# Feeding Hay Rolls or Large Square Bales ???



## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

I know there are some of you on here that feed hay rolls or the big 3x3x8 square bales. How do you feed them? 

Do you cover them up?
Do you put them on something?
Do you worry about mold?

Are there benefits to feeding hay rolls/3x3x8's?
Downfalls?

Thanks!
:grouphug:


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

I use hay rolls or the BIG squares, but I dont leave them out in the paddock with the goats. I get one or two at a time, leave it on a pallet and covered with a tarp. I take hay off the bale and feed it to my girls in smaller amounts. 

The reason I do this is just because of price - the small square bales are around $14 here for a 25kg bale. The roll I picked up yesterday is 450kg - the equivalent of 18 small squares. 18 small squares would have cost me $252, the roll cost me $100. 

Its a bit of a hassle handling them, sure, but with my increased number of animals I was putting out half a small square a day, and really could have put out a whole square its just with them being so little and expensive I was a bit stingy with it. Given that I have lots now I'll be able to give them a bit more. 

Unloading them can be tricky if you dont have a tractor. I get them to put it on a trailer at the farm, then I drive home and back the trailer up to a tree. I tie a rope around the tree and around the bale, and slide a pallet under the trailer. I then drive away slowly and steadily and fingers crossed the bale slides off the trailer.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

I guess to answer your questions more directly, 

Do you cover them up? - You can tarp them, or use a covered hay ring (tin or corrugated iron over the top) or you can simply leave it open to the elements. This last one works ok if you have lots of goats and you leave it out for them to eat free choice, as they will eat it quickly and getting wet wont be as much of a problem

Do you put them on something? - you can get hay rings for them to go in, you can make your own, you can sit them on a pallet like I do to keep them off the ground so the bottom doesnt get all yuck, or you can leave them on the ground. The bottom will get a bit wasted but not too much. 

Do you worry about mould? - if you have it out in the open, uncovered, and its not eaten quickly, it can get some mould. If you hand feed from it like I do you can pull the mould out. If the bale is in the paddock for the goats to eat from at will, they will eat around the mould

Benefits - cheaper than small squares, allows the animal to eat free choice without the need to fill up hay racks every day, lasts longer than a small square, fun for goats to jump and climb on 

Downfalls - difficult to handle and store, harder to tell quality compared with a small square, if left in the paddock for them to eat from there will be some wastage as they will climb on it, poo and wee on it, and scratch some out to lay in


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## Jessaba (May 13, 2010)

We put our hay in our "shop" on top of a board so they dont get wet should the building leak...we do cover them up with a tarp...we use the square bales just because its easier to handle around here.....we take a few flakes and feed them till they are out then refill.


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

I have a small extension to my small goat barn, that I keep about 4 bales of Alfalfa and a couple of bedding hay... It's covered , but the sides are mainly tarps, and they sit up off the ground on pallets with tarps on them also. The goats cant get to them.. but OHHH how they try!


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## goatsnmore (Feb 22, 2011)

We've used them. They are a bit of a hassle to feed from, as we fed small amounts intead of putting it all out at once. They can be tarped easily, as the roll/square is quite compact. We put a couple pallets underneath them. They can often be bought cheaper than small bales.


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## newmama30+ (Oct 4, 2010)

last yr we tried feeding round bales, that didn't work so well as most of the bale ended up as bedding. this yr we are feeding big squares. for 23 boer does 1 big square bale lasts a wk. We store them in our loafing barn, and have them stacked in a corner that doesnt leak.


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## Sunny Daze (May 18, 2010)

I usually square bales although this year we were only able to make round bales off of our field. I was going to just keep them for the horses over winter but have way more than I need so over the weekend I decided to try one for the goats. I put it out on pallets and so far they haven't messed it up too badly although there is some that falls and gets used as bedding. In the past the few times I used round bales I would rake up the fallen stuff every day and feed it to the cow or some other critter that would eat it before it got pooped and peed on to much. We haven't had any rain since I put it out but I plan on tarping it. I have also read some people on here who use cattle panels around it to keep goats from messing it up and they tighten them as the bale gets smaller...I might try that too.


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