Round bales in field

[Flowerofthefen]

What are the pros and cons please? Currently putting hay out daily for my boys in their individual paddocks. OH has offered to bring the forklift and bucket to scrap out all my old hay. Once that's done and the weather is better, I'm putting my boys out together. I was hoping to put a big round bale out di they could help themselves. One is shod, one isn't.

 

[tda]

I am an expert at this! You need a feeder (round , sheep size) a large net, I use trickenets and preferably some mud control mats as a base for the bale and the horses to stand on.
That will minimise the mess

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I am an expert at this! You need a feeder (round , sheep size) a large net, I use trickenets and preferably some mud control mats as a base for the bale and the horses to stand on.
That will minimise the mess

Thank you!! Sounds like a big job just for a round bale. I just read a few more experiences and it looks like, unless I have your set up, lots will be wasted. I think I will probably stick to putting piles out!!

 

[tda]

It's is but once you are set up it's so easy

 

[SpotsandBays]

A friend of mine feeds big bales in the field without a feeder/net, and the amount of wastage is unbelievable in winter. I’m sure she loses 1/4 of the bale to it being stood on and mulched into the ground

 

[Flowerofthefen]

A friend of mine feeds big bales in the field without a feeder/net, and the amount of wastage is unbelievable in winter. I’m sure she loses 1/4 of the bale to it being stood on and mulched into the ground

Was going to do it from spring onwards but I'm still concerned about the wastage.

 

[Horseysheepy]

Yes there's a lot of wastage, but the horses love it!

My youngsters created their own 'living quarters' and wanted for nothing, because all they did was eat some of it, tread and pull the rest out away from the middle and made themselves a convenient toilet facility and sleeping area all in one place- little sods!!!

 

[Carrottom]

I would keep the bale outside the field, preferably under cover, and peel some off to give them twice a day. If you are checking them anyway it saves wastage and you can put it in different areas so that one place doesn't get wrecked.

 

[nagblagger]

The farmer delivers 2 every week in one field and always puts them somewhere different, limited wastage but can ruin the field if it's small. The other field is dry so I call him to deliver when the dregs are eaten so even less wastage. The horses learn their pecking order so patiently wait their turn no fighting. Plenty for everyone.

 

[Burnttoast]

I don't much like it for two reasons: 1) I see a lot of horses standing round their bale in a sea of mud barely moving from one end of the day to the other. They might as well be stabled. 2) you will never know what potentially harmful plants are in the bale and possibly being consumed. It may not be common, but ragwort and worse ends up in hay. The other day someone on one of my fb groups put up a pic of hemlock to be IDd - she'd found it in a big bale.

 

[AmyMay]

I prefer piles as opposed to one large round bale. They just end up creating a huge muddy sink hole and yes the wastage can be huge.

 

[millikins]

I use a plastic tombstone ring feeder designed for cows not sheep. I now move it about or you get mats of stinking rotted hay which the grass won't grow back through unless they are physically forked up. I found a net useful until someone worked out how to bite big holes in it though mine are all unshod. Many people find moveable hay boxes better, made from pallets or those wooden crates that roof tiles come in with a large holed wire grill on the top. (Lots of ideas for them on FB).

 

[rabatsa]

My ring feeders (sheep ones) have a pallet inside them for the bale to sit on to keep them off the ground. The bales are in nets https://www.ropeseller.co.uk/giant-round-bale-slow-feeder-net-up-to-6ft-diam-bales-1356-p.asp and the feeders are on a hardstanding.

This system has worked well for several years now.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I think I will stick to putting piles out daily!! I do put hay in 2 big plastic buckets, they are huge, but both mine just get their nose under the hay and chuck it out!! Thank you for all your replies.

 

[JBM]

You can use an old tractor tire around the base keeps them somewhat off it and not hard to move once you get it rolling

 

[Jenko109]

We use a metal round feeder. Our field is dry all year round, regardless of how much rain we have so it doesnt get muddy around the hay and nothing gets wasted.

That said, we only put out a round bale like this for horses which need more to eat like young stock or if there is snow on the ground or prolonged spells of frozen ground.

Normally we just put piles out for the mature horses otherwise they would get fat on unlimited hay in a feeder.

 

[sprytzer]

I think I will stick to putting piles out daily!! I do put hay in 2 big plastic buckets, they are huge, but both mine just get their nose under the hay and chuck it out!! Thank you for all your replies.

Our wastage was unreal, probably lost the equivalent of a big bale over a month or so!
since using a big bale net inside a sheep ring feeder wastage is probably about a full Haynet! Plus a big bale is lasting longer and at £35 a bale any wastage is unacceptable if there’s ways to minimise it!!

 

[Gloi]

We put the bale on a patch of concrete that was in the field. There wasn't all that much wastage because they couldn't trample it in the mud , however they all came out of winter pig fat. After that year the bale was kept out of reach and barrowed in twice a day.

 

[dorsetladette]

My OH and me made this a few years ago. We store the hay up hill of the feeder and roll a bale in about once a week. We put a bale net over to stop the babies hooking all the hay out. The holes in the sides are for the sheep to get there heads in. Works really well for us.

 

[soloequestrian]

Our wastage was unreal, probably lost the equivalent of a big bale over a month or so!
since using a big bale net inside a sheep ring feeder wastage is probably about a full Haynet! Plus a big bale is lasting longer and at £35 a bale any wastage is unacceptable if there’s ways to minimise it!!

Are you also trying to restrict the amount they eat? I have three who share a bale in a sheep feeder and the wastage is not great. In the past I've used old haynets made into a cover net but they often broke strands and then could get their whole head through the net which gave me the heebie jeebies. I don't think this would happen with the smaller holes but I worry that they won't get enough haylage - they are all TB and WB.

 

[poiuytrewq]

The lady who my retired horse lives with puts round bales out.
I go help now and then. We roll one out and put a big bale net on it.
Then she has a metal ring, just the lower part so about a foot high we put round to keep
It in place. It works really well. Very little waste and no bars to get hooked up on!

 

[Winters100]

I put a net over the bale, place it on a small raised wooden platform and cover with a hay bell. Works great for mine, but they all get worked twice a day, 1 proper training session and 1 hack / lunge / loose school, 10 days on / 1 day off (apart from old lady poor doer who often moves just once a day, either ridden by a small child or led alongside one of the others). I think if I was not able to move them then good doer would definitely not be able to have hay in this way.

 

[chaps89]

I’ve never liked big bales in the field, had to try it one winter and never again.
Leg issues from standing still all the time in deep mud, so much wastage, obesely fat pony and the biggest bay bill I have ever had.
If you had well draining land and moved where the bale went, or a hard standing area, and netted it off and didn’t have horses that need to lose weight over winter then maybe. But otherwise no, never again.

 

[sprytzer]

Are you also trying to restrict the amount they eat? I have three who share a bale in a sheep feeder and the wastage is not great. In the past I've used old haynets made into a cover net but they often broke strands and then could get their whole head through the net which gave me the heebie jeebies. I don't think this would happen with the smaller holes but I worry that they won't get enough haylage - they are all TB and WB.

No. They have hay ad-lib and it lasts the 2 of them about 10 days. I wonder how we coped winters past and seeing the lack of waste being trampled as opposed to no net and being pulled out of feeder is a no brainer- they’re ottb

 

[Zoeypxo]

We have round feeders in the field and have bales put in them. We use 2x round bales a week for 8 horses out 24/7. The farmer moves the round bale every time he delivers to get them out the mud. Although not do-able if you only have a small field.
They rarely waste any but there is 8 of them, i can see it being difficult if only a couple horses

 

[gallopingby]

We put the bale on a patch of concrete that was in the field. There wasn't all that much wastage because they couldn't trample it in the mud , however they all came out of winter pig fat. After that year the bale was kept out of reach and barrowed in twice a day.

I’ve 3 who have been out all winter with ad lib big bales - they’re about to move to piles of hay as looking rather too well for the beginning of spring!! Although it was very easy to just have a bale put into the field over the fence each week.

 

[musk]

We have round feeders in the field and have bales put in them. We use 2x round bales a week for 8 horses out 24/7. The farmer moves the round bale every time he delivers to get them out the mud. Although not do-able if you only have a small field.
They rarely waste any but there is 8 of them, i can see it being difficult if only a couple horses

I wish mine would only eat the equivalent of this amount! 1 horse and 2 ponies eat more than 2 round bales a week when I started putting them out , gave them time to settle and they kept going at that rate so had to start rationing it again as they were getting too fat

 

[TRECtastic]

I've been feeding round bales for the the past 30 years
I have the round put on a pallet then tie 4 pallets round it , minimal waste and no weeing on it !
The round is in a corral which has hard-core down and I shut the horses out from the hay during the day
It lasts them around 2 weeks , 13'3 and 14'3 cobs , and they are looking just right atm

 

[Zoeypxo]

I wish mine would only eat the equivalent of this amount! 1 horse and 2 ponies eat more than 2 round bales a week when I started putting them out , gave them time to settle and they kept going at that rate so had to start rationing it again as they were getting too fat

now that is impressive

 

[YourValentine]

Roll it out flat and let them graze along it. Or you could roll out half initially then the 2nd half. You will get a bit of 'waste', but don't view it as waste. View it as adding organic matter to your soil, improving soil conditon, grass growth and drought resilience for future years.

Look up videos/articles on out wintering cattle and round d bale grazing.

Feeding this way means you don't end up with muddy grassless circles, and you don't need to invest in a feeder and all the injury risks they present.