A question for those of you who feed from round bales

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I am experimenting with feeding my minis from a netted (small hole netting like the slow feeder nets) round bale and I have been watching them eat away at the bottom, which is what they can reach of course. Now I'm starting to wonder if feeding this way is safe. Is there a risk the bale will become unstable and fall on them? This is a big, 1200lb bale and I am concerned that it will crush one of the horses if they chew the bottom down enough that it can not support the upper 2/3s of the bale. Am I worrying over nothing or do you have a way you keep them safe from that risk?

 

[chandab]

I don't net my round bales, so don't know if this would work, but can you shove hay from the top of the bale down to the bottom of the bale under the netting, so that you reduce that risk. [i usually set my round bale outside their pen and fork hay into their feeder for them; but, when its really cold and I do set a whole bale in their feeder, its not netted, so hay usually just sloughs off the bale into the feeder and they'll eat on the "new" loose hay.]

 

[cretahillsgal]

I feed mainly round bales and have never had a problem with it. When they are eating on it it will begin to look like a mushroom. But here in SW OK it is very windy and usually blows away alot of the top of the bale a little at a time.

 

[Kendra]

Occasionally we notice it looks precarious and go push it over. The lady who makes the nets told us she puts them on their side for her Miniature horses, for less "mushroom" effects.

 

[cretahillsgal]

I will add that I also feed with my round bales on their sides. I can see how if you feed one up on its end, how it might be more likely to fall and hurt someone.

 

[ohmt]

We always go out each day and fill in the areas where the hay has been eaten from because yes, the bales are dangerous and can definitely fall/roll on the horses. That's why we keep them in the round cattle feeders too-to help keep that from happening. It also helps us know if there are any "ickies" in the bale by seeing the layers. Hope this helps

 

[Riverdance]

I have round bales that I use the Slow Buddy hay nets with. They work great, no waste and mine usually eat out the middle, then it falls offer, No problems. I love the nets.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for all the responses, I am really thinking I'd feel better if this bale were on its side (never thought of that earlier). Then I know it can't fall and the net is plenty big enough to cover the whole bale as is the tarp I use to keep it dry when they aren't eating off of it. Riverdance, are your bales set on end and not in a feeder of any kind? How snug does your net fit on the bale? My net just reaches around the bale so is very snug against the hay when the bale is new (this is the first one I've tried this way) but is longer than the height of the bale so the bottom and top come together to completely enclose the bale in netting. The snug net tho seems to hold the hay and keep it from sloughing of to fall where they are eating so I will definitely get a mushroom effect after they've eaten off it awhile.

 

[Minimor]

We don't net ours--just set them out on their round side. No problem with the smaller 800 lb bales as the Minis can reach the top. With the 1200 lb bales though they eat the bottom and middle and end up with the mushroom effect (generally they eat the ends inward) and after a time the bale does get very tippy. at that point I push it over so that it cannot fall over on anyone -- it easily could if I left it and it would still have enough weight to it to hurt any little horse that happened to be under it. It's especially bad if a horse lays down beside it and then it falls.

 

[Leeana]

When we feed round bales, we set them outside the fence and have them reach their heads in to eat the round bale..

The very first thing I do before I let the ponies near the RB's is cut the strings off! I had a mare once get tangled up in those strings...NOT fun! When we started feeding roundbales, I figured I would leave the strings on a couple days until they loosened up before I cutt them, was a bad decision. So anymore we cut them off right away from the get go.

 

[happy appy]

I feed round in the coldest part of the winter without a problem. I use a net and a round bale feeder without feet.

 

[Riverdance]

Reignmaker, I do not put them on their side, as they are meant to stay upright for the rain to fall off. If they are on their sides, the hay will soak up the rain and rot and get moldy. My nets are a little oversized right now because some bales are larger then others. i was told that they shrink about 2' in a couple of months or so. I have only used them for two round bales so far. I will not use them in the summer months because of too much rain. The net goes all around and closes at one end with a heavy duty plastic type closer. They usually eat out of the middle (I keep the sting (plastic mesh type stuff) on the bale to hold it's shape as long as possible). The bale kind of collapses down and the net gets looser and looser. They do manage to eat all of the hay though. The older, fatter mares seem to go through a bale in two weeks (7 to 8 mares, now down to 6), I have 6 boys from age 1 to 3 years, and their round bale is 3 weeks old now and still to heavy for me to move around. I move them around and turn them over when the bales get light enough for me to move. I now have 4 bale holders, but only one in the holder right now. Got to go and get 3 more round bales.

 

[BriarwoodAcres]

I am experimenting with feeding my minis from a netted (small hole netting like the slow feeder nets) round bale and I have been watching them eat away at the bottom, which is what they can reach of course. Now I'm starting to wonder if feeding this way is safe. Is there a risk the bale will become unstable and fall on them? This is a big, 1200lb bale and I am concerned that it will crush one of the horses if they chew the bottom down enough that it can not support the upper 2/3s of the bale. Am I worrying over nothing or do you have a way you keep them safe from that risk?

A friend of ours bought a black and white colt from us one year and she did this, they were eating away at the bottom and the roun bale fell on him and killed him. The safest way is sitting it on the ground on a pallet.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Thanks Riverdance, I'm not leaving it open to the weather anyway so mold is not a concern. Briarwood, I do of course set the bale on a pallet but that still has it sitting on end. I'm glad (maybe 'glad' is the wrong word here) to know I'm not just becoming a worrier and this IS a real concern. So sorry to hear that your friend had to prove the risk the hard way. I have already gotten a longer pallet and will be laying the bale on its side today. I'm not sure if feeding directly from the bale is something I will continue or not. I'll see how it goes but I might go back to feeding each horse individually and then turning them out to play when they are done eating. At least until the coldest part of the winter when they need to eat more just to stay warmer.

 

[Ashley]

I always put the hog panel around it, put it closer to the bale on one side so they can eat through. As it falls apart then it falls in the panel and no risk to the horses. I also check it everyday. When it starts to fall I keep pulling it down until its all in the panel lose.