The Round Bale Experiment
Bill over at Our First Horse (If you haven't seen this site, you should definitely check it out.), writes about their round bale hay experiment. (This is the second of a two-part series. See Part I here.) Looks like it's turned out so well, they'll be buying more—
A month ago I wrote about experimenting with a round bale of hay in the pasture during the cold season and here’s an update on how that’s going for us. Although our horses almost entirely ignored the round bale when the weather was warm, they’ve shown great interest in it once the weather cooled and the green grasses died off for the winter. In fact I’m starting to think we should have purchased a few more round bales. Not only was the price a good deal ($20 for 1,000 pounds of fresh cut hay!), I’m starting to thing the horses really need the supplemental forage until spring.
Around these parts, most of our hay is trucked down from Colorado. That means
that I think I'm getting an incredible deal
We've been considering doing round bales. My Kubota tractor is big enough to handle them. I'd just have to buy one of those hay forks. I can get a 1,000-pound bale for around $50-$60. Since my horses are on what essentially amounts to a three-acre dry lot here in the high desert, they have no natural forage. In the winter, I generally will do the free access hay thing, but then my Andalusian mare tends to overeat and get too fat.
Anyone had any experience with round bales? What do you think? I would love to hear about it!
Goodness gracious horses are expensive. If you're a regular reader (and thanks much, if you are!), you will be seeing some paid sponsors on my site in the future (no kidding) to help me pay for hay this winter. I hope no one minds, but I've gotta pay the bills!
Related links: She's Got the Keys, Horse Power—Tractor Lust!
