Feeding Pad

[Four Kings]

I want to build a pad to feed a 50 cow/ calf herd round hay in winter and spring when its wet to save my fields, how big? concrete ? fabric/rock? covered? I live central Ky.

 

[jgn]

I'm not sure how accurate these figures are but I would figure 8' on each side plus width of bale you are feeding. On the length, if they have access to both sides of the bales I would figure around 75'. I think concrete would be okay as it would be easy to scrape and keep clean but would have to make sure it was slip resistant. You would also need to plan on what your going to do with the waste thats left not to mention the waste the cattle are going to leave on it.

 

[shorty]

Check with your local FSA office they can calculate what you should have they also might be able toshare the cost of building one . We are working on one right now, it will also have a roof over it

 

[hillbilly]

The grass is always greener,
We built a pad 6 years ago, after using it for 5 years we went back
to unrolling bales in the field.
Mud and waste was our problem, we tore down a old chicken house,
25' x 125' and used the old concrete floor as our pad.
After the first year we put down 88 yards of 2" limestone all around the pad.
The mud just kept spreading. Year before last we noticed every cow had mud above their hocks all winter.
If you have good drainage or are building it on a ridge you might be OK.

Hillbilly