Ok, between tripping over hidden frozen manure clods, and cows "helping" me bed with round bales, any body want to share your ideas on how to get the cows bedded? FYI, I'm too cheap to buy a bale processor and too proud to use a fork.
Straw spreading hacks?
- Thread starter Bum Steer
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SBMF 2015
Well-known member
We take the wrap off and either shake the bale on the loader or set it down and peal some off with the spike then move the bale and do it again.
Not sure pride plays in to hay fork operation. I'm not to proud to use one, but I sure am proud that I am willing to work that hard for my cows if need be.
Not sure pride plays in to hay fork operation. I'm not to proud to use one, but I sure am proud that I am willing to work that hard for my cows if need be.
Josher
Well-known member
Sometimes do the bale shake method. Or just unroll it. If it falls apart too fast then unroll it backwards rotation from how it was baled. Once it's unrolling, the front tire works quite nicely to keep it going if conditions are right.
WFfarm
Well-known member
You just need a young spry bull to help spread round bale straw.
That's exactly what we do in the bulls pasture. Take off the netting, set it down in front of the livestock shelter and let them have at it. One 'n done!
Nothing is flat in the central pasture, so we just start at the top of a hill/incline and let it unroll itself. If it hits a flat spot & stops, either the cows attack it or we'll get it going again with the spear. We shake it out inside the barn & small spaces.
WFfarm
Well-known member
I dump hay round bales on their end so I can pull off wrap, twine, and netting. But, I keep the loader spears in the top of the bale because our winter pasture is mostly side hill and our young bull would otherwise have more than a few bales down the hill into the woods and river.
Thanks for all the replies! One idea I have seen before was putting a big round through the manure spreader. Looked like it worked fine. But my cows like to help. I dont even want to think about a running spreader and curious cows................
Yup, have done that before too. Thanks for the suggestion.
Not sure what your weather is in West Central IL but up here in Alberta where I am it's now 19 below zero F and headin for 30 below AGAIN tonight. It has hit 40 in the hole a couple of nights. It's been this way since mid December. A foot and a half of snow. To make it interesting, took the clutch out of the loader tractor just before Christmas, I'll be without it for about 3 weeks, so have been getting creative and sore keeping my cows fed and bedded down at this one man show. I work that hard because it's the responsible thing to do. Got nuthin to do with pride. Got nuthin to do with a fork.
Had a feedlot customer once told me he was shaking the RB straw off the spike, steers were doing the fresh straw boogie and one jumped just high enough, with perfect forward speed and angle and impaled himself on the spike.
SBMF 2015
Well-known member
???
It's zero here with 30mph winds today.
I'd say just keep doing what your doing, and think about buying a backup tractor in the future.
I have 5 tractors, 3 of them have loaders. I always have a way to get my cows fed.
That would be terrible! Something like that is always on my mind.
That picture with a cow that came down on a T post stays in my mind.
