Ponies in the snow and ? about round bales..

[lilchick]

My neighbor brought me this round bale of hay during the snowstorm this past week. I have been using square bales of alfalfa/grass mix and control feeding of it as well as their pellet feed.

Anyone have issues with feeding round bales of grass hay to horses and ponies?

 

[patandchickens]

The main issue with roundbales is that a) you usually waste a LOT of the hay. Using a well-designed roundbale feeder will reduce this hay somewhat but OTOH is an injury risk (horses can find ways to hurt themselves on pretty much ANY feeder, if you get an unlucky roll of the dice; no feeder is therefore safer).

The lesser-but-nonzero other things to bear in mind are that

b) sometimes roundbales are poor quality, moldy inside especially if stored outdoors or exposed to the elements, and if stored anywhere other than indoors the weathering of the outer 6" or so of hay can represent a sizeable loss in terms of total nutritional content of the bale; and

c) horses eating from roundbales will periodically come in contact with baled weasel carcasses and half rabbits and so forth, which can give a horse botulism, and of course if you are free choice feeding from the roundbale in the pasture it is highly unlikely you will be able to intercept this and get rid of the contaminated hay as you could if it were small squares. A lot of people who feed roundbales regularly, especially to animals they really don't want getting sick like valuable broodmares, will have the horse vaccinated for whatever botulism strain(s) are commonest in your area; but if it is just that you're going to feed a couple roundbales as a stopgap measure, or if you are ok with the risk of botulism because after all it is rather small, then it is not necessarily a big deal, just be aware of the possibility if anyone starts acting droopy.

I notice you have your roundbale on its side. This is good in a way, because it helps the iside of the bale stay drier longer; however it can be a SEVERE SAFETY HAZARD because all's it takes is for a horse to bump hard into one side (perhaps jostling to get away from another horse) and that bale is gonna hit the road baby, and 600-1000 lbs of roundbale on the move (yes, even in the snow) will not only flatten any fenceline in its path, it can also severely injure livestock or people that might be in the way, not to mention not doing the side of your barn any good at all (I saw that happen once!). So if you are going to feed the bale tipped on its side like that, I would VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting some 8x8 railroad ties or great big log sections or something like that, to chock it with in both directions. Cinderblocks will do in a pinch but horses can hurt themselves on 'em so they're not ideal IMO.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[lilchick]

Thanks Pat for replying. It was stored in neighbors barn so was dry when he brought it.

Never thought of it rolling but it could easily end up in neighbors woods! I will brace it today.

I have always fed the square bales and they cost 3.00 ea. versus round bales at 25.00.

We thought this would supplement them in the extreme cold weather as they have been chewing on some trees.. Needing extra fiber or just bored?

Never heard of them getting botulism so I will watch them carefully..thanks!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
The way to do the REAL cost comparison is to see how many days that roundbale lasts them; then compare to how many square bales you would have fed in that time frame. Because of the waste associated with roundbales the cost savings will not be as great as price-per-unit-weight would suggest. Mind, it is still certainly possible (especially if you are lucky enough to have nonpiggish and nonslovenly horses) that the roundbale hay MAY end up cheaper than the small squares; but this will enable you to actually see what the $ difference is.

BTW if you decide you like the quality of the hay but not the amount the horses waste, another option with roundbales (if you have enough barn space) is to set one on its end, a little ways apart from any others or walls or etc, and then manually unwind layers of hay off it to feed in the way you'd have been feeding your small squares, a certain weight of hay X times per day. It is a nuisance but if you have the space and energy to do it, it can be a real good compromise between the appealing cost-per-weight of roundbales and the low waste factor of measured several-times-daily feeding. Also it gives you a chance to find the dead weasels and half rabbits

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[CountryMom]

lilchick, I have used Round Bales for YEARS with horses. We also use a lot of round bales for our cattle. Quality is the key for feeding horses. I keep the fresh and highly fertilized bales for my horses and the others if any that we have questions on are fed to the cattle. Cattle do not have as many issues with mold and other things that can trigger reactions for horses. Only one year did we have a hard time finding hay and I was forced to use lesser quality for about amonth. Once we were able to get the better quality I switched them back. I also use Hay Rings to go around our round bales which keeps the bale in one spot and reduces waste. Although I have to say I have never had one roll away LOL! I will be sure to tell the kids to quit running on top of the bales as they may roll. I have a lot of cattle style ones that are made of pipe or angle iron and I have cut a few down for the horses. This keeps them from rubbing their manes off reaching through the bars. Overall, I cannot say I have had any issues with round bales. In fact, since I suffer from asthma, I prefer to use round bales whenever I can to avoid my breathing in breaking up square bale dust. I do however keep square bales for our stalled ponies and horses (show stock.) From the looks of the bale you will be in good shape and your ponies will benefit from free choice hay in the cold weather.

 

[geepy]

I use round bales and haven't had any problem. We use a hay ring with a solid bottom. Any waste hay goes to the coop for nest. I also have a couple of sheep that eat the hay that falls out. I have never seen an carcasses. We did have a problem with old fence wire one time and our supplier gave us a bale for free because of it. Our horses have iron stomachs (i guess). I have heard of horses with sensitive stomach having problems. The only thing is when our free range chickens get in the r-bales and lay eggs, you can tell when the horses find one.

 

[WIChookchick]

My barn owner feeds round bales, we have never had a problem.

I would however do one thing in particular, especially if your ponies are not used to having a round bale in front of them 24/7...
Get some electric fencing up OR some sort of fencing and only let them eat for a few hours in the morning and evening.
The reason for this is, they can eat too much. And with that food they will eat ALL the time.
Joan, my barn owner complains on how much her's eat during the winter, as they lay there and eat and sleep in the hay once it
gets spread out as they eat it.
Just becareful!

Carol

 

[lilchick]

Thanks everyone for your great input. I will keep an eye on them and if all goes well with the round bales I will purchase a hay ring and use it.

Hay is very plentiful here and I can get the best quality.. 15 years ago when I moved here to Warren Co. several farms had horses and cattle. Now there are fewer and fewer, yet farmers still put up hay to sell.

The ponies do walk away from the round bale and wander around in their large pasture. I feed them pellet feed as well and they don't seem to miss their square flakes of hay....

They are napping in the sun so far and hopefully will not make a bed of the hay...

 

[WIChookchick]

Unless the pellets are for minerals and vitamins, I wouldn't add it back in the mix.
You can cause your ponies to founder if you change their food too much, and if the mix on the round bale is too rich.
PLEASE... talk to a vet, or to a reputable person who is in your area who has been feeding rounds to horses for a while.
Ponies are designed to eat less, and alot of people call them "air ferns" after the fact they can eat very little and still be chubby little loves!
Giving them access to the round bale 24/7 is just asking for trouble.
Its good to give horses extra hay on cold days, but you need to watch for a cresty neck, and weight issues.

Another good friend of mine puts up a simple single strand of electric around her round bales, and gives them a few flakes of hay in the evening, they are "on" the round
bale all day, but around 4 o clock or so, she puts up the fence, and then when they get fed, they get a bit of hay for the night.

Another thing she did, which is super cost effective, she got a hog/cattle panel and got it bent into a ring, and got it wired/tied to keep it that way, when they put in a new round bale
the bale ring is light enough to simply pick up and put around it.

Please, if you are not familiar with round bales, and haven't fed them, talk to those who have and about regulating your feed, especially for smaller equines.

 

[gofasterstripe]

I feed my minis round bales. I used to put it in their pasture but got alot of wastage doing that. I now keep it on pallets and roll the hay off the bales and feed 2 X a day, the bales lasts longer that way and no wastage. I put a tarp over it to keep it from the elements.