# Round bales for horses?



## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

We used to primarily use round bales in the paddocks/pastures and regular flakes of hay from normal bales in the stalls. We never had any problems with over eating from the round bales even with the ponies! 

Our round bales tended to be a lower quality/lower protein hay like coastal or other grassy hay. Our "stall hay" usually was timothy or a timothy blend, occasionally alfalfa timothy blend, or alfalfa for those who needed it. 

I don't remember us ever having mold problems with the round bales. As they got really low to the ground we'd of course supplement with flakes of hay until we got a new round bale. 

Our pastures had grass, but our paddocks were mostly dirt - too many horses needed private/semi-private turnout to successfully rotate the paddocks and actually keep grass in them. 

My large pony could do some major work on a round bale! He was on private turnout (he had to show in conformation and loved to play so he couldn't be with other horses) and destroyed his round bales. He was an easy keeper, my mom referred to him as a breatharian, because he got a little hay (as much as he wanted on turnout) and 1 cup of pellets twice a day. 

Just keep an eye on their weight if you go with round bales. I'll say it's hard to find super high quality hay in round bales, but you can get some great deals on them. I'd be much more worried about over eating on grass than I would about over eating from a round bale during the winter. I used to check them every few days to make sure there was not mold. 

My favorite round bale story was a big fat paint lesson horse named Baby Huey. Huey was really dumb and very clumsy. He was built like a bull - super solid, and was lazy as can be. He never ran around or played in turn out, and was food motivated like no other. I turned him out one night and there was a fresh round bale in the paddock, for the first time ever he trotted in turnout to get to the bale, as soon as his lips touched it the bale started rolling down the hill, and Huey started chasing it. He looked so confused and just could not figure out why his snack was running away from him. :


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

We too primarily use the round bales outside, and they are more a grass hay than a good hay source. I know our trainers "mow their lawn" put up bales while the hay is good but late in the season, it goes to round bales. If a bale breaks they will feed it out in the barn so it does not go to waste. They just pitchfork it into stalls until it looks like the horse is getting enough. 

My funny round bale story. Years ago my horse Sayler was unsound, we were having a hard time pinpointing the issue, he was aged. So we decided one winter to turn him out, and let mother nature see if she can heal him. It was a COLD blustery winter. I remember looking out the barn door to his paddock, to holler hello (too cold to venture out there) His pasture mates would be huddled in the shelter, or under a tree, but not Sayler, his nose was in the round bale. When we brought him inside after 3 months, HE LOOKED LIKE A ROUND BALE!!!! I was not sure he would fit down the barn aisle!!! LOL Someone did think he was a mare in foal. I miss my fat man. 

Ann


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

I use them all the time. I have a 22 (or will he be 23 tomorrow?) year old gelding and a 12 year old mare (air fern!).

they have access to round bales 24/7. I live in an area where coastal and fescue are the norm for hay. I use coastal bermuda bales. If your horses are not going to go through them very quickly, I strongly recommend you shelter the bales. I bought a canvas carport from Sam's for $200. It holds 6 bales in a 2X3 arrangement and they are protected on 3 sides with a large amount of overhang on the front. I put round pen panels alongside the bales as I am putting them in the shelter and then run a log through the fence panels to restrict access. Otherwise I have a big peed on mess instead of a nice bale of hay for them. 6 bales gives me about 3 months of hay in my case (dirt paddock - no grass at all).

My friend keeps her round bales in the barn and just removes the equivalent of 3 - 4 flakes and puts it in her hay feeder. It is much cheaper than feeding square bales.

Either way works fine, but once mine is out there I don't have to feed hay on a daily basis. It is a great time saver and I don't have to worry about getting home or they go hungry. they also tended to eat tree bark in-between hay feedings when I used square bales.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

These are the answer I REALLY wanted to hear. We have 3 horses so I thought I'd get one bale. They get along pretty well; they do maneuver each other around the food but not in a mean way.

I'm at a toss up here: they don't want to be out without hay so I'm either going to spend money on bedding in the stalls and hay while they are in the barn or I'm going to spend money on round bales and have them outside more. It's healthier for them to be outside.

We feed grass hay, no alfalpha if possible or very little. They do seem to get fatter on grass than hay. In the spring they come to the gate kind of woozy, almost 'drunk' from having so much grass. My bigger problem than overeating in the winter is too much grass. I frequently stall them or move them to a lean pasture just to cut down on their grass consumption.


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## Stircrazy (Nov 30, 2009)

my dad feeds his two horses with round bales, and they last about 1 month. but remember you need to have a feeding frame to go around them so they can't destroy the bale. other wise they wont last near as long. we just use the front end loader with a spike on it to move them down there, push them over and remove the strings, then roll the feeding fram over top the bale.

Steve


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

You can get a hay bale feeder at Tractor supply or try to fix something up yourself. My canvas carports (I have 3) work very well for me since I can load them up and not have to worry about hay for a long time, but you could get by with something much smaller.

It takes my two horses about 2 weeks to eat a round bale.


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

We had the round bale hay feeders for the paddocks with more than 1-3 horses, and just put the bale down for the private and semi-private paddocks. The bales did get destroyed a little bit faster (but not that much) without the hay feeders. 

My 50" girth large pony (he was a tank, and only 14.1hh) could almost finish a round bale in about 4-6 weeks. One time I found a deer snacking on it with him... so much for private turn out!


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

And you can use grazing muzzles with round bales with no problems... one of the really little ponies wore a grazing muzzle at ALL TIMES to prevent anyone from slipping him treats.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

I never fed them. I will tell you, though, that I _did _see a round bale spontaneously combust. It was bizarre, and scary. I've heard that it is more common in round bales because they have usually have a higher moisture content and are often a lesser quality. Dunno, but it was weird, and all I could think of was if they'd been stored in, or near, the barn...


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Thanks for all the information. We don't have a bale holder and I can see why they'd get destroyed without one. I see a lot of horses sleeping on the stuff that lays on the ground. That much waste would really increase the cost.

Now to find someone who stores them inside. DD said no bales that haven't been protected. I'll have to check with TS tomorrow on the holders. This is getting complicated.

I may go to the auction Monday and just get a pickup load of regular stuff. We have about 1 month's worth of regular bales left.


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## Luci (May 26, 2009)

The only thing I'd caution with rounds is they can lead to some breathing problems in your critters because they inhale so much dust and small bits of the hay. So if you already have a horse that has heaves or some other breathing issue... I'd stay away from using them.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

After calling DD and talking to her about it, and, well, she put her foot down and said no. Mold. Dust. Weight. Waste. So, we'll just keep doing it the way we have been.

It was a good idea while it lasted!


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

Pointgold said:


> I never fed them. I will tell you, though, that I _did _see a round bale spontaneously combust. It was bizarre, and scary. I've heard that it is more common in round bales because they have usually have a higher moisture content and are often a lesser quality. Dunno, but it was weird, and all I could think of was if they'd been stored in, or near, the barn...


That's scary! Our amazing barn burnt down when I was little. It was a beautifully renovated 200 year old barn with stall sizes customized for our needs (pony size, weanling through yearling, riding horse, and mare stalls) with an attached apartment, large tack room/lounge, heated wash stalls, spacious feed room (with sink), and grass growing room (we sprouted our oats in the winter). The only flaw in the barn was the hay storage was a hay loft above the barn (though it had fun loft platforms and swings for my brothers and I). 

It caught on fire on a windy day when a groom's car sparked and the sparks went in the barn. The wind picked up and the fire spread very quickly, then the fire department tried to run the hoses 2 miles to the local canal rather than use water from our full large swimming pool 100 yards away. 

Luckily no horses were in the barn and thus almost no hay was in the loft. We had just moved to SC and had left our dogs on the farm until we could get our fences up in SC... they were locked in a stall while a fence on the farm was being repaired (neighbors kept cutting holes in them just to be destructive teenagers). The fire department thought they got all the animals out, but missed my lab Rex.  Ever since I've been absolutely terrified of barn fires. It was terrible, but I'm so grateful no horses were on site.

I grew up in SC just down the street from the race track and the manure pile has spontaneously combusted more than once.


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