# Feeding round bales



## Baphomet (Jun 15, 2013)

Hi all

Lately I've been feeding my herd hay from round bales instead of square bales. As you probably know, it's a lot cheaper by the pound to do it this way. 

If I buy hay by the square bale, it costs about $5.75/lb

If I buy it by the round bale, it costs about $0.08/lb

Obviously, a big difference when you look at it this way.

BUT...there's more to the story. I find a lot of hay gets wasted when I feed it in round bales. Maybe some of you have some hints on how to cut down on this. I leave the bales standing on end, but, goats being goats, they like to eat out the middle first, which causes the whole thing to collapse. 

SOmetimes I can get it to stand longer than others. This last bale only lasted two weeks ( a bale per month is my average).

Once it collapses, they start walking all over it and pooping/peeing in it, making it a lot less desirable to them.

So, obviously, they do not eat all 900 lbs of the round bales. And there's no practical way to know how much they are leaving behind. So there is no way I am getting that kind of mileage that I reported on a bale.

When it's sitting in a pile like that, I really stress out. I don't know if they are eating enough, or just nibbling small amounts. I don't want them to get sick, but I don't want them wasting half a bale of hay either.

I've seen some farms just put it out there, and not add a new one until there is barely any hay on the ground. If they pee in it, so what! No new hay until the ground is flat.

What I do at this point is get out there with a fork and turn it or fluff it up. SOmetimes they come right over and eat the stuff that was on the bottom.

I'm never sure how long to do this, or when I should just give up and bring in a new one.

Do any of you have the fortitude to just wait until it gets to the bottom before bringing out a new bale?

I also hate having to clean up all that soiled hay that they don't eat. I end up dragging about ten cart fulls of spent hay to the compost pile, which is a ton of work for someone with knees and a back like mine 


ANy of you that use rolled bales, I'd love to hear from you on how you manage things and if I'm worrying too much or not enough :think:


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

When I use round bales I stand them on end and wrap a cattle panel around them. Then I just tighten the panel around the bale daily. For goats with horns you may need to use a panel with smaller squares. Panels are kind of expensive but, they pay for themselves in much less wasted hay.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I peel mine and carry the loose hay to the feeder I made out of a futon frame lined with chain link fencing.

Your baled hay costs 5 dollars and 75 cents a pound? How much do you pay for a square bale? How big is it? I thought hay up here was expensive, but you got me beat!


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## Baphomet (Jun 15, 2013)

Uh...whoopsie. No. 0.17 per pound. Wow, pretty out of it today!


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

So this is a weird set up but, you know those wire exercise pens they use for puppies? I have one of those wrapped around the bottom of the bale, and a tarp over the top. They basically eat out from under the tarp so it just kind of settles down as time goes on... Right now it's kind of a funny looking lump but they're still eating it and wasting none, and when they jump on it and poop on the tarp it just rolls right off.


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## LooneyTickAcres (Nov 18, 2015)

I use a piece of welded wire with the 4x6 squares. It's flexible and easy to tighten as they eat it. The squares are small enough that no horns get caught. I use any "waste" hay as bedding for my shelters. I've noticed that they will nibble at it if it's fluffed, so it's an added bonus that they get to eat in bed!


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## Onion-Creek-Oberhaslis (Sep 25, 2013)

I went back to round bales this year. I usually feed hay with weeds in it and it cost from $125-160 per ton (squares). However they wasted a bunch of hay, and yours truly cleaned it out every spring. This year I decided to get dairy quality hay from some commercial dairy friends of mine (rounds). $ were $200 per ton but well worth it. I called him up and I said "I've got a problem I've never run into in the winter before. My goats are gaining weight!". Feed wastage is down by 2/3rds (they even eat stems!). I peel off the flakes and put it in their hayrack. Also if you store your rounds outside under tarps like me, it helps to keep them on their side (like they are in the field) and then flip them over when you use them.


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## VVFarm (Dec 14, 2015)

There's some great ideas here. 
I use purchased elevated feeders especially made for round bales. They're pricey when new but I got a good deal from a goat farmer who was retiring. 
I like them because they hold the whole bale above the goats heads and they cannot climb on the hay. Being goats, they still waste what falls from their mouthes. In this picture the feeder has "sunk" in all the waste from the year. There's still room underneath for some to hang out
.







Shortly after this was taken my husband picked it up with the skidsteer and we composted the waste. 
This is what I use for grass hay. I shudder to think how they would waste alfalfa stems. I just pitch their alloyed alfalfa into wooden feeders each day.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

We used to have the same issues with round bales. We have Boer/%'s, and have tried different things. The best thing we found to do is what Goathiker suggested, wrapping a cattle panel around the bale, and tightening it as needed. 
We ended up building a cattle panel shelter to keep it in so they didn't have to stand in the rain to eat, and they stopped sleeping in the barn lol. So now they have a more permanent cattle panel shelter - panels are attached to pallets w/osb on the outside of the pallets to keep out drafts, and fixed the front and back to also help keep out rain/drafts. It has worked really well for us.

They do waste some hay, but nowhere near as bad. The nice thing is, especially in colder months, the hay they pull down, they can use as bedding - so we don't have to buy any bedding, and just clean out their shelter as needed. We have 8 does that go through around 1 bale a month. The only time we use square bales is if we have goats in stalls (kidding), or separated into another pen (4-H goats, or right now we have 2 that are separated because they are bullies).


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## fcdairygoats (Jun 24, 2013)

When I used round bales a few times I would set them up on the end and unwrap them and feed them that way. I found that to be a pain after awhile though.. :/ I use square bales now.


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## top_goat (Sep 16, 2014)

Great ideas here! I'm spending a fortune on square bales and have been thinking of trying round bales, but wastage and rain spoilage are my challenges. Love the cattle panel girdle idea! 

HoosierShadow -- could you post a picture of your shed? I'm having trouble visualizing it, but need something to protect the bale from rain...your solution sounds like a good possibility! Thanks!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Sure, please don't mind the fact that it's ugly lol We're in the process of working on it if mother nature ever gives us a chance to finish (going to paint the OSB & finish the front) we got flooded Wed night, and it's rained every day since, crazy weather! Those rocks were under water Wed, I thought I would have to move the goats, but thankfully it didn't flood their shelter. Usually the creek water doesn't get close enough to be a concern.









The only thing we're having problems figuring out how to do is how we want to do the front - have to be able to open it in order to roll a round bale into it. I'm coming to the conclusion we'll just alter the pallets, put OSB on the outside of them to keep out drafts, and keep that billboard sign tied down for the winter.

This is the backside right after we built it. In the fall/winter I use a cheap blue tarp and tie it to cover 1/2 of the doorway to help keep rain/snow from blowing in as much


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## VVFarm (Dec 14, 2015)

That's awesome, HoosierShadow! Pretty is as pretty does... It's not ugly at all. Your goats must be so happy and cozy in there


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## Baphomet (Jun 15, 2013)

I agree, HS, that stall is beautiful to me:lovey:

Goat hiker, I am trying to picture this.

I think you are talking about those steel fence panels that come in, I think, 4 x 16 or so? They are flexible. People often use them as tarp roofing over goat pens?

You just take one and bend it around the bale? ANd the goats can reach the hay? Probably gets easier for them as the bale settles into a pile.

:think:


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## top_goat (Sep 16, 2014)

Agree with VVFarm -- great solution to your needs. Thanks for sharing...that gives me a good visual idea that will be helpful as I plan my solution! I'm thinking of adding a "hay room" onto our 8'x8' doe stall...probably also 8'x8' (or perhaps 12')...but extending into the common paddock so all the goats can access it. Tarps are difficult for us mainly due to the dogs. They can have one shredded before the gate latches! Thanks for sharing your ideas!


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## Baphomet (Jun 15, 2013)

Searching for round bale feeders now.

I like this one the 5000

http://www.redriverarenas.com/feeders.html

But it's a pretty penny!

For the others, you need a tractor to load the bale in the top.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

...


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## fcdairygoats (Jun 24, 2013)

Goathiker- Is that a cattle panel?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

That one is a 6' horse panel I think. I just swiped the pic off of Bing images to give the general idea :lol:


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## fcdairygoats (Jun 24, 2013)

I have never heard of a horse panel and never seen them around here...I was thinking about that idea for my miniature horses. I have two....well technically one. My mare but I have my cousin's mini stallion here to.


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## fcdairygoats (Jun 24, 2013)

I made a hay feeder for them but they end up with over half of a bale of hay on the outside of the feeder. GRR. 
I like feeding them a full bale at a time so I don't have to feed them every day. I try to cut work load when I can..plus they get free choice hay.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I know they make them but, around here they are about $75 each...


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Why not use a slow feed hay net? I just bought 2 for my goat stalls and I am loving them.


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## fcdairygoats (Jun 24, 2013)

$75!! WOW...hmmm rethink that idea...that's pricey! lol 

I had thought about the slow feed hay net....are they a pain to use? I used regular hay nets before....used it about a week before tossing them. They were a pain to fill. I like being able to feed the minis a full bale (80-100lbs)....would last them much longer if the darn brats would leave it in their hay feeder!


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

The trick to filling them is to put the bale in the net and hang it before you cut the strings on the bale. They are a bit of a pain the first few times but, then they relax and get much easier to use. Shire makes a good one that will hold a whole bale.


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## fcdairygoats (Jun 24, 2013)

How well do you think it would work out in the weather for the horses? Their hay feeder is out in the pasture.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Should be fine, it's made from the same poly rope that we use on the fishing boats. The one I have has a metal ring in the bottom so you can snap another rope there and hang it sideways. That way there is more room to eat and it doesn't hand down real low to get stepped on as it empties.


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## fcdairygoats (Jun 24, 2013)

Hmm interesting. Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into them again.


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## top_goat (Sep 16, 2014)

How do ya'll unwrap the netting off the round bales? In my limited use of round bales, it seemed the netting was rolled relatively deeply into the bale.


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## artzkat (Oct 22, 2007)

We cut and bale our own hay into the 900 lb bales, but I have smaller goats and cannot risk having them get injured managing a round bale...so I keep a bale under a covered side shed and peel off what they need each day and distribute it to feeders and hay bags inside their pen. That way I can be sure that the less aggressive ones get a chance to get hay and cut down on waste..always have one or two more feeders than goats..cuts down on waste and injuries.


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## Baphomet (Jun 15, 2013)

Well GH, I took your advice and went down to TSC and bought a cattle panel.

At my TSC they have the 16 ft x 50 inch panels for $19.99!

I bought 3 stainless carabiners to connect the ends (which cost more than the panel, btw)

here is a pic of what I've done

Unfortunately, I let my goats chew on this bale for a day before doing this, and then I took the baling netting off to wrap the panel and the whole bale got a lot wider. So I couldn't really close it but I should be able to soon.

I used some rope to keep things together for now. I'm sure they will find a way to completely destroy this idea eventually :GAAH:

The only thing I will do differently next time is I will sit the bale on a pallet before wrapping it in the panel. It makes clean up a lot easier when all you do is life the pallet and tip all the spent hay away.


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## Luckthebuck234 (Jul 15, 2015)

These are all great ideas we use square bales but have been thinking about getting the round because of the prices, also what kind of hay do ya'll prefer?
We use coastal for our goats and I was just wandering what everyone else uses


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## Baphomet (Jun 15, 2013)

Hey luck. Most people on here don't know from coastal. That's a southern thing. The bale in those pics is tifton 44, I'm in Florida and I think that's a bit better protein level than plain coastal. I buy horse quality/barn kept. My goats like it fine. I feed the milkers peanut in flakes, but I've never seen that in round bales.


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## Luckthebuck234 (Jul 15, 2015)

Thanks, I guess it is a southern thing


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## eqstrnathlete (Mar 16, 2013)

I tried a round bale once. They ate it for a day then it sat until it rotted away. I have 3 goats and get 75 bales of grass hay per year at $3 per bale.


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