hay and bailing string

[moloss]

I always cut and remove the string but I have a buddy who never does and never has a problem......what do y'all do?

 

[SRBeef]

I always cut and remove the string but I have a buddy who never does and never has a problem......what do y'all do?

I always remove netwrap and twine, either plastic or sisal. Neither material is anything you would choose as a feed nor would my cattle. Jim

 

[grubbie]

We have had cases in the past when cattle got the plastic twine around a foot. It cut off the circulation and the foot swelled up so bad that the twine cut into it. We always pick up the twine. Besides, don't want to hit it with a baler or anything next year.

 

[novatech]

The man that leased one of my pastures before me never picked up string. Although I managed to get most of it out, more continues to come to the top. Calves pull it up and chew it like cud. One of these days it may cause a problem. Calves or cows can also get caught up in it and get cut pretty bad.

 

[Brute 23]

It just looks trashy... no reason not to except being LAZY.

 

[TheBullLady]

ALWAYS take it off, and out of the pasture. Too many opportunities for a cow to get it in her gut, which can kill her eventually. I don't understand anyone that leaves it on.

 

[backhoeboogie]

It goes into the trash. Period. Profit margins are too marginal to take a chance. I don't want it in the cutter either. What a mess and a huge cause of fire.

 

[farmwriter]

Let me tell you what else bailing twine will do for ya.
We took Daddy's bigger tractor (not my new Christmas tractor ;-) ) in for 1,000 hour service. What we thought were a few drops of oil leaking out somewhere was actually hydrolic fluid. Turns out a wad of bailing twine (most likely from the old loading area) got caught next to one of the rear tires, wrapped all around the axle and messed up the seal.
And we try to pick up all our string.

 

[moloss]

well I must admit I didn't think of all the things that could go wrong that y'all have brought up.....I just thought it would be bad it they swollowed it

 

[ToddFarmsInc]

I know some people don't take the twine off. I do for all the reasons listed above. I've seen cows ingest it. (that can't be a good thing) I've had it wrap around a foot, and cut off circulation, and then you have to catch the animal and get it cut off the leg. I've had it wrap around finnal drives, drop axels, pickup drive shafts, etc. and it will knock out a seal every time. Oh did I mention the amount of time it takes to get a large quantity of twine unwrapped from the back end of a manure spreder?

I'm sort of extream the other way. It takes me a little longer to feed cows, but I won't even cut the twine.

I unwrap the twine off of the bailes the opposite way it went on. That way I'm more certian to get all the twine. It seems like every time someone comes out and helps me feed, they use their pocket knive and slice down the baile and pull the twine off. I can almost certianly go around behind them and find more twine they missed by not grabbing a little bit here or there. Plus the extra little bit of time it takes me to unwrap the bails that way, gives me a little bit more up close and personal, face to face time with the girls, seeing if anyone has pink eye, a limp, a lump, etc.

 

[kerley]

I was feeding in the rain New Years eve afternoon. It was so wet that I could not get to the hay ring and got stuck. I had to drop the bale in the mud to get loose. I discovered that I had lost my pocket knife. Between the Mud, Rain and hungry cows, I left the string on the bale. I will go out in the morning to remove it. Not proper but the best I could do at that time.
~Tom.

 

[upfrombottom]

When I was a kid we used sea-grass twine on square bales. I had to ride on the back of the truck cut the twine and kicking it out. And I had better not leave one string in the pasture.

It takes about 2 or 3 minutes to cut string and pull it off of a round bale and I cut it. You do it enough you know if you have pulled it all out. Nothing p###es me off more than to see bale twine or feed /mineral bags laying in a pasture. Makes me wonder if the owner cares to his animals as he does his land.

Have a Friend whom had a death in his family about a month ago and I went over to feed his cows while he was out of town. Baler twine every where. I couldn't stand it. I got off the tractor to cut the string and as I was cutting it a young bull was eating on the bale. I walked around the end of the bale and the bull spooked and took off with a roll of old twine rapped around his leg and around my foot. He jerked me down and pulled my boot off. All I could picture was a bronc rider hung up in the stirrup.

 

[dun]

The neighbor puts his bales on end when he feeds and doesn;t remove the twine from the bale. Says the twine acts like a feed ring. Every year he whines about the twine getting hung up on everything and jamming up the brush hog.

 

[Roadapple]

I know of a breeder, who'll fly anywhere to get a cow for his breeding purposes, who has the biggest mess I'e ever seen in his feeding area. Nothing but twine, broken boards with nails, wire, old broken up cattle panels, broken chunks of concrete with rebar sticking out, and about anything else you can imagine. I spend a lot of time walking around looking for, and picking up crap and disposing of it, and I sometimes wonder if I'm just wasting my time. But I hope I'm not .

 

[2barmcattle]

I braid ropes, lead ropes and have done some reins from round bale twine. I cut the strings, line up the ends pretty close and tie them all in a knot before I pull them out from under the bale. I use each bale as 1 strand and braid them. I have used them for a bunch of things. I just put them aside until a day I have time and then I will braid one or two at a time. :tiphat:

 

[randiliana]

We remove it all, it is just garbage after all. Not good for the pastures, not good for the cattle and not good for the machinery and its hard on ear tags too. Ever get some caught up in the pickup of a baler, and you'll find a REAL good reason to pick the stuff up next time. Lots of times we will have twine frozen to a bale, I pull what I can get, tie it in an knot and pick it up the next day. By tying it, the cows are less likely to eat it, and it all stays in one spot. But we don't leave it laying around. In the spring, we go back to anywhere we fed, and pick up the bits and pieces we missed in the winter. A harrow works great for that!!

 

[Cowdirt]

Well seems my practice is way in the minority. I don't cut sisal twine on my rolls before feeding in hay rings. Hay is stored outside, no cover, and sisal is pretty rotten when hay is fed. I pickup twine occasionlly around the rings. I have to this point (20 yrs) had no problem. Speaking about it may jinx me. I don't have a cab tractor. Feeding in the winter is something that I do as quickly as possible. To this point, my neighbors have not complained about my place looking like a junkyard.

 

[jerry27150]

those are the reasons i quit using plastec twine. oh! i have heard of some guys losing cows from eating plastic twine. sisal is made from plant fiber & even if they eat it, it will not hurt them , & have never had it wrap around any axles

 

[JRGidaho`]

Sound like a lot more reasons to quit feeding hay.....

 

[Calman]

I always pick up all the twine I can and still seem to have it at times wrapped around the 4wheeler axle or the tractor axle. It seems to always show up in the most unwanted places.
And for those who don't pick it up,do you also leave feed sacks laying around in your pasture?

Cal