Joetee
Member
Well I need to build a barn and trying to figure how much room I need. If I'm gonna winter a pair of steers, how much cubic feet of room do I need for hay storage?
cubic feet for hay
- Thread starter Joetee
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TexasBred
Well-known member
Jo you really need to know how much the bales will weigh and what the dimensions of the bales will be. Can estimate how many lbs. of hay each steer will eat per day.
Joetee
Member
Are all square bales somewhat the same?
Joetee
Member
I guess if someone could say that I would need x amount #s per month then I guess I can figure from there.
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
Joetee":2updqlmj said:
I'm in TX. For growing steers I am going to guess 1 and 1/4 of 4 foot wide by 5 foot thick round bales per steer, per month, in your climate. This would be weaned steers. If you are feeding grain or supplement, that will change. I am guessing you are feeding hay 5 to 6 months. Hence, 300 cubic feet of space should be plenty for two steers - worst case. Just a guess. But for the purpose of storage space, that's in the ball park.
Jalopy
Well-known member
20-25# / day / steer x 180 days =7200#/steer to 9000#/steer that is on roughage only and no concentrated feed
That would be 4 to 5 1800# large round bales(6') diameter or roughly 120-150 small square bales at 60# for each steer. Each large bale is 141 cubic ft and each small square would be @13cubic feet . It would be more efficient space wise to use small squares but the large rounds could be net wrapped and stored outside. I think these are high numbers but it will give you plenty of leeway to have enough hay to get to grass.
That would be 4 to 5 1800# large round bales(6') diameter or roughly 120-150 small square bales at 60# for each steer. Each large bale is 141 cubic ft and each small square would be @13cubic feet . It would be more efficient space wise to use small squares but the large rounds could be net wrapped and stored outside. I think these are high numbers but it will give you plenty of leeway to have enough hay to get to grass.
Joetee
Member
Hey thank you. This helps a lot. On a budget so the size of a barn needs to be correct or it will end up costing me more money I the long run. I know the bigger the better. But I would really like to know the minimum efficient size you know.
Thanks
Thanks
Running Arrow Bill
Well-known member
Measure hay.
Measure barn.
Apply 8th Grade Arithmetic.
Priceless...
Measure barn.
Apply 8th Grade Arithmetic.
Priceless...
There is about 9072 cubic inches in a small square bale of hay. The only reason I know, is I measured one this week. I just built a 36' x 36' x 14' tall hay shed for squares. I estimate, it will hold right at 3500 bales filled completely to capacity. Thats probably not ever going to happen, but I should be able to put 2500, in it with out being too careful how I stack it.
