wasted hay. The waste is worth it to me to make sure they have plenty of hay to munch and keep warm, especially my oldest mare.

We don't have any way to move the round bales around but our hay supplier delivers our round bales. He drives into the pasture and he and hubby push the bales off the trailer.

[mandisue]

We feed only roundbales and as far as the middle getting moldy, it doens't.

The outside does but if you're roundbale has been wrapped right the inside should be nice and dry unless there's a hole somewhere. Benefits, roundbales are cheaper in my OP but I prefer square bales, as my horse doesn't need to sit at a bale alll day and eat but I have no choice as we make our own and only have a round baler so I'd rather get free good hay than spend more just to have square bales.

Round bales are easier to store too. I know many will disagree with this but we just keep ours in a line behind the field and bring one in when needed, strip off the outside layer and inside is good as fresh baled. No cover for them.

[FrogInABlender]

What are the benefits about having a round bale vs. feeding flakes.

Well, in addition to the lower cost, there's the manpower issue to consider. With 8 horses, I'd need at least 400-500 bales of hay to get me from November through April, which is when most of my bermuda pasture goes dormant, and not being a spring chicken anymore, I just don't have the stamina nor the help to haul that many bales out of the field and put them up in the barn. I do have a tractor though, and a 3/4 ton truck and a flatbed trailer, so I can haul and handle 5x6 1000 pound rolls all by myself.

I store them in the barn and feed them in the barn, so mold is not an issue, and because of that the entire roll gets eaten, right down to the dirt. No waste there. I'll set a roll in the barn isle and put a hay ring made for horses around it so nobody gets that awful "hayring haircut" from sticking their head under the top bar of a ring designed for cows. It also keeps them from pawing in it, laying on it, pooping in it and making a mess of it in general like they would without a hay ring.

The only problem I've had so far is that if you don't limit their access to it, they tend to just stand around all the time and eat hay and get too fat, plus they eat it up way too fast. So I've started closing off the barn isle during the day so they can't get to it and only letting them in there during the night. So during the day, unless it's raining and cold, they have to "go out and play", or pick at the pasture, or SOMETHING besides being a "barn potato". ;)

[Mercury]

Round bales are good if you have enough horses to feed it to or like Frog a dry place for them to eat it. Otherwise it's easier for me just to throw square bales.