How much hay?

[BSharpRanch]

Our bales run between 100 to 120 pounds each. We just "buck 'em" into nice neat stacks. Like anything else, you get use to doing it. That is the way the farmers here bale there hay. No round bales here.

 

[disneyhorse]

Three string bales are a west coast thing... I had never seen two wire bales until I started traveling to the Midwest for horse shows and noticed the "tiny" bales. My feed store has occasionally sold them and the flakes ARE a perfect size for little equine!

We use hay hooks and get quite strong!

However, larger bales are near impossible to find around here.

 

[Foxhaven]

If I put out round bales for my guys all I would get is fat minis, increased hay costs (due to what follows), broken fences, and some VERY happy frequent elk & deer guests...

YIKES!!

 

[wingnut]

Foxhaven: LOL! I hadn't even considered that until my farrier was here a week ago. He said they'd often find deer eating of the round bales when they had horses. My horses are out 24/7 unless weather dictates otherwise, so we think it will minimize the "visitors". Which in our case is just white tail deer.

 

[amysue]

Yes we have very fat deer around here. All fall they decimate my husband's grain corn then all winter they "invite" themselves in to eat the horses' hay. I dont like the waste my horses create with round bales but the cows go crazy over them...especially if we wet wrap silage bales (but horses cannot eat this). I like that the two string bales fkake out into properly portioned mini meals. Our ever growing herd is a combination of broodmares and breeding stallions as well as show and schooling ponies and a few boarders and retirees. I think minis are so addictive because they're small, take up less space and eat less so therefore one reasons to acquire another by saying "well im out there feeding and cleaning anyway..whats one more".

 

[MyMiniGal]

I'm on the West Coast and what we are feeding is the 2 string bales. Weigh probably only around 40 lbs. We didn't buy them, that is what the BO supplies us with. The flakes aren't very big, and sometimes totally fall apart, but I am getting much better at knowing how much I am feeding, even if I don't weigh it.

 

[Jenny]

I have two string bales here, and they weigh about 75 pounds, I think. I would never be able to feed Breaker by flakes, as the flakes are over 4 pounds. I weigh everything, and he gets 2 pounds, twice a day, and 1 pound, twice a day. So, 6 pounds total. If I just put a round bale in there, I would think he'd just eat ALL day out of boredom. Plus, I can't put a round bale in his stall. I'm sure horses with round bales are very happy ponies, though.