How do you feed your hay rolls?

[herofan]

My father built some shed feeders with a roof several years ago to feed rolled hay. Some hold one roll and some two. Obviously, the rolls stay dry and ice-free during the short time they are being consumed. My brother and i noticed that nobody else seems to use anything like this with a roof. Most people use rings and some just sit the rolls on the ground. I was curious as to how people here feed rolls. Is the shelter unnecessary or a nice plus?

A lot has to do with the initial value of the hay. You won't treat a Ferrari the same as you would a Ford. Lots of guys on here, talk about $70-80-90-100 hay down south. Crazy prices. Compare that to $20-40 hay around here and you'd understand that we see hay as being a little more expendable than something to be enshrined. Very little is invested in how hay is presented. But down south, you see all kinds of fancy feeders and covers to protect what apparently is a precious resource.

That's a good point as well. I live in the $20-40 area. I was actually just wondering if it made any difference to the cows. I suppose my dad was always a little more particular than some, and I sometimes wondered if his extra-mile actually made any real difference. He always thought that if it was snowing or coming an icy rain, cows would enjoy some dry hay. If the roll had been sitting a while, he would peel off the thin, decomposed, outer layer and use it for bedding. I notice that most people, however, just flop a roll down and drive away, and the cows just have to make due with it regardless of conditions. I also notice, however, that their cows make it through the winter just the same as ours.

 

[Floyd]

Swath grazing & bale grazing work great in the snow. Not so great in the mud.

That is why one has a sacrifice area. Some call it a corral.

 

[snake67]

My father built some shed feeders with a roof several years ago to feed rolled hay. Some hold one roll and some two. Obviously, the rolls stay dry and ice-free during the short time they are being consumed. My brother and i noticed that nobody else seems to use anything like this with a roof. Most people use rings and some just sit the rolls on the ground. I was curious as to how people here feed rolls. Is the shelter unnecessary or a nice plus?

A lot has to do with the initial value of the hay. You won't treat a Ferrari the same as you would a Ford. Lots of guys on here, talk about $70-80-90-100 hay down south. Crazy prices. Compare that to $20-40 hay around here and you'd understand that we see hay as being a little more expendable than something to be enshrined. Very little is invested in how hay is presented. But down south, you see all kinds of fancy feeders and covers to protect what apparently is a precious resource.

Aaron- send some hay our way! We're in southern Wisconsin, almost out of bales. Looking at 100 plus a bale for CRP hay (prairie grass and weeds). That's why our feeding system is so important now.

Interesting comments here. Aaron and I are basically in the same boat when it comes to hay and value of hay. It is rare I ever have to worry about hay, hay quality, or price at purchase. It happened last year for the first time in about 20 years that hay was hard to come by. But lots of folks keep some of the older stuff around. I almost always have hay around and if I do not I know where to get it fairly quickly.

We are out of hay but I found just some 5 footers for 15 bucks. Last years hay stored inside and not truly great hay and not truly great bales either - but the cows are eating it. I am happy to get it and it seems the cows are as well.

A couple of years ago our neighbour to the north started shipping horse hay to places in the middle east. He has a lot of "hay fines" as he call them that get shaken out when they compress their bales - about once or twice a month he sends me a forage wagon full to feed to the cows - I just got a call today that they are coming in about an hour. Third load since Christmas so there must be a rush on to ship hay somewhere.

I started feeling guilty about this hay so I give him some beef and lamb every now and then. Heaven knows there are enough animals on this place that we are not going to miss a bit of meat once in a while. There has never been talk of money changing hands - he is happy to get rid of it as it is a nuisance to him and I am happy to get it as it is quality feed for the animals.

We just run the forage wagon out on the ground and let the cows eat at it until it is gone.

And he is now coming up the laneway - early - so I must go - good thing we have all the darned snow blown out of the lane and the fields where we are dumping - it has been snowing and drifting here for the past two days.

Best to all

Bez

 

[dryfork]

Hay rings used 90% of the time here. Try to move every few days to give calves a dry spot. Will unroll a few when ground is frozen solid. 1000 # bale of grass hay sells 25--45. Can see the benefits of bale grazing or hay shed just have other improvements (what a list that is) that need done first. By the way can't remember the last time hay was bought for cows on this place.

 

[highgrit]

I just pull it to where I want it. Old #9 is wanting the center of the bale.

 

[SRBeef]

I think bale grazing with electric wire control is probably a good system if you have a lot of land. I tried it a few years ago and have yet to get a good stand of grass back in the area where the bales were located.

I feed from cradles and rings in basically one spot all winter since our ground is frozen most of the winter. As we get to the spring thaw I will put a ring up on a high spot but I do not move my cradles. BTDT. I moved one a couple years ago, a cow thought that spot would be a great place to lie down, couldn't get up and went caste just a couple weeks before calving. an expensive lesson.

Feeding in one spot also makes my spring cleanup easier. After rotation starts in early may I use a manure fork to build big compost piles in the sacrifice area. Drag around them, spread some fast growing seed, drag it again.

Jim

 

[skyhightree1]

High thats a nice rig

 

[bigbull338]

we put all our hay in hay rings.got neighbors that just set the bales out an the cows ruin 90% of the hay.

 

[herfdog]

We built a long bunk and unroll one every morning. We have about 40 head, used to use elevated bale feeders. They'd pull out hay everywhere and stomp it. Two years ago, we poured a slab about 30 feet long and slightly wider than a bale, built 2x4 head slats with a 2x12 kick board, then poured ten feet flat on each side for the cows to stand on. Gates on our side of the fence; open the middle gate, put the bale on its side, cut the netwrap, give is a shove and unroll it. When it gets mucky on the concrete, open the gate on our side, drive the skidder down, push the poop into a pile for spring. We don't loose any hay now. And we feed fodder/straw whatever, use it for feeding grain, put salt blocks here and there. We did all the work, only real expense was the cement and what we're saving on hay, it paid for itself in a couple months. Found they'll eat whatever we feed because they don't have a chance to be picky. If they're hungry they eat it.

Got any pictures?

 

[Bigfoot]

We built a long bunk and unroll one every morning. We have about 40 head, used to use elevated bale feeders. They'd pull out hay everywhere and stomp it. Two years ago, we poured a slab about 30 feet long and slightly wider than a bale, built 2x4 head slats with a 2x12 kick board, then poured ten feet flat on each side for the cows to stand on. Gates on our side of the fence; open the middle gate, put the bale on its side, cut the netwrap, give is a shove and unroll it. When it gets mucky on the concrete, open the gate on our side, drive the skidder down, push the poop into a pile for spring. We don't loose any hay now. And we feed fodder/straw whatever, use it for feeding grain, put salt blocks here and there. We did all the work, only real expense was the cement and what we're saving on hay, it paid for itself in a couple months. Found they'll eat whatever we feed because they don't have a chance to be picky. If they're hungry they eat it.

I like the way this sounds. I may be misunderstanding. It 30 feet long. How sous the bale unroll in 30 feet? Do you make several passes with the roll?

 

[dun]

NRCS had plans for a deal like this and a program to help pay for some of it.

 

[oxhill]

I also have a home made shed on skids that fits one round bale and has six "V" feeding openings. It has a floor and roof. Thinking of making another that will hold two bales. I also have a ring.

This year the ring only feeds four head and a bale lasts roughly a week. I have had a couple of weeks of heavy rain that turned a good portion of a bale into a soggy mess that they wouldn't eat. The ring is easy to move but I can't keep the calves out of it. I also wish mine had a skirt at the bottom because it seems to waste hay with out one.

The shed is feeding two yearling heifers and 6 calves. A bale also lasts roughly a week but with much less waste. It is more difficult to load and move but the calves stay out of it and it keeps most of the snow and rain off. If I feed a poor bale in it I will need to pitch out the garbage they won't eat out. Normally I put it in front of them in the barn. They pick through it one more time and then use it for bedding.

If you have a small herd and can feed weekly then I think the shed is fantastic and saves a lot of hay. if you need to feed much more frequently than that then it is probably of little or no use over a good ring.

 

[James T]

I like that wagon idea!! I have been moving my round bales (in a hay ring) to different spots in an attempt to spread the manure around but, the left over hay gets stomped into the mud and those areas never seem to recover very well. What I really hate to see are folks throwing their bales out in the field with net wrap still on them. I'm still pulling that garbage out of the ground left by the previous property owner.

 

[shadyhollownj]

I use homemade feeders on a base of crushed concrete. Its wet and muddy here so I am able to scrap manure and hay up and pile directly off pad for use in spring. They probably have 300 in materials and take about 3 hours to make. I have one thats 3 years old and going strong unlike the metal ones that last a month. They wouldnt work as well for moving it all the time although I did move it every two weeks last year before I had the crushed concrete base down.

 

[Bigfoot]

I like the look of those, but I'm not seeing $300 in materials. Does it have a floor in it.

 

[snake67]

I use homemade feeders on a base of crushed concrete. Its wet and muddy here so I am able to scrap manure and hay up and pile directly off pad for use in spring. They probably have 300 in materials and take about 3 hours to make. I have one thats 3 years old and going strong unlike the metal ones that last a month. They wouldnt work as well for moving it all the time although I did move it every two weeks last year before I had the crushed concrete base down.

These work well for you, but any animal with horns would go pretty hungry or tear those things apart.

Cheers

Bez

 

[jedstivers]

Round bales of hay and straw (which is a very valid source of feed often ignored by many) are often fed to cattle this way. Almost any place where someone has to wear warm clothes to work outside you will often find it done this way. That would be my definition of warm clothing, not yours. LOL

There is also a method called swath grazing where the feed - usually oats or the like, is cut and NOT baled - but left lying in the field for the cows to eat. Works well in many areas until the snow gets deeper than the cows eyes, or there is a hard crust on the snow. One solution to this is to run a few horses with the cattle to break up the swaths. But that is another topic I suppose.

My casual observation from reading on this site kind of goes look like this: People who feed one or two bales of hay often call them "rolls" - people who feed hundreds usually call them round bales.

So - search "bale grazing" on this site - all the methods used, all the cost savings, all the naysayers, all the technical crap, all the philosophy crap, all the "cost of a wasted blade of hay" vs "manure benefits" and so on - you can read it all.

It has been discussed to death

Been feeding cattle like this for more than twenty, maybe even thirty years. So I would say yes, it works reasonably well.

Best to all

Bez

Bez, that works good if you live in an area that you can put a popsicle in your lunch box and eat it in the solid form at noon. :mrgreen:
Here rolling out works best but now we are using a tub grinder so that is changing things up some for us.

 

[shadyhollownj]

Heres a list of materials. I would say there is about 50 in screws and lags and 250 in wood I think. No floor that way I just lift the feeder and move to get rid of any spoiled hay in the bottom. Top pic is before I put sides on. They are sturdy enough to drag around field or lift and carry with forks. I cant remember how much everything was the 2x10s were forms from a job so they were bought a while ago. All pressure treated and galvanized. Dont use these if you raise horned herefords, longhorns, etc. Guess I should have put a disclosure :roll: I actually remembered to take a pics today thats why I put the pics in this posting.

2-6"x6"x8'
1-4"x6"x12
2-4"x6"x8 I used 4'6" risers on the first feeders which I liked better now that I think about it
1-2x6x12
2-2x6x8
4-2x10x8
2-2x10x12
4-2x4x10
75- 1/4 x 3" screws
16- 1/2" x 8" lags

 

[snake67]

Round bales of hay and straw (which is a very valid source of feed often ignored by many) are often fed to cattle this way. Almost any place where someone has to wear warm clothes to work outside you will often find it done this way. That would be my definition of warm clothing, not yours. LOL

There is also a method called swath grazing where the feed - usually oats or the like, is cut and NOT baled - but left lying in the field for the cows to eat. Works well in many areas until the snow gets deeper than the cows eyes, or there is a hard crust on the snow. One solution to this is to run a few horses with the cattle to break up the swaths. But that is another topic I suppose.

My casual observation from reading on this site kind of goes look like this: People who feed one or two bales of hay often call them "rolls" - people who feed hundreds usually call them round bales.

So - search "bale grazing" on this site - all the methods used, all the cost savings, all the naysayers, all the technical crap, all the philosophy crap, all the "cost of a wasted blade of hay" vs "manure benefits" and so on - you can read it all.

It has been discussed to death

Been feeding cattle like this for more than twenty, maybe even thirty years. So I would say yes, it works reasonably well.

Best to all

Bez

Bez, that works good if you live in an area that you can put a popsicle in your lunch box and eat it in the solid form at noon. :mrgreen:
Here rolling out works best but now we are using a tub grinder so that is changing things up some for us.

AWWW! C'mon ..... it only gets below freezing for about 5 months of the year around here - that's not too bad.

In fact I had to open the doors to the sheep barn today - I was afraid it would get too far above freezing in there. I like to lamb out right around 28 - 38 degrees F. Calves are usually born on snow in that 20 - 30 degrees F temp range. Makes for very few health problems. Got both coming right now so it is busy.

If it does not get up and suck it dies. After a while you kind of get that "lazy baby" syndrome bred / culled right out of the herd and flock. They get up fast around here - and the Mom's keep licking until the babies are dry.

Not too much mud to be seen around here right now.

Best to all

Bez

 

[spidersmouse]