I am buying a round bale of really good hay, and want to feed my goats (and rabbits) from it. Should I put the whole bale in their pen (under a pole barn roof) with some kind of improvised hayring around it so they can't trample it (field fencing comes to mind), *or* should I keep the bale away from them and pull hay from it to put in a hayrack? Does anyone have a suggestion for an easy way to do this? I only have four goats, 3 of which are just 6 months old, so it'll take them a while to eat it all, and I want to avoid waste and spoilage.

Thanks:o)

-- Elizabeth in E TX (kimprice@peoplescom.net), July 11, 2001

Answers

Putting the round bale in the pen will result in a lot of waste. We feed round bales to our sheep and goats during the winter and they waste a lot, but it isn't practical to feed squares (or cost effective). The goats will jump to the top of the bale on a regular basis and eat from there, especially babies.

I would find a way to cover the bale - a cheap plastic tarp would do and just fork it to the goats as needed.

-- beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), July 11, 2001.

I grow and sell hay. I usually use square bales but when I run out I put a nice round bale in a covered area then fence around it so that they can't get to it. I then pitchfork it to them. Once, I left the round bale out for them and it became a mess and waste almost overnight. Something fun to play with.

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), July 11, 2001.

Elizabeth, Countryside had an article about round bales a while back (maybe two or three issues). It said to set the round bale on a skid or pallet on end under cover or tarped. The bale will they unwrap pretty easily to be feed in mangers. I agree don't put the whole bale in with the goats and sheep they will make a wasted mess. If you put the bale outside, Countryside said to pile hay on top of bale before covering with tarp to make a dome then cover. We modified this ourselves but couldn't get to bale on end and we didn't use a skid or pallet down first. It worked to a point. I can certainly understand why the article gave the directions that they did. Linda in Indy

-- Linda in Indy (peacefulvalley3@yahoo.com), July 11, 2001.

We've had to feed round bales when I couldn't find anything else or no one with square bale equipment. We did the bale on end on a pallet and unroll routine and it works fairly well until you get to the center. Ours were still about 1 1/2-2' in diameter and still the full length of the bale height. They were very difficult to feed from that point on due to size//weight but beat nothing or all that waste.

I bought a Grate Bale Box Feeder from Horsepasture Manufacturing and it's the most waste free feeder I've ever seen. They aren't cheap but I figure with what it has already saved in hay not bought and hauled, hay on the floor, etc., it will pay for itself in less than 2 years. I don't have the website address in front of me but if anyone is interested, email me privately and I'll forward it to you.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), July 11, 2001.

I would question what one considers waste. Spoiled, trammed, manured upon, etc. can still be used in a compost pile, as bedding or as garden mulch.

The primary value of round value hay is the economic aspect. Say you are paying $2.00 per bale for square baled and $20 a bale for round bale of roughly equivalent hay. A round bale contains somewhere between 30 and 40 square bales, depending on size and compactness. Thus you are looking at $60-80 versus $20. In theory, if 66-75% is wasted, you still break even. This, of course, ignores handling. I have placed some round bales in the back of pickups so they could just be rolled off. (Note: I have weighed round bales put up by two neighbors. One has a small baler which produces 4' wide rolls. They averge about 800 pounds. The other produces 6' wide rolls and they average about 1,200 pounds.)

One person above mentioned the difficulty in unrolling from the sides as the bale becomes mostly used. Just lay it down on the ground and unroll it from there. You should be able to get down to a point where it can be handled to put it into a hay feeder or something.

I have heard of crosscut saws being used to cut a bale to get large flakes off of the sides.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), July 11, 2001.

Elizabeth, you can't tarp it or you will get mold. Just put it into the corner of their pen, under the roof, and put a cattle panel around it. They can't climb or leap up that tall, well unless you have a LaMancha buck! They can put their heads through to eat. You will have to keep the ground around it pitchforked up weekends, composting what is pulled out, or it will build up and they will use it for sleeping, pooping on and then babies eating it will once again cause worms and cocci. This of course would only work for goats with no horns. Never just place a large round bale out in the pen, without something around it. A gal lost a yearling saanen one winter, thought it was stollen! When spring thaw came the doe was found dead, the 1/2 eaten round bale had tipped over on her, probably when someone else was jumping around on top of it. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 11, 2001.

The Coastal grass in my area grows all year around, and many pastures stretch for miles. But during the drought of summer, the grass turns brown. That's when the huge round bales ~ 1,000-1,500 pounds ~ dot the scenery. I haven't seen many rings around here and I don't use one. Free feeding is the name of the game here. Everyone does what works best for them, but I don't know how square bales can be cost effective. It's always great to see the rains come and the grass return to green.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 12, 2001.

The economy of round bales is diminished when you have to buy a tractor big enough to move the hay or bother a neighbor to come move bales for you. Ours isn't and I have no one to call with such equipment. And I can make compost from bagged leaves and grass the townsfolk set on the curb or from our yard a lot more cheaply than from $2-$3 a bale alfalfa. If it doesn't go into the critter for whom it is intended, it's wasted.

I have a friend in NW Missouri who has lost sheep when a bale fell on them, just as Vicki mentioned. Didn't find them until the weather warmed up and the smell was strong.

I'm sorry--it's the Grate Box Bale Feeder. Hay isn't spilled, minimal hay is pulled out of the feeder, they can't get into it and when the dominant animals have had their fill they go away to ruminate and the subordinate animals can eat without competition.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), July 12, 2001.

Thanks a bunch for all the replies--I've learned a lot. What I'll do is put the round bale upright on a pallet *outside* the pen and build a small polebarn over it, and unroll and feed as needed; that seemes the best (and safest) way to do it. Here in Northeast TX square bales are $5.00 each, and that's not alfalfa--alfalfa bales are $8.00!! Also, the round bales I'll be getting are from my father-in- law, and he'll deliver them free! I haven't been able to find the Grate Bale Feeder mentioned, but I'd like to check it out. Actually, what I'd really like is to build a good hay rack/feeder myself, that the goats can't waste the hay out of. Hmmm, seems like there must be plans for one floating around the 'net. Maybe I'll start a new thread and ask about that.

Thanks all:o)

-- Elizabeth in E TX (kimprice@peoplescom.net), July 12, 2001.

The site for those feeders is www.horsepasture.homestead.com. The have small models for sheep and goats and larger for horses.

Don't let the price of the whole finished feeder throw you off. You can buy just the grate with very specific directions on building your own box. Those instructions also include some really good tips on putting up excellent hay.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), July 14, 2001.

Speaking of hay. If you are in a close enough proximity to Woodville Texas, guess if you don't know where that is than it's to far ;) East of Livingston on 190. Anyway my hay guy has the new Bermuda seed, World Feeder, he is cutting heavy square bales every 26 days, so its very nice hay. It will after this cutting carry "feed" tags on it from Texas A&M, it has the same or higher protein as Alfalfa. $4 a bale. Contact me if you are interested. Vicki vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 14, 2001.