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mittens
Platinum Member
 United Kingdom
2109 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Nov 2009 : 8:09:02 PM
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Hello! I remember a while back someone on here said they used a round bale and just cut off the top half of plastic wrap and string and left the rest as a natural windbreak plus regular feed supply...thinking of doing the same but not sure how safe it is,anyone else tried this? haylage will still be placed inside shelters but as we all know even in the worst conditions they all stand out anyway!! 
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Mrs Vlacq
Platinum Member
Wales
3776 Posts |
Posted - 25 Nov 2009 : 10:38:11 PM
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Twas probably us! Our little group (4 to 5) get a bale stood on end to munch on. Being youngsters, they like to rub, sleep, wee on it etc so unwrapping totally, or standing it any other way means loads of mess!! We take the top 1/3 of wrap and netting off and they can still get a hearty mouthful, snooze behind it if they want. They eat it 'inwards' into a natural bowl so stray bits fall into bale, rather than out onto mud. Also prevents them getting a huge mouthful and then flinging it about to shake off the excess. They pluck at it, like nets or racks. When it gets low (or hard to pull at) we take another third off. You can then pick up the last bit of wrap and net when finished and next bale goes in. We have had a few bits of stray net but they very rarely walk on top of the bale as it stays solid looking throughout.
If placing a bale in a large shelter, you need to make sure they can get all around it so no chance of a horse getting boxed in and trapped. Always an escape route.
If you meant to use the same bale out on the field and in the shelter it doesn't work as you cannot pull out sufficient hayage to fill nets/racks.
We've done this for the past 3 winters with the juniors and no problems. We hate waste!! |
    
- V Khazad - V Calacirya & V Sulime - Quarida(L) - V Boogie Knights - V Hamra Tofiq |
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Sirius
Bronze Member
England
102 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2009 : 2:19:15 PM
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Agree with all of that, Mrs Vlacq. The odd bit of black plastic tends to flap as well - a good thing for youngsters and oldsters to learn to ignore.
Do pick up the black plastic and netting after every bale, or it will come back to haunt you bigtime after it has been trampled into the mud or if you plonk the next bale on top of it. It will weigh a tonne and have the most evil spiteful stubborn dumb insolence when you get round to picking it up. |
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DenmoorStud
Gold Member
739 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2009 : 7:22:10 PM
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| It is a good idear but how much risk is there of them eating the plastic wrap or netting? |
   
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Nicki
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
149 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2009 : 7:51:40 PM
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| We do the same and never had any problems. The desire to eat haylage soon outweighs any concerns about flapping bits of plastic on the outside of the bale. As the bale goes down the net and plastic stay compacted around it and until its nearly eaten there isn't anything loose to cause a problem. Good luck |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2009 : 8:26:53 PM
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Wow never thought of feeding it that way but I too would worry about them eating the netting not so much the plastic. People down the road from me always feed whole bales of haylage with the netting still on but no wrapping and it always stays in its original shape and they cant have problems with the horses eating the net otherwise they wouldnt do it year after year.
Its a very good idea and would save on a lot of waste like you say they pull a mouthfull and unwrap loads of haylage and then stamp it into the mud and poo and wee in it. Im going to try it when i start putting bales out.
How long do you find one large round bale lasts when out in the field? Im hoping that a bale will approx last 1 week between 4 horses when i start putting it in the field. |
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Mrs Vlacq
Platinum Member
Wales
3776 Posts |
Posted - 26 Nov 2009 : 9:43:50 PM
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Should do Holly - our babies eat 1 a week through winter with 1 feed a day. Mind you, our contractor makes excellent bales, I've seen some that must have a third less content. They eat more if it's awful weather / snow as they don't graze, and they soon tell you when the grass starts growing as consuption drops rapidly.
Also, we have our bales double wrapped - keep contents better and far less likely to get bitten through or blow away |
- V Khazad - V Calacirya & V Sulime - Quarida(L) - V Boogie Knights - V Hamra Tofiq |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2009 : 11:13:22 AM
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I had my fields cut for haylage this year for the first time and we had ours double wrapped so that it could be stored outside all winter and like you say its much tougher.
I will definitly try putting the bales out with 2 thirds of the wrapping still on. x |
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Mrs Vlacq
Platinum Member
Wales
3776 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jan 2010 : 5:20:35 PM
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| How are the 'up-ended' bales working for you Holly? |
- V Khazad - V Calacirya & V Sulime - Quarida(L) - V Boogie Knights - V Hamra Tofiq |
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cammarch
Junior Member
34 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jan 2010 : 8:03:38 PM
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| Yes use big bales too, but also use tomb feeders, like cattle feeders but without the metal ring on top, found the horses were losing their manes using them, shetlands were ok though lol |
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Holly
Gold Member
England
529 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jan 2010 : 11:13:27 PM
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Well I haven't actually had a chance to try yet. Ive got my mares on a lovely 14acre farm which i share with a man who has 5 rescue horses. The farmers said that they would put a bale out in the field once a week or as needed using their tractor but when we asked them to do it they said that they didn't want to use the tractor on the fields as it would churn it up as ground is so wet! so we have been bagging the haylage up and carrying it out to fields which is very annoying! once all this snow is over i will be moving my girls to the field next to where the haylage is stacked and will get 3 or 4 of my male friends to help push a bale out to the field so will experiment then and let you know how it goes.
Holly x |
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Mrs Vlacq
Platinum Member
Wales
3776 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jan 2010 : 1:38:00 PM
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Another suggestion,
for bales you plan on using to fill haynets, we get our contractor to chop the crop that comes home to use on the yard. It makes it much easiier to pull out of the bale and stuff into nets. Only time you should not do this is if there is mole activity in the field prior to cutting as this will spread the soil contamination.
We use small holed haylage nets, but the biggest size. |
- V Khazad - V Calacirya & V Sulime - Quarida(L) - V Boogie Knights - V Hamra Tofiq |
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Big round haylage bales
