Round Bales

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littlehorse2

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I was wondering how many of you feed round bales? I knew a person that fed her herd of horses with round bales and all the horses coliced and died or she had to pt them asleep. I know here in MA that they roll it when it's still wet so it molds. Which is fine for the cows, but not for the horses. Has any one else had a problem with them?

CHristy
 
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We bale our own hay and do bale some round along with square, during winter months round bales are set out free choice. They eat all they want, when they want. Been doing it as long as I have had minis - about 12 years, Never had a single colic case - of course we cut the hay, tead it, rake it and then bale it - not all the same day. This is bremuda grass hay (not sure of the species as it is not Tifton 44 - something better)

All my mares are fat and sassy and that is the way I like them - I don't worry about my broodmares being in "show shape", I very seldom have foaling problems and the mares cycle and bred back like normal, the extra weight don't bother them.

Several are totally against round bales, but for me as long as it ain't broke don't fix it.
 
We feed our broodmares round bales also. Usually from sept. to March. We put the big bale inside a round bale feeder.
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Then we tarp the hay so when it rains it doesn't get wet. Those mares also get sweet feed once a day.

Our show horses & young horses stay in the run in paddocks.
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cjmm
 
We also use round bales for our horses and have never had any problems with them. I love them as it's lots easier then hauling the square bales!!
 
Well, I tried once, but they would not go near it. Left it out there for a number of days, and they all walked as far around it as they could. So I took a lot of it a part, still nothing. Ended up cleaning it up and burning it, and haven't tried it again since. It should be fine to feed, if you can get them to eat it.
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Mine come running when we put out a new round bale. I have one mare who gets so happy about the new round bale that she rubs herself all over it. If she could, I'm sure she would climb right on top of it!!
 
I use a couple of round bales in the winter. I do put my in the sheds so the bales are never wet and I buy my round bales form a man that only does horse hay. I do think that it is important that you get horse quality round bales and have a way to keep them dry at all times. I haven't had any medical problems from the round bales other then chubby minis (but mine are fat all year long)!
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In this area it's very very hard to get round bales that are horse quality. Farmers are very good at baling the hay just a little bit tough, & when it gets packed into those round bales it just doesn't keep. We've tried round bales different times & so often have ended up with mold, so end up having to burn the bales. This year we've been feeding round bales that I got from a neighbor. He baled them in perfect shape--no mold whatsoever in any of them, some are grass, some grass/alfalfa & some 2nd cut alfalfa. The 2nd cut is dusty--not a moldy dust, just a dry leaf dust as the hay was actually baled a bit too dry. When you tear it apart the leaves all fall off the stems.

We always fork our hay out to the horses, we don't set bales out for them--in the first place, we have no tractor to move bales with, & in the second place I don't like them sticking their heads in the round bales. Even if the hay is good, with no mold, some horses do end up with dust allergies, even heaves, just from eating the round bales. It's surprising how much dust there is even in the good bales.
 
The first year we moved to our place and brought all our horses home we went the route of the large square bales, 800 of them
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NEVER AGAIN! It's not that the hay was not good it is the work involved in stacking those. The following year and all years after we go with the round bales from the same supplier but just in a different "shape" and "size". Our round bales average 600lbs. The hay is as beautiful and clean as the squares we were getting from our supplier so for us there is absolutely no difference in the quality of the hay and of course a big bonus not to have a sore back for two days from stacking bales and then lugging bales all over the place. I place bales outside in each field plus I have some in the "cover-all" type building we have where the horses (minis) can go in and out at leisure.
 
We feed round bales and haven't had any problems. I've had just as much problem with mold and dust in small square bales as I have with round bales. We have cattle so mostly put up round bales. Sometimes they are a little dusty from the hay being baled too dry, but any bales that don't look horse quality, go straight to the cows.
 
We have been feeding the real big rounds for years and don't have a problem as long as the farmer knows when to bale it's always dry and not coarse and not cow hay by a long shot. Our first one went out last week. We don't have a tractor so when they come there put on pellets spaced 20 feet apart in a long fenced of area 30x600' long and we move down the row putting a bale ring on the next one till there all done usually early spring. lf l think there eating to much there's a gate at the front l can close and just let them in part time. Only way to go in winter feeding 30 some mares free choice rounds. Stallions are hand fed from 20 rounds kept in the barn because it's just easier for me to do it from there. Our farmers don't bale square anymore so we had no choice but to go round and l'm glad we did it is a lot easier.
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We began feeding round bales this past December.

I had just bought my filly, Q, and there were no affordable square bales available so we purchased a round bale. I love it and now prefer it over square bales. The only item I don't care for, is that the round bale really does need a 'keeper' to keep Q from trying to paw it into bedding and wasting it. Kenny just built the feeder this past weekend.

This may not work well for a horse that gorges itself and/or is an easy keeper. In that case, the horse would have to have monitored/limited access to the hay.

The round bales we purchase are horse-quailty and stored inside. I just call the guy when I need a new one and he loads it into our trailer for us and we roll it into the feeder at home and remove twines.

Heidi

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[SIZE=14pt]I also feed rounds... I dont have the room to store the quanity of square to feed all winter so I buy rouns when I need them. I dont tarp or anything. They dont last long enough to worry about going bad. I had one year EXCEPTIONALY great hay and they left NONE. Gone within 2 weeks. No colic here.[/SIZE]

April
 
I too feed round bales, because they are easiest to find here. I on the other hand, fork mine to separate pens. I have never had any colic from the hay. I only order one or two bales at a time and cover them so they don't mold too badly.
 
I've always fed big bales and liked doing it, every morning I'd go and pull off hay from the top and put it all down around the bale, keeping it in the feeder. The mares wasted so much of it anyway, they'd pull it out and walk on it. I'd check too in this manner that there wasn't any mold, and it worked good. But I had my share of poked eyes, eye injuries that required vet attention but I didn't realize why at the time. But now, I realized that they just eat to much, and waste to much. A couple months ago, I made this manger and you can see the bale sitting on top of that cement there, now I go twice a day and fill the manger, still drop some in piles for them for the under dogs but I like it. It's more work but I don't mind. I use half as much hay, the mares are all to fat anyway and maybe they'll loose a few pounds but they are still being fed good and they aren't wasting any. If you do use round bales, be sure to have them in a hay ring, I know a girl who had the bale fall on a filly and kill it. I think it depends on how much rain your area has and how many horses you have eating on it, rain does wreck them in a big hurry.

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I hate those suckers. Don't want them, but I might still have to get one. I"ve tried them with my quarter horses in the past a few times and never had good results for a variety of reasons.

First of all, you have to be sure the quality of the hay is even palatable by minis. Like Erica for instance that bails her own hay. She knows just what she has there and of course does not bail wet/damp hay like most farmers do with them. Most farmers just roll their hay for cows and it's full of weeds and junk and that is the intent behind them. And lots of round bailers do not chop up their hay enough, and leaving very long strands of hay that a horse can choke on. Now, if the hay is round bailed with intent for horses, and you know it's of good quality, and I mean you have to know what good quality is in the first place and not trust the farmer and just take his word for it, you do need to put it in a container that is made for them or they can roll over and get a horse really hurt, especially in those stupid strings, which you would need to cut off. You do have to really check those round bail holders too and be sure they are put together right.

I would put one on top of a couple of pallets and then shove it in a round bail holder and hope to heck nobody finds a way to get stuck in one. I would drape a tarp over the top too so that it doesn't get rain or snow in it to keep it from molding. There is a lot of waste too usually and the horses will poop around it.

My hay man called me and can get me a small one in here that is top quality timothy/orchard grass for $35.00. I'm thinking about it but not sure I want to deal with it though. I usually just put out what I know they will eat and clean up. I don't like waste, but it sure would cut down on some chores. I'm getting old or something.
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Marty - you do not have to put the whole thing outside.

Just have it placed in your hayshed - or on a palette under a tarp - on end. Cut the strings/webbing.... and simply unravel as much as you need - and serve it the same way you always would. Thus you control the waste - and how much they eat. This solution worked best for me when I had to use round bales - before I was able to switch to the "refrigerator"-sized ones.
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I never had a problem with "bad" round bales.... they were always of good quality...
 
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Yea Tag that thought also crossed my mind to make it work too.

I also just wondered that if it were put in a holder, how the heck would a mini be able to reach that far into it and get any once the outside was eaten away? hmmmmmm

Maybe buy more "necky" horses??????
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You can get round bale holders for sheep that work fine for Minis- I do not use them as my supplier still does small bales BUT I would be glad to use them if he did them- hos hay is always good and he would just dump a big bale in the feeder whenever I wanted it.
 
We bale our own hay and use round bales from frost to April some time (we have everything from mini's to draft). I hate, hate, hate stacking square bales...I actually hand feed off the round bale similar to how Marnie does it. If we put a whole bale out, the Percheron would stand there all day long and eat it...then poop on it
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