Feeding round bale hay in the field in winter to a 'cough-er'

[SpruceRI]

I am soon moving house and horses. I have found a couple of small paddocks to rent near to my new home, which have no stabling/field shelter/hay storage.... (I hope to find somewhere else with storage facilities and stables before winter or be able to put up a moveable field shelter).... but in the meantime, I may have to cope with just having a round bale delivered and dumped in the field.

One of my ponies needs her hay wetted, or she coughs. Strangely she doesn't need it soaking as such. I normally just put 2 or 3 slices in a plastic trough, tip a bucket of water through it and then turn it over to drain immediately - and that suffices to be 'anti cough' hay.

So, if a round bale sits in the field and gets dew on it, rained on, or we have no rain for the time it sits there (I'm talking from October onwards) will it be likely to make her cough?

Maybe I could have it parked outside of the field and then peal layers off it and wet them, though my potential new paddocks don't have water access as such. A hosepipe from one familys' garden I gather.

How long would the bale take to become manky and unedible if we had constant rain?

I have a 14.2hh and a shetland. Thanks!

 

[Spring Feather]

You can't feed round bales to those two small ponies unless you keep the bale under cover. There is no way they will get through it before it moulds if you were to leave it out in the elements. Yes you can peel layers from round bales and feed it that way, but again it must be under cover or it will rot very quickly, certainly within a week, once the rain falls on it.

 

[FfionWinnie]

I leave round bale hay out all year round (one bale at a time), in winter either fork some over twice a day, or they have a round bale feeder, or in Summer I fork it over for the littlies. The same bale has sat out for about 6 weeks no problem at all in summer, admittedly its been dry, but in winter I've had it outside for a month no problems either. The outside gets wet but you are using the outside constantly, the inside doesn't get wet, even in Scotland!

 

[SpruceRI]

Thank you both..... maybe I need to construct a round bale hut and then fork it over the fence. Paddock owners may not like that though. Oh well, will have to ask.

 

[FfionWinnie]

They will waste less if you fork it over compared to it being in the field therefore less damage to the field. More work for you tho so its all a balance. I am going to try the hay net things that go on the round feeders this winter.

 

[Spring Feather]

I am going to try the hay net things that go on the round feeders this winter.

Only do it if they are not expensive. I know a lot of people who got sucked into buying these. I looked into them and a friend did a video for me, it takes 3 people to get the net on a round bale. I feed 20 round bales a week to my crew and I'm usually running the farm singlehandedly over winter so it was a no-go for me. Friends said the cons were, nets getting frozen solid to the ground and trying to get the hay in them. Now we have significantly colder winters than you so may not be a problem in Scotland.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Oh, maybe its a different thing, I don't have three people to do it so no chance of that working! Was it this thing? I assumed you just attached one bit at a time and worked your way round. They are about 35 pounds.

http://toppa-net.webs.com/

 

[Spring Feather]

Ah no, ours are more expensive and you put the whole round bale inside it. I'll try to find the link for it

 

[Spring Feather]

http://www.bigbalebuddy.com/slowbalebuddy.html
There you go. $250 + tax so $282.50

 

[FfionWinnie]

http://www.bigbalebuddy.com/slowbalebuddy.html
There you go. $250 + tax so $282.50

Hmmm that looks quite fantastic . I already push bales off the trailer and roll into position by myself and indeed I could perhaps get the man I buy from to help me enshroud them with the help of the bale grab (which wouldn't damage the net) before putting on the trailer. I like the idea for sheep which are the most wasteful little sods in the world (far far worse than horses!) and I don't have any horned ones now...

We don't tend to get long periods of very very cold weather its more usual for it to be peeing with rain for months on end. Thanks for that SF (maybe I could make one to try).

 

[Spring Feather]

Oh I don't think they'd be very difficult to make if you were to buy a few of the ones you can buy over there and attach them together. If you find you want one from over here and can't get them over there then they will likely ship to Scotland, if not I can ship one over to you.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Oh I don't think they'd be very difficult to make if you were to buy a few of the ones you can buy over there and attach them together. If you find you want one from over here and can't get them over there then they will likely ship to Scotland, if not I can ship one over to you.

Thanks. I found a uk stockist of the polypropylene type (which would be no good for short sheep and short pony!) but I've emailed and asked if they can get the net one.

 

[Ravenwood]

Could you not just put the round bale in a ring feeder and tie a taup over the top or lay a sheet of ply over it? That would prevent it from getting wet (not that the water usually penetrates a round bale anyway) and just keep moving it around to prevent poaching (tow it behind your vehicle). I've found that round bales will last 2 weeks before they go off and thats usually haylage rather than hay or better still any chance you can find a source of small bale hay? Due to the amazing weather we've had, loads of people have done small bale hay this year.

 

[PStarfish]

Don't go buying the bale buddy net-contact a trawler net maker and they'll make one for you for over half the price. Thats what I did. But please do be careful if any of the herd have shoes on. We used a net inside a bale buddy thinking it would be safe. Within 3 hours mischeif pony had both front legs welded by the shoes to the net!! Thankfully she remained calm and we free'd her but could have been disastrous.

 

[Fransurrey]

Will the owners not allow you to put up a mobile shelter/storage? I've been able to do this twice, so worth asking. A wooden shelter is much nicer than a large tarp. I have fed a large round bale to two ponies in the past, but it did waste quite a bit and also BOTH ponies coughed on it, so no, I wouldn't do it. I would buy haylage and feed that instead, or store small bale hay at your home as it's so close.

 

[Dry Rot]

I have a couple of hay feeders where you lay the bale sideways, i.e. round side up, and it is kept off the ground so stays dry. (£15 each for the racks from a neighbour who lost a cow when it got it's head stuck. An hour with the welder made them safe!).

The ponies tend to eat in at the ends and less so at the sides of the bale so there is always a "roof" of hay to shed the rain. The bales stay dry-ish as they are off the ground and shed water. Incidentally, before I got the loader tractor it was not a big job to roll a round bale into the quad trailer, then into the rack on it's side, then pull bale and rack upright with a long rope using the quad. I'd sometimes use the rope trick to pull a bale into the trailer.

As for a net, PStarfish says, get a bit of trawler net! You'll get off cuts for nothing if you smile nicely. I net my feeders to stop the wind blowing the hay away! As a dyed in the wool skin flint, I am quite shocked what people pay for the fancy manufactured ones. If you get yourself a net needle and some cord, it is easy enough to sew nets together in any shape you want, then tie them onto the feeder with some baler twine. Job done. Or just store a bale on a pallet under a sheet and fork sections over the fence....

 

[FfionWinnie]

Don't go buying the bale buddy net-contact a trawler net maker and they'll make one for you for over half the price. Thats what I did. But please do be careful if any of the herd have shoes on. We used a net inside a bale buddy thinking it would be safe. Within 3 hours mischeif pony had both front legs welded by the shoes to the net!! Thankfully she remained calm and we free'd her but could have been disastrous.

None are shod, which trawler net company made it for you. I looked at a few last night as I knew DR would be along telling me to make one

 

[Dry Rot]

None are shod, which trawler net company made it for you. I looked at a few last night as I knew DR would be along telling me to make one

This company supplies the kit to commercial fishermen. You could do worse than contact them and ask where you can find someone who makes up the nets for the trawlers. They apparently have a branch in Stirling:

http://www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk/