Round Bale or Square Bale?

[Bird_Lover_17]

Hello people who have animals that eat hay!
So, I know technically this should be on Backyard Herds (BYH) , but I do know that there are people here that also have goats/horses/cows/etc.
This is your typical round bale (the GIANT ones) and the tiny square bales. So, cast your votes and feel free to comment!

 

[21hens-incharge]

A risk with round bales is that the horses can smell the tasty bits deep inside. Burying their heads in there to go for that they can inhale a lot of particles leading to heaves.

When we had cattle I used square bales. Much easier to handle.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Like others, square for the ease of handling. I can't imagine using round bales without the heavy equipment making it possible. And without a large cattle herd, I can't imagine needing large round bales. You don't want it to get wet before the animals have a chance to eat it. It will mold.
When I was young, we baled our own hay and I operated the mower, rake and square baler.
Back then, I never saw a round bale. I think it is a relatively new invention.

 

[res]

We use both, and bale both on our own land (in KS). Vastly prefer rounds or mid-squares, even when we only had 2 horses at home. Bigger bales are consistently a better deal when you consider price per ton.

It is a common misconception that rounds/large squares (>600lb) are "bad" hay. In fact, they can often contain better hay than small squares. It is all dependent on who puts them up.

You don't need special equipment to handle a few round bales. They can be pushed off a truck or trailer and rolled by hand into a barn or sheltered area. When you are ready to feed them, flip them over so they are sitting like a cinnamon roll, and "peel" them. You can then feed them just like the flakes of a small square. Mid squares... well, those you kinda do need equipment to move them. They don't roll. You can shove them a few inches, and you can unload them by tying them off and pulling the truck or trailer forward until they slide off, but they are going to sit where they land!

Did you know that the small compressed Standlee bales of hay and straw at TSC came off the field as mid squares (or large squares)? They are stored as big bales, and then they are fed thru a "rebaler" that literally cuts the big bale down into tiny bales, compresses them, and zip ties them/shrink wraps them. It's actually a pretty amazing process. We purchase our mid squares and small squares from a local producer that uses a rebaler.

 

[Fillymj]

Small for inside barn horses

large rounds for outside horses. Use forklift.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Square. Most round bales around here are dusty and nasty. Lots of waste on the outside too. We have used them in a pinch in the past. Wrapped round bales are probably worth the extra price tag, but we haven't tried them.

Here we make our own hay in small square bales.

 

[Peaches Lee]

Squares are much easier to manage. You can travel with them, and they are multi-species friendly. It's hard to find good quality round bales around here. Most farmers leave them outside. Horses absolutely love them though. If you can find nice clean, dry ones, the horses love to lay in them, scratch and rub on them. But then you run into waste because they drag half of the hay out on the ground and soil it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I found it.
It is a relatively modern invention. Way after my time.
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Why+...It all started in 1892,Chalmers (A-C) in 1937.

 

[Araucana Nest]

Round bales for me because I have horses and cows and goats and they go through a lot of hay. It is less expensive in round bales and the hay comes out of the same fields so there is no difference in quality. I keep them under canopies inside hay rings and it takes one horse three weeks to go through one bale. I have them delivered and just need to roll them to their respective places with my tractor.

 

[kdt_ntexas]

Square for me ... easier to handle