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Re: [RC] Feeding round bales - Quentin & Libby LlopI've been making, feeding and selling round bales for 30 years. For horses I only feed bales that were made of quality dry hay, stored inside. I don't worry about them being out in the weather while they are being fed. Hay doesn't spoil very fast in the winter and even two or three horses will finish a bale before it goes musty. Problems from feeding RBs stored outside won't show up for a few years, then you're horses will get heavey. Might not be a problem in dryer climates. We have 30" of rain a year. A round bale feeder will pay for itself very quickly in hay not wasted, not to mention clean up. I try to have no more than 6 horses to a bale We typically winter between 30 and 50). One of my bales weighs between 1200 and 1500# and feeds 6 1100# horses for a week. The larger bales are usually the best buy. The outer layers are the most tightly packed. I leave my feeders in the same spot all winter. I try to put down stone over fabric at the feeding spots. I think you'll enjoy feeding once a week. Libby LlopAmber Roberts wrote: We live in Texas and have always fed small square bales of Coastal Bermuda. We have the opportunity from one of our boarders to start feeding round bales but we have no knowledge about how to do this. The square bales have always been stored inside our barn, but round bales would have to be outside, in the weather. Do they have to be stored up off the ground? If so, how? To feed hay this way, do the round bales have to be inside feeders? We have 5 horses. Do we need more than one feeder? When a bale gets eaten down enough to be replaced, do you have to move the feeder? Do you have to clean up left over hay on the ground? We don't know if we'd be better off sticking with square bales or trying round bales. It would save us some work at feeding but perhaps the cleanup would negate that advantage? Any thoughts would be appreciated. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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