Bale feeder--PROBLEM

[lancemart]

This is my second bale feeder. The first one was destroyed by my calm bull. He is very gentle, but when he wants to eat, he will beat that feeder up until he gets to the round bale. It would be easier for him to walk around and feed from the other side, but he has not figured that out yet. I am on my second feeder, he treats it like it is paper. He flipped it over and the bale is no longer in the feeder. I am wasting a lot of hay. Any suggestions?

 

[lancemart]

Yes it is a round bale feeder

 

[Sir Loin]

Is this the balefeeder we are talking about?
Click on this) http://www.balefeeder.com/

If so no wonder you are having problems. The dang think looks like it would fall over on a windy day all by itself without any cattle near it!

My advice is go get yourself a bale ring. Or better yet, feed on the ground by rolling the bale down a hill.

 

[CowpokeJ]

I roll out, little waste and the whole herd eats at once.

 

[Sir Loin]

I roll out, little waste and the whole herd eats at once.

Very true!

I put my best hay in rings and roll out my worst hay.
And if you want to avoid pinkeye, always put the bales on their end in the ring, so they can't eat a hole through the center.
What they don't eat on the ground, they wouldn't eat no matter where I put it and it makes a good bed to get them off the cold wet or frozen ground, which helps to prevent pneumonia.
I even bail my pasture sage grass clipping after I bush hog them and roll them out in the winter to provide a warm bed for the little guys. They love it for a bed after momma has picked through it and fluffed it up.

If you think you are having a waist problem, then you are probably putting out to much hay at a time, or you are not putting your hay out on a regular basis. You can't feed cows one day, wait until they are starving, then feed them and not expect them to act/eat like pigs.

 

[*Cowgirl*]

We give ours a day b/w bales to clean up the extra.

 

[rattler]

Have you thout about useing an open top feeder? May or maynot solve your problem.
rattler

 

[dj]

Could it be the bull is bored?

 

[novatech]

Could it be the bull is bored?

Bingo, I think somebody got it.
I see bulls pushing bales and other things across pastures all the time. My neighbors bull loves to push an old trailer around.
Younger bulls are especially bad about this.

 

[Bullbuyer]

My big bull is doing the same thing - just moves the feeder around, rubs it, etc. He's just bored - at least he hasn't gotten the idea to head to town or to a neighbor - yet.

 

[6M Ranch]

Don't know if they're available in your area, but the best I've used is the HiQual feeders. This is a link to the style we've been using. http://www.hiqualmfg.com/cattle/hd-rancher-feeder.htm
We've been using our first one for over 6 years, no damage, paint is barely scratched. With the design, they can't get their shoulders against it to push it around. If they do manage to head butt it, I don't think they can hurt it.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Is this the balefeeder we are talking about?
Click on this) http://www.balefeeder.com/

If so no wonder you are having problems. The dang think looks like it would fall over on a windy day all by itself without any cattle near it!

Take that pic of that feeder in Sir Loin's link, and reverse engineer it. Then build your own. That one will hold two bales. I am building singles.

Those old trampoline frames are all over the place. I have been gathering them up and building hay cradles, based on the pic Caustic posted a while back.

I had a guy at work whose trampoline mat split. It was about as cheap for him to buy a new trampoline than replace the mat. I gave him $20 for the old frame and built two hay cradles with material left over for the next one.

Old bed frames have high tensile angle iron in them. The iron is tougher than your typical A-36 material. I bought 9 old rusty bed frames for $11 from a garbage sale (garage sale for you city folks). There was something in the neighborhood of 300 foot of angle in those frames and it works great for gusseting.

I am lining the bottom of the hay cradles with pieces of cow panel. I am cutting the panel with bolt cutters and welding the sharp ends to the frames which precludes sharp edges since I burn the points off when I tack weld them down. I am using bent up panels.

The end result is hay cradles cheap. Stronger than store bought. Less wasted hay. The cows are not grinding their teeth on dirt off of the ground like you get with hay rings.

Look back through Caustic's posts and you'll see the hay cradle post with pictures. Mine have a bit more gusseting and are probably a bit of over kill on iron addition. But I have the caterpillar, backhoe, and 125 HP Massey with bucket to lift them and move them about.

I was at TSC up in Weatherford and saw a bunch of bent up cow panels. I asked the man out there what they were going to do with those damaged panels. He said, "Some sucker will give us $8 a piece for them." I told him to load all of them on my flat bed G/N. I have been welding them to gates, hay cradles etc. I just grab the edges with a hickey bar, push them in place and weld them down.

 

[shorty]

It sounds like you need a Haysaver , it's a cone type feeder made from heavy pipe , he won't bust that up . Check Mr Billy"s website he has some good pictures of one , they are expensive but they will last.

 

[L Weir]

It sounds like you need a Haysaver , it's a cone type feeder made from heavy pipe , he won't bust that up . Check Mr Billy"s website he has some good pictures of one , they are expensive but they will last.

Are you talking about a J&L Haysaver? We have one and the bull can't move it. Though he tries.

 

[shorty]

Yes it's a J&L Haysaver they are built by an amishman in western Pa.