Round Bale feeding...need experience

[KRob]

I am looking at changing over from an old aging stacker system to a baling system. I would prefer to do square since we feed squares bales that we buy as well however the price of a large square baler is a little more then we can do.

I have no experience feeding round bales and so i am asking you all to enlighten me.

We feed from Nov-Feb about 500 mother cows in the fields and about the 250-500 calves in a feed lot.

So what are your thoughts?

Thanks
Rob

 

[wdcook]

We unroll bales feeding cows on pastures in winter. Less damage to pastures and spreads fertility. Feed calves and anything in lots in round bale feeders. Have a couple of cone feeders that reduce wastage but wet spring precluded putting up any good hay this yr. so expect a lot of wastage this winter no matter how hay is fed.

 

[randiliana]

We roll out bales for the main herd, most of the winter. We have a truck with a deck on it, and we also use the bucket on the tractor. You can also use a bale shredder.

We also tubgrind the bales for calves and for our cows at calving time, and when we want to mix poorer quality feed off with higher quality stuff.

And, we use round bale feeders in pens where we have smaller #'s of animals.

Rolled out hay

Rolling with the truck.

Rolling out with the tractor, too snowy to use the truck

Tubground feed, mostly to mix poorer quality stuff with good stuff.

Feeding in a feeder.

 

[jodywy]

no fork just a chain on the bucket, drop the chain over the bale kick the bucket into the bale and tighten the chain

dog keeps the cows away from the tractor while you cut strings

I have set whole bales out in the snow when I have to be gone a day or two, really have them sacttered around, seem there no more waste then spreading them out it just in one spot for each bale.

 

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Jody...could you post a picture of the attachment that spins the hay? Mr Lilly would like to take a looksee at it.

 

[jodywy]

picture here on thier manual pdf
http://www.worksaver.com/Manuals/so_operation_manual_(08-00).pdthat
that manual for the older ones, the new one have a bigger hydraulic motor and a tapered spear. I got one of each.

http://www.worksaver.com/product/SpinOff.html

even a front mount

 

[jodywy]

A few guys here weld a ball ontop of the spinner (the square tube) then fill thier 5th wheel flat bed with hay , get to the field and just lower the spinner letting the 5th wheel on its jack and they unload and feed

 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I find it much easier to load a big square on flatbed trailer or pickup, put her in 4-lo, climb on and flake it out...but can't do that in rough-pastures with ditches and big muddy holes...so...if the girls are'nt TOO far out in the sticks, the tractor works nice...I have used the spinners once...far more fun than unrolling with tractor, or with Dew-eze flat-bed...

...if I never have to feed with a Dew-Eze again, it'll be too soon...

...I prefer to hire onto places that put up big-squares...perhaps more expensive equipment to put them up, but I find them easier to load/unload, stack, transport, and feed out...

Plus, it takes skunks FAR more time and effort to set up house and home in a stack-yard full of big-squares, than it does to move into a stack-yard of round bales.

...and I DON'T like skunks.

 

[jodywy]

Personally, I find it much easier to load a big square on flatbed trailer or pickup, put her in 4-lo, climb on and flake it out...but can't do that in rough-pastures with ditches and big muddy holes...so...if the girls are'nt TOO far out in the sticks, the tractor works nice...I have used the spinners once...far more fun than unrolling with tractor, or with Dew-eze flat-bed...

...if I never have to feed with a Dew-Eze again, it'll be too soon...

...I prefer to hire onto places that put up big-squares...perhaps more expensive equipment to put them up, but I find them easier to load/unload, stack, transport, and feed out...

Plus, it takes skunks FAR more time and effort to set up house and home in a stack-yard full of big-squares, than it does to move into a stack-yard of round bales.

...and I DON'T like skunks.

they don't store good with the snow we get, plus one has to use a ax to flake the top bales

 

[Anonymous]

'We' got hit with pretty good snow in north-east Converse County quite often, and/or that lovely rain/snow ('snain' ?) which would freeze/thaw/freeze, etc...and I got r' dun either which way...

...plus I had several 100lb sacks of corn (for sheep) and cake to feed stuffed in front of the bales...

...and calves to tag, which ALSO usually involved going 'upstairs' to visit with the owner afterwards, to argue about what her records showed, and what I actually had straddled on the ground when I tagged it, and what tag the momma (who was breathing over my shoulder) had while I was tagging the calf...

...and then water tanks to chop and clean out...sucker-rods to pull and leathers to replace...

...sacks to re-fill and weigh for the next day's feed...

...and water-lines to thaw out (cuz the idiots on the crew did'nt know how to let the water 'drip' during the night...

etc...you know how it works these days...lol

 

[Denny]

Personally after paying big Doctor bills I would'nt want to feed anything that would require I get out and leave the vehicle drive itself.

From your post's you seam a bit picky about what you do.. I could use a good man here but he'd better not be afraid of welding in the shop feeding cows,haying,fenceing ,cutting wood,choping corn,hauling hay and a bit of spring field work that can be done in less than 5 days.If your interested I even have an extra house not fancy but liveable.Were not in Wyoming but were still Ranchers.

Everyone makes mistakes and argueing with the boss does'nt work talking does but argueing gets you gone.

 

[Anonymous]

Not bein picky at all...there's plenty of outfits right here in Wyo (where I'm already licenced and legal to drive) who are involved in the very same things you just outlined to me. They won't hire me...cuz the plain fact is, I'm highly allergic to fresh-cut hay..and that rules out farming. Period.

Up until a few yrs ago (when 4wheelers started showing up everywhere) I was a competant (if a bit conservative) horse-back hand. I was just starting to get a real feel for it...and then someone better came along. I got knocked to the side. That's life. Since then, for the past year and a half, my only focus in life has been to get horseback again. It is the only thing in life I have left to me, that makes me feel alive. I die a little, everyday that I'm left behind while others get to do the more 'fun stuff'.

I have no interest in farming...it just ain't there; but that does'nt mean I can't have civil discussions with the folks who are...

Trust me...I'm not nearly as 'toxic' as some of you 'veterans' of this web-forum are clearly wanting to believe.

 

[John SD]

Jody, I really like that blue tractor and loader. 8) What I can't figure out is why you don't have a grappel on the loader bucket. It looks to me like getting out of that nice warm cab to loop a chain over a bale would get darn old in a hurry. :???:

My blue feeding tractor is about 35 yrs older than yours and I'm sure the heater doesn't work as well. :wink: Since I feed a lot of old crop bales I have been using the Stur-D double bale fork to feed the bales and roll them out with the dozer. The dozer also sometimes comes in handy for cleaning off an area to feed.

If I was feeding current season bales I might use my shop built bale unroller. It doesn't work so good with old bales that are flat bottomed or might fall apart before I get out to the feeding area.

 

[Liveoak]

Placing 3 round bales on an old flat bed trailer works for me. It can easily be towed to various spots in the pasture. This eliminates creating a feed bog in any one spot. The cattle just eat the hay off the trailer.

 

[jodywy]

Jody, I really like that blue tractor and loader. 8) What I can't figure out is why you don't have a grappel on the loader bucket. It looks to me like getting out of that nice warm cab to loop a chain over a bale would get darn old in a hurry. :???:

My blue feeding tractor is about 35 yrs older than yours and I'm sure the heater doesn't work as well. :wink: Since I feed a lot of old crop bales I have been using the Stur-D double bale fork to feed the bales and roll them out with the dozer. The dozer also sometimes comes in handy for cleaning off an area to feed.

If I was feeding current season bales I might use my shop built bale unroller. It doesn't work so good with old bales that are flat bottomed or might fall apart before I get out to the feeding area.

Usually have to push snow every morning, the chain is hooked to the back corner of the bucket there a hook in the middle to get it out of the way when pushing snow.
You don't have to get out , I pull a bale down with the loader tip the bucket back pull forward and let gravity drop the chain behind the bale , back up drop the bucket and kick the bucket into the bale to tighten it. Usually it only takes one bale to get the chain the right length, and then just leave it on the bucket all winter.

 

[jodywy]

Placing 3 round bales on an old flat bed trailer works for me. It can easily be towed to various spots in the pasture. This eliminates creating a feed bog in any one spot. The cattle just eat the hay off the trailer.

feeding on top of 2 to 4 feet of snow so we just feed every day a tire track farther , hay feed on the hay meadows , and a good feed ground is not too bad to drag with a harrow each spring

 

[KRob]

Thanks for all the input.

I would be feeding probably 500+ head every morning, so how well do your systems work.

Could some one tell me about the Deweze system does it work or not?

I dont think i could just leave trailers all over the place i wouldn't be able to move them a big chunk of the winter and it wouldn't spread the feed out enough that all critters can get to it.

Thanks
Rob

 

[jodywy]

I also use sisal twine what doesn't get pulled off rots by the time we swath. there guy here that feed 100 to over 800 head a day with the spinner, snow deep they take two bales one on the loader one on the spinner.
One guy loads a 5th wheel flat bead up goes out and set it down and loads and spins off, he has a dog that keeps the cows away from the trailer. Most my stack yards are scattered thru the meadows so I don't have far to travel between bales, later in the spring I load a wagon then unload and spinoff from it.

 

[Liveoak]

Thanks for all the input.

I would be feeding probably 500+ head every morning, so how well do your systems work.

Could some one tell me about the Deweze system does it work or not?

I dont think i could just leave trailers all over the place i wouldn't be able to move them a big chunk of the winter and it wouldn't spread the feed out enough that all critters can get to it.

Thanks
Rob

No, trailers won't work on 500 head. How many rounds do you figure on putting out every day? About 12? The fastest method would be into round bale feeders. For more efficiency, but more time, you would have to unroll it.

 

[KRob]

Your right probably about 12 bales a day.

We feed the cows in the hay acreage so i would want to spread them out as much as possible.

How do these bale spinner things work?

Sorry about the ignorance on something i should know, we always just fed stacks and square bales and thus i have absolutely no experience with rounds.

Thanks
Rob