Hay Unrollers

[Dave]

I know what you are saying, but think about this, and theoretically it is possible. Lets say you put out $50.00 hay. Consider that the fertilizer value alone of that hay is $35.00 (very possible, ask your extension agent). That means all that hay has a cost to you of only $15.00. At this cost, is it worth having some waste or do you want to spend $$$ on a hay ring/cradle? It probably depends, but I'm just pointing out that the cost might not be as clear cut as it seems.

I do know that the hay could very well have $35 worth of fertizer value. That means it will have very close to the same value after passing through the cow. If I am going to the time, effort, and cost of feeding hay I want the cows to eat every single strand of grass in the hay. Fertilizer value will hit the ground behind the cow. And in a form much more plant available than rotting hay.

 

[TCRanch]

Can you unroll them by hand? It works well enough and its a good workout. If you have any grade gravity helps.

On the rare occasion we unroll a bale, it's primarily for bedding or junk hay they can pick through. Gravity is our friend. As is a number of cows that will chase the bale & knock that thing the rest of the way down the hill. Bonus: cheap entertainment.

 

[dave_shelby]

Do you have a hay monster too? Gentle old Hereford that goes wild when she sees a round bale.

 

[bird dog]

I have a cradle and it does work good with little waste but with an unroller the waste is even less and you have to value the seeding and erosion control as worth something. I unroll down cow trails, in wash outs, and on thin soil but what I really like about it is everyone eats at the same time. Big cows don't stay on the ring and eat all day long. Baby calves are right beside their mother and are less likely to get stepped on. Older calves eat along with everyone else.
The main herd is about 50 to 60 cows. They clean up most of a roll in about two hours. My hay comes from under a shed. Waste in darn near nothing.

 

[gcreekrch]

I have a cradle and it does work good with little waste but with an unroller the waste is even less and you have to value the seeding and erosion control as worth something. I unroll down cow trails, in wash outs, and on thin soil but what I really like about it is everyone eats at the same time. Big cows don't stay on the ring and eat all day long. Baby calves are right beside their mother and are less likely to get stepped on. Older calves eat along with everyone else.
The main herd is about 50 to 60 cows. They clean up most of a roll in about two hours. My hay comes from under a shed. Waste in darn near nothing.

View attachment 33338

Exactly, no matter how many cows. We are even considering the purchase of more free standing feed panels before winter.

 

[gcreekrch]

It has been my observation that most who follow the Ranching For Profit managerial style of bale grazing, not weaning, moving electric fence daily etc, have pretty much managed themselves into bankruptcy in a few short years in this area. Hay at $300+ per ton this year during a drought, waste 30% and your hay now costs you $400.

 

[Dave]

I don't feed round bales but use big squares. I feed 26-28 Pounds per head per day. Flaked off the back of the truck with the flakes hitting the ground 15-20 feet part.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Flaking big squares off the back of a truck isn't much different than unrolling a round bale...

Not many big squares made for beef cattle UP here. And no way a truck is doing any sort of winter time feeding.

 

[GoWyo]

I feed cake or alfalfa. Roll out round bales with the loader or flake off 3x4 bales from my utility trailer. They eat every last leaf and whatever weeds and grass I feed on.

 

[sstterry]

Looks like to me there would be more waste of them stepping on it and crapping on it would be better under a hay ringer, just my thoughts I never tried it.

There is a lot more waste using a ring than you realize. Unless you are using an expensive skirted cone-type feeder, the waste difference is small between a ring and unrolling. Plus you are spreading nutrients all over the pasture and all of the cattle have access to the hay. But, you should feed every day and not unroll too much at one time, or they will use it as bedding.

Here, in the hills of East Tennessee, all I have to do is take out the bale pick a spot that needs attention and push with the FEL. Gravity takes care of the rest.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

Here in the mountains our hay on rollers are free !... Just got to make sure you don't roll over any cattle because 800 lbs rolls go down the hill very fast !
But like it's been said before I don't know if there's more waste but it definitely helps seed and fertilize your pasture.

 

[Brute 23]

When I do feed hay I like to unroll one first. That usually keeps all the cows off me. Then I put the rest in rings.

If I was feeding out my back door I would unroll every couple of days. I might only make it by once a week or the cows may not clean all the hay right up right then so rings are still my best option at this point.

Depends on your situation if rolling them out is an option. Rings, cradles, unrolling are all better than just putting a bale out, though.

 

[SDM]

I don't have an unroller, just a spear. For my small herd I feed about 3 bales a week. Set the bale down, roll enough out to feed for the day, and pick back up. Repeat the next day. If the forecast was clear, I'd unroll where they were and in another pasture and the next day turn them in to that second area. Eventually the bale gets too small to pick up with a spear, I'd take those cores and put in a covered feeder I built (something like the Farmco $4k deal, but way cheaper). If there was weather or I couldn't be around to feed, I turn them into where the feeder is. I could get 3 cores in it easily, 4 if I work on the 4th by hand. I move the feeder periodically to spread the damage and keep them out of mud. No way I'd just set a whole bale out with no ring. Here, that area wouldn't heal within a year or two. I did that my first winter here, 6 years ago. Those places are still spiny amaranth nurseries.

 

[sunnyblueskies]

Newby question, are Hay Unrollers worth it?
We typically set out 2-3 bales at a time for our small herd during the late fall-early spring, I hate all the waste as well as the damaged areas of the pasture from the wasted hay.

Thanks for any advice or opinions!
KT

Question: You didn't say how many cows and if you take 2-3 bales a day.
We feed 2-3 bales a day. Depended for years on a hill to unroll the bales, which was fine, but it does build up over the years if you always feed in the same spot. Or, if you have a fence on the bottom of a hill where you unroll....... you find yourself replacing fence posts a lot. =D
Bought a "unroller" about 6 years ago and wonder why we didn't get one earlier.
You are not stuck to a specific lay of the land to feed, or feed location in general.
Sure they will walk on it, but unless you always feed on the same spot there really isn't any build up or waste to worry too much about.
It also spreads the animals out over a bigger area and gives less aggressive cows a chance to eat more in peace and quiet. So, less fighting.
Plus, as somebody else mentioned earlier, you can feed a partial bale and keep the rest for the next feeding, or a different group of animals in a different pasture.
I think you can tell........ we love ours. =D

 

[Lucky]

We've got 2 bale bed pick ups and a Deweze unroller on the tractor. We feed 2 bales everyday so this works perfect for us. The tractor can carry 2 bales and so can either of the trucks. If I was in a spot were I only fed 1/2, 3/4, or 1 1/2 rolls a day I'd probably buy a Hustler chainless 3 point feeder. They are a little pricey but the hay savings alone would probably make the payment on one.

Since we started unrolling our calf sickness and injuries have gone to about zero. Think about the mother cows fighting the sloppy mud to get to a hay ring and then laying in that same mud. That nasty stuff gets on the teats and then the calves suck. Not to mention the poor little guys getting stepped on. When you unroll the cattle line up nice and calm and eat until they are full. The babies will all line up and lay on the hay but I haven't noticed that causing any waste. I doubt we'll ever go back to rings or cradles. It's bad enough the amount the horses and bulls waste in rings, can't imagine feeding everything like that again. I guess if we can't unroll for whatever reason we'll go to 12# a day of commodity mix and feed very little to no hay.

I can only speak to my area though, everyone has a different experience I'm sure.

 

[tex452]

If a person had time to roll out enough everyday to take care of the cows I see it being beneficial, like feeding square bales, u really stretch it out.
We use rings because of time constraints, and being scattered out too much.
We have unrolled them by hand a few times.

 

[sstterry]

If a person had time to roll out enough everyday to take care of the cows I see it being beneficial, like feeding square bales, u really stretch it out.
We use rings because of time constraints, and being scattered out too much.
We have unrolled them by hand a few times.

Everyone's situation is different and you have to do what time, conditions, and other constraints allow for.

 

[Djm961]

I agree it depends on the the person and management style. I switched to unrolling s couple years ago. I'll still use hay feeders if I see a big cold front or snow storm coming.

I think my waste is close to the same between the feeder and unrolling. I'll always unroll going forward because all the cows get to eat and my calves seem healthier. Plus there's no manure to haul in the spring.

 

[Kthompson]

Been unrolling for 12 yrs now. Unrolling hay is great and will build up your pastures if you feed good hay...if you feed weedy hay you'll spread weeds. Our hay usage was cut by 1/2 or better once we started unrolling. The downside is you need to unroll everyday, this isn't a big deal for us since we supplement everyday too. The trick is to unroll about 25# of hay per cow per day. We unroll 2 rolls a day and drag the field once a year. When feeding season is over there's never a mess to clean up. Saying you have a small herd is subjective. Some people think 5 is small some think 100 is small. What size bales are you feeding? We feed 4x5.5 bales that weigh 1,100#.

We feed 4x5 bales ours are 800-900 lbs and i currently run 35 cows 7-8 heifers and a bull. Though we are steadily increasing but slowly.
We bale here and feed here.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Lucky]

We feed 4x5 bales ours are 800-900 lbs and i currently run 35 cows 7-8 heifers and a bull. Though we are steadily increasing but slowly.
We bale here and feed here.

Thanks for the info!

That's about what I was feeding when I started unrolling.