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| Which do you perfer? And what is better for your buck?
I only have two horses, my good rodeo horse and his pasture buddy that is a fatty and super easy keeper.
I can get round bales for $55 and square bales for $6 both very good quality hay. But I feel like my last round bale only lasted a week! And hat was with my nets around it to keep more from wasting.. I think that's crazy or is it just me?
Also may I add I have a round bale feeder, so all my hay is kept out of the elements and off the ground. And my square bales are stored inside so they are also out of the elements and off the ground. |
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Depends on your pastures.. when our pasture was good and producing, I fed squares, now that it's all burnt up we put out a roundbale..I have 3, they usually can take it down within a week or 2. I still supplement once a day with a hefty flake of alfalfa though, either way. |
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| A good heavy tightly rolled 5x6 round bale should weigh 12-1400 lbs ...
Which is 18-22 bales of 60-65 lb squares ..
WASTE NAUGHT ... WANT NAUGHT ..
FEED SQUARE BALES
In drought or dry lot or barn feeding you can control the amount you
feed a horse .. 20-30 lbs/day and feed high fiber grain like whole oats
with a block of alfalfa ....
Round bales are usually baled as first crop or from less cared for hay fields
so quality may be lacking vs square baled hay
Due to rain or sun and trampling you typically lose 1/3 of your round bale.
NOW DO THE MATH ... lol
Edited by BARRELHORSE USA 2016-08-10 4:29 AM
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| I almost have to use square. One year, when I couldn't find hay, I had to buy round and it just doesn't work for my set up. In the winter, the horses are in stalls and run pens so I tried to fork the hay off the round bale and feed it that way - I had the bale sitting outside and I couldn't get the hay forked off and into a wheel barrow without the wind snatching it off the fork and blowing it away. |
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 Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | 18 squares at $6 a bale is $108 for the same amount of hay as a round-if you lose 1/3 due to waste thats still $72 for the same amount of hay as a round.
I have the best of both worlds-I feed rounds mostly because they are hands down-cheaper-but i have a trailer, tractor and skid steer to load, move and haul the rounds with. We pitch hay every day to our livestock-even the steers so they do not make such a mess and waste the 1/3. The outer edges of the rounds get fed to the garbage guts (the steers) and the good stuff goes to the horses. It takes a little while to figure out how much to feed each day-we only feed once a day, but usually it's a science as to how much to get them through without wasting a lot. Putting a round bale in a feeder is a total waste of money, plus you have to clean it up at the end of the year.... |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | Depends on the situation and your feeding program. By weight round bales are cheaper. However, they can vary a lot by how much they weigh and the quality of forage in them. If you are forking off hay, small bales are better. If you are feeding free choice, round bales are better. Round bales have to have a feeder in order to cut waste and the better quality the hay, the less waste. Still there is considerable waste feeding round bales and less waste feeding square bales, though there is generally waste with all baled hay. Round bales left out in the elements will have an additional waste factor of sun and moisture around the outside of the bale. If your round bales are kept in a barn, then this is not an issue.
Round bales are usually 4x5 and weigh around 900lbs. Assuming both the hays you listed are the same quality and protein (which they may not be), the round bale will be equal to $3.36/small bale. This is compared to the $6.00 small square, and I am assuming the small square weighs 55lbs (which is about average for grass squares).
Fed free choice continually, a horse generally will eat about 35lbs/day, including waste with a good feeder. This number will go up with higher waste factors and rain, wind, etc. They may go through more than that at first but will level off to these amounts after a few weeks.
One thing you can do is fence off the round bale and put them on it only at night. This will decrease the amount of the bale they eat and not allow them to stuff quite so much. For instance you could put them on it from say 6-7 at night and take them off about 7-8 in the morning. After adjustment they should eat about 20-25 lbs a day, in my experience.
Edited by Tdove 2016-08-10 9:07 AM
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | We feed both and are charged the same (per ton) whether it's a round or a square. The squares are mainly used for hauling. We don't have a lot of waste because we fork hay into feeders for the horses. I can't imagine just throwing a bale into the feeder, unless I had unlimited resources. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Recently, I have found that the better the quality of the hay, the less waste I have. But I have changed my feeding, too. Since I need them to move around, I feed one block of hay in one spot and then walk quite a ways and put out another block. This is for the morning/early afternoon and then in the hot afternoon, they are under the shed so they get another block of hay and then at night they go on the round bale.
They do get 3 lbs. of alfalfa cubes with their supplements in the morning and have a little pasture to graze on during the day and then they get their cubes again in the evening before being turned out with the round bale. If we don't get some rain in the next week I will have to up their hay in the day but again I will space it out as far apart as I can. This seems to have really helped with waste.
If I was feeding in stalls or small pens, I would do the slow feed hay nets.
They are not wasting any hay when fed during the day this way. I am not having any ulcer problems or behavior trouble either. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I have both, I like the squares better, you can control how much hay they eat, if they need more are less. And much less waste with the squares. When I have round bales out, I know lots will be wasted even with being in hay rings, and the weather has lots to do with it, when it rains the horses get picky about eating on the rounds, so I rather deal with the squares, but during the winter months I will put out round bales for the horses in the back, I just hate to see the waste. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Barrelhorsehelp1 - 2016-08-09 11:43 PM Which do you perfer? And what is better for your buck? I only have two horses, my good rodeo horse and his pasture buddy that is a fatty and super easy keeper. I can get round bales for $55 and square bales for $6 both very good quality hay. But I feel like my last round bale only lasted a week! And hat was with my nets around it to keep more from wasting.. I think that's crazy or is it just me? Also may I add I have a round bale feeder, so all my hay is kept out of the elements and off the ground. And my square bales are stored inside so they are also out of the elements and off the ground.
With you having only 2 horses I say your money is best spent on the squares.  |
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 Poor Cracker Girl
Posts: 12150
Location: Feeding mosquitos, FL | I prefer squares - easier to feed, easier to haul, easier to store. But my wallet prefers rolls.
Fed free choice (in a slow feed net in an unused stall out of the weather), a roll will last my three hogs generally two weeks almost to the day. I'll go through ten to fourteen squares in the same time frame. Even on the low end, that's $45 of roll vs $60 of squares. It just makes economic sense.
The net is probably the best thing I've done to reduce hay waste. Very very little is wasted now.
Forgot to add: I usually try to keep mine off the hay for about half the day too - either they're up in pens during the day or the hay gate is closed. I have one mare that is a fat fat fatty who will basically stick her face in the roll up to her ears and not come up for air. If they're up, I'll generally fork them a bunch off the roll so they have hay in their stalls.
Edited by TrackinBubba 2016-08-10 9:41 AM
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | I would almost rather feed square bales, but I feed round bales. I can buy a round bale of brome from my grandparents at $10 a round bale of that years cutting, compared to $6 for one bale of brome from a local farmer or the feed store. I just choose to feed round bales, and actually don't have too much waste with the babies on it. |
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| I have no pasture may I add. So if my horses don't have hay I give them they have nothing. No grass at all.
Normally as winter time rolls around I do keep them stalled at night. I'm assuming that would help as far as making a round bale last longer.. And for anyone wondering my round bales that are in the pasture are not touching the ground and completely out of the elements.
Honestly at this point I'm just trying to get the best thing for my money, my good gelding will get his alfalfa regaurdless and my pasture buddy can seriously get fat on air. (A lot of the the reason I think it goes so fast is he stands at the round bale all day long) and during the summer I haven't stall much so they aren't really ever off of it. |
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Expert
Posts: 1207
| I feed both plus Omnis cubes and the minimum of Bluebonnet feed to mix their supplements. I have 3, two fattys and one 28 year old who gets more than the other two and I have to separate them when I feed their grain. I have 20 acres or so of pasture (not the best but there is grass out there). Generally during the spring and summer I don't feed any hay, just the Omnis cubes and I have had to cut those down as they were waiting on them and not going outside to graze and roam. They have a barn they can go in and out of and I only stall the two when feeding their little bit of grain. In the winter when I have to go to baled hay if it is nice out they get off of a roll of hay. I pitch fork it off because if I don't they would have it gone in a matter of a week or two. This way I can get a big bale of hay to last at least a month if the hay is of good quality. Good horse hay around here is a hit or miss. If you have good quality hay you generally don't have to feed as much. If of poor quality you feed more as then it is just a filler and not much nutrients in it. If the weather is nasty, blowing snow, I will feed the squares in a slow feed hay net. I have 3 of those and put a flake or so in each hay net and tie up inside the barn. This works for me. |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| Squares unless you know you can get rounds that were properly baled and stored inside and store them inside yourself.
We have a hayfield and do both rounds and squares. Our rounds are stored outside and i see firsthand what they look like when we unroll them for the cattle, no way Jose. If I could guarantee the field was ideally baled and then stored under roof, I'd consider it. We did big squares before we renovated our storage into stalls and they kept ok, not the same quality IMO as the small squares but ok.
At minimum I think if you get rounds it needs to be forked out daily, that way bad spots can be avoided vs free choice.
All just my opinion and what works for us with what we see in our area. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| I have fed square bales for 50 years. My horses are out 24/7. I put out a round bale once and did not like the results. I can control the quality and quantity. Just easier for me and my horses look better. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | We put up all our own hay, brome is all round baled and we use net wrap vs. twine so it keeps a little longer. Like someone mentioned above I only see waste when the weathers wet, I have 7 in together right now, so we don't see much waste as it only takes a couple days for them to clean it up. Need to downsize alittle bit. :) |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 434
Location: Northwest Florida | I have two big geldings and I get two round bales delivered every other weekend. So that's one $45 round bale a week. I prefer round bales because my boys stay outside. It's just easier for them to eat as they want, rather than have to feed them hay myself. |
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Expert
Posts: 1280
Location: Texas | Respiratory issues were a MUCH bigger problem when I fed round bales. Now I feed square & have less coughing. (also I am down to 2 horses, so they do not eat a round bale very fast) |
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  Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | We feed both, although the squares are more for hauling or if I have to keep them in. Normally they are out on a roundbale and the pasture, besides the hour or so they are in for their renew gold and omnis.
I splurged on 3 prota-grazers last year and I am very happy with those. They don't waste as much as when you through the hay on the ground. They don't pee on it. And it slows them down a bit more. |
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | I buy rounds. .way more bang for your buck..but i also fork hay i dont dump the bales in with them unless we are going away and then i will roll one out.....m |
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| UPDATE...
well I'm super bummed because even my hay guy said to just buy a round bale put it somewhere out of the weather/ground and fork off of it, that it's 33% more hay.
But I just unloaded one to bring in my barn to put in one of my empty stalls and it just won't fit. 
so I've decided I'll just keep them up at night to help from my fatty buddy horse shoving his face all day and night.
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Round bales or square?