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Round Bale feeders for horses

I use an old stock tank as a bale feeder for horses; Roper, you're right to worry about sand colic because that sand colic stuff is real. I don't like to feed round bales freechoice unless there's enough horses to clean up in less than a week. I know its hard to imagine right now, but sometimes it rains creating some mold issues if the hay sits very long.





I know its the debate for the ages, but I'll swear that heavie horses get along better on hay than alfalfa.
 
RoperAB said:
How light are they? Where im at its extremely windy. Like I know its windy in MT but even you would find it hard to believe how hard the wind can blow up here. Are these feeders just going to blow away when the bale is gone?
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Roper- They ain't that light- and there is very little resistance to catch the wind...But one person can easily lift one side up and tip onto their side, so you can roll them around and up to another bale- then just flop it over the bale...They came with a warranty too- if you left them intact- but since I took the top ring off a couple for horses I have a couple of broken pipe stays- I just replaced the broken ones with a chunk of 3" post, when I wanted to put the top ring back on...Makes them a little heavier, but still manageable...
 
We use horse bale rings all winter in the corrals, and keep a few horses in so they are handy. The bale rings work good as long as there is no top bar to rub out the mane. The other horses out in the pasture get fed hay on the ground whe the grass gets scant.

We prefer good quality meadow hay rather than alfalfa for horses.
 
Ropper get one of those plastic feeders for round bales for your horses-I think UFA sells them. They don't have any vertical bars in them and actually are pretty strong. They are designed so that no way a horses can hang up in them.
 
Northern Rancher said:
Ropper get one of those plastic feeders for round bales for your horses-I think UFA sells them. They don't have any vertical bars in them and actually are pretty strong. They are designed so that no way a horses can hang up in them.
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Yeah but are they just going to blow away? Im in about the windiest part of AB. Like my corrals are 100lbs panels and they just shake in the wind. It blows so hard here sometimes that you cant even breathe if you face the wind. 60MPH wind is just a breeze here in the winter. Sometimes it blows so hard that you can hardly walk in it.
Its our elevation and our position on the eastern slope. I cant leave my trailers empty or they would blow over. I have to put bags of feed in them for weight and position them so they are not sideways into the chinook winds.
Lots of days I have to feed alfalfa cubes because hay will blow away before the horses could ever eat it.
 
Well I saw them being used at Gull Lake wthin about a mile of twenty of those big old wind turbine windmills-if it's that windy there the dust will blow out of your hay too lol.
 
Northern Rancher said:
Well I saw them being used at Gull Lake wthin about a mile of twenty of those big old wind turbine windmills-if it's that windy there the dust will blow out of your hay too lol.
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Well there are going to be days that I will have to feed cubes and fence off the round bale feeder.
If its plastic and can be lifted by hand that might work out good because on windy days I will have to wrap ropes around the open bale or the hay will just blow away bit by bit.
When I go to town I will check them out. The price sure sounds right because the steel ones are not cheap.
Here is another concern. Will colts eat the plastic? Even on my steel panels each panel has two plastic covers about an inch in diameter to plug off the round tubing. Colts tend to nible on these and lots of them are chewed off. I think its just the one colt that does this.
I know there like beavers if you throw a piece of wood in there.
 
They look like pretty hard plastic to me-why not chain it to a post at the bottom. I saw a steel feeder get blown across the yard and into the bull pen at my buddies in Ten Sleep,Wyoming once. Not sure if the colts will chew them or not-might be easier on manes than steel feeders are.
 
I've used round bale feeders for twenty years and have never had a problem. And yes they are the ones that won't mess up the manes. But we only feed enough hay in them that the horses have it ate in a couple of days. We don't fill them full.. And they are the ones with the closed bottom. So they can't get their feet in the rings........
 
Northern Rancher said:
They look like pretty hard plastic to me-why not chain it to a post at the bottom. I saw a steel feeder get blown across the yard and into the bull pen at my buddies in Ten Sleep,Wyoming once. Not sure if the colts will chew them or not-might be easier on manes than steel feeders are.
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I have been to ten sleep! Trying to remember but isnt there like just three houses there :lol:
Beautiful place! Nice drive east of there through the mountains. Well I dont know if I should call them mountains because there not very big but its a really nice area. I dont know anybody there, just been through there.
 
katrina said:
I've used round bale feeders for twenty years and have never had a problem. And yes they are the ones that won't mess up the manes. But we only feed enough hay in them that the horses have it ate in a couple of days. We don't fill them full.. And they are the ones with the closed bottom. So they can't get their feet in the rings........
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Steel or plastic?
 
Steel...... We have one especially for horses and then we have one that is for bulls, I think they call them bull feeders, ah heck, ya think so??? I can go and look. That would be the best idea..... They are heavy and have legs( not really legs, what am I wanting to say???) on the bottom so they don't sit on the ground.
 
I've got a couple units that look like a horizontal semi-circle bunk feeder. They're steel, sit about 4' off the ground & ya lay the bale in on its side. There's legs at the corners only; nothing under the feeder. The horses feed just like they would in a manger setup. I've added skids to them so I can move them around the traps to keep the ground from getting tore up.
 
Just an update
Like Faster Horses said the horses ate holes into the bale so they were basically still getting dust. The Mare started coughing again :(
So I issolated the Mare from the round bale feeder and im feeding her cubes.
When the other horses get that round bale gone im going to feed them cubes as well. Shouldnt take them to long to finish that bale because they dont even stop eating long enough to sleep.
 
RoperAB said:
Just an update
Like Faster Horses said the horses ate holes into the bale so they were basically still getting dust. The Mare started coughing again :(
So I issolated the Mare from the round bale feeder and im feeding her cubes.
When the other horses get that round bale gone im going to feed them cubes as well. Shouldnt take them to long to finish that bale because they dont even stop eating long enough to sleep.
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Sorry Roper that this didn't work, especially when you worked so hard to get the problems nipped in the bud. Hang in there "kid"...I have faith in you.

Cheers---

TTB
 
katrina said:
Dang it........ Guess I don't know how I get along so well. :???: Geeze I'm sorry........ :(
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Your colts were probable not fead for years in large tractor tire feed bunks. Plus mine are not getting any pasture time because im riding them all.
I bet if I would have been feeding them in ring feeder from the start I would not have had any troubles.
Everybody gave me lots a great advice. Thanks everybody :)
 

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