# Round bales- how you feed em?



## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

That is the best way (safety first concern, less waste the second) to feed em?


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## tendermeadowsnigerians (Sep 8, 2010)

We set the bales on a pallet to keep it up off the ground so theres room for air movement and less chance of mold, then we wrap a cattle panel around it so the goats cant spread it all over and waste it. Then cover it with a tarp to keep the rain off. As long as your goats dont have horns they will be fine, goats with horns get stuck in the cattle panel. This also keeps the bale twine from getting wrapped around the goats, when they are done with the bale you have a pile of twine in the middle that they cant get tangled up in. Or you can cut the twine off and the cattle panel will keep the bale from falling apart.

We tried the round bale feeders but the goats just jump in them and make nice hay beds in the middle


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## adillenal (Feb 6, 2009)

We put 3 corral panels together in traingele shape. As they eat the bale we push the panels in.


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## nightskyfarm (Sep 7, 2009)

I hand feed round bales. Set bale on pallet on end and cover with tarp. More work, but less waste. None of my hay has even seen weather.


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

I use a pitchfork since I don't have a place to keep a whole bale out for the goats. I also catch any mold and have very little waste this way.


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## KingsCoGoatGuy (Dec 20, 2008)

Round bale on pallet, pitchfork into feeders. Very little waste.


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## adillenal (Feb 6, 2009)

If I am going to put hay in their hay feeders I use bales. The rolls are so I don't have to work everyday. Or rather DH doesn't have to go out and put hay in their feeder everyday.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Don't tarp your hay in the south, it is the perfect medium for growning mold. Vicki


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## K-Ro (Nov 10, 2009)

We keep our round bales in a barn and fill our hay feeders up daily.


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## Ziggy (Nov 13, 2009)

> We keep our round bales in a barn and fill our hay feeders up daily.


I do the same except I get 1300 pound square bales.


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## milkmaidranch (Jun 21, 2010)

We set a bale out and put the hay feeder over it. They eat as they want and there is waste. It being coastal(Burmuda) what is left over, has a way of sprigging itself. My barn yard is now a nice coastal spot. 

For the bucks, there are 2 hay feeders and they get filled every morning by pitchfork and wheelbarrow. Less waste. I want my girls to have hay at all times in the winter so the waist for me isn't that big of a deal. It would = about 2 square bales.


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

Thanks for all the replies!


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## dawnwinddg (Aug 29, 2010)

I do know someone who put a bale in the middle of the pen, and while it worked for a while, the goats eventually ate the middle out of it, and it fell over on top of the goats. Please put a panel of some sort around it.


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## Narrow Chance (Oct 29, 2007)

bale on a pallet.. then one cattle panel wrapped around with one of those screw thingy's from Premier. If it's a larger bale than usual.. one cattle panel with small piece attached with two of those screw thingy's from Premier.
They eat through the holes.. when bale gets smaller.. undo the screw thingy and take up slack or remove the extra piece.. it works great.. and there's almost no waste. As for as covering.. we put ours under a tarp covered greenhouse frame and it becomes the loafing area. 

If I could get a round bale through the doors of my barn with the tractor.. it would go in there.. but alas.. getting the big ole tractor in the barn was least of our worries when building. :?


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