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RE: [RC] Feeding round bales - heidiI'm not Karen E, but all of the ranchers here store the round bales outside with no cover (granted we are not as wet as some places). The big bales shed the water far better than small bales do, because they are so densely packed and are such a large volume, and even if there is a bit of waste on the outside, when there is plenty there to eat, the horses just leave it.
We don't have a place to store large quantities of round bales--the elk up here will devastate it in no time if it isn't in an elk-proof stackyard. (We regularly have 100-160 head come in here in the winter.) The larger groups of horses will protect what they are actually eating at the time, but storing it outside the pasture and outside a stack yard is not an option. We pick it up as we use it from our producer, who stores it outside and then lays down 10 or so bales at a time for us to come and get. When we have small bales in our little stack yard, we only have room for four or so extra round bales.
Handling is an issue, unless you have a producer who will deliver. Because we have large numbers of horses as well, we bought a geriatric hydrabed truck that will haul two round bales at a time. Unlike a tractor with forks, the bales do have to be down in a position where we can "grab" them to lift them. But our producer leaves them out in a row for us to pick up, and we "row" them the same way if we put a few ahead in our stack yard. This probably isn't an option for the person with just a few horses, unless you just like to play with equipment and want to get some kind of a rig to handle the bales.
We have also picked them up in the backs of pickup trucks--you can "unload" them by backing up smartly and putting on the breaks, whereupon they roll out the back. (Obviously you can't "aim" at a feeder this way--you need to be feeding in an area with some space! And you also have to have a rope, board or tailgate behind them in the pickup to keep them from coming out as you drive down the highway with them....)
Heidi
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