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Location: West Texas | One thing to keep in mind with the big bales, besides the amount of work to feed them and the waste factor, is how that you can never really accurately know how much you are feeding.
The size of the piece or flake is never the same. If your goal is to feed 10 lbs daily, you will actually be varying several pounds one way or the other. That is one of the attributes of pellets and cubes is that you can weigh them and give a pretty consistent and measureable amount ever day.
Big bales have their fans and place, but this is something for your husband to consider, at least.
The other thing you asked is about cubes vs big bale utilization. There is no definitive answer. In my experience, I estimate that really good cubes compared to good quality bales of alfalfa hay will be at least 1:1.25 ratio. Meaning that you will be able to use about 25% less cubes than the baled hay. This does not take into consideration waste off the bales themselves when feeding. If I am feeding cubes at a rate of 20lbs daily, then I know for sure that I would need at least 25lbs daily of baled hay to get the same benefit. Free choice, I would estimate that the 20lbs of cubes to equal about 30 lbs of large bales, including waste.
The above is only comparing top quality alfalfa only cubes to alfalfa hay. A mixed cube would not compare as well and grass bales of hay do not compare either. I would estimate the ratio to be a 1:1.5 for alfalfa cube to good quality grass hay 12-14%. |
 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | Tdove - 2015-11-23 8:22 AM
One thing to keep in mind with the big bales, besides the amount of work to feed them and the waste factor, is how that you can never really accurately know how much you are feeding.
The size of the piece or flake is never the same. If your goal is to feed 10 lbs daily, you will actually be varying several pounds one way or the other. That is one of the attributes of pellets and cubes is that you can weigh them and give a pretty consistent and measureable amount ever day.
Big bales have their fans and place, but this is something for your husband to consider, at least.
The other thing you asked is about cubes vs big bale utilization. There is no definitive answer. In my experience, I estimate that really good cubes compared to good quality bales of alfalfa hay will be at least 1:1.25 ratio. Meaning that you will be able to use about 25% less cubes than the baled hay. This does not take into consideration waste off the bales themselves when feeding. If I am feeding cubes at a rate of 20lbs daily, then I know for sure that I would need at least 25lbs daily of baled hay to get the same benefit. Free choice, I would estimate that the 20lbs of cubes to equal about 30 lbs of large bales, including waste.
The above is only comparing top quality alfalfa only cubes to alfalfa hay. A mixed cube would not compare as well and grass bales of hay do not compare either. I would estimate the ratio to be a 1:1.5 for alfalfa cube to good quality grass hay 12-14%.
Thank you Tdove!!
We have decided to stay the course and go with Onmis.
Where the bale would be stored is a WALK from the barn, and I would be making that hike every day. Or at least every 2-3 days if I just fill up the wheelbarrow with hay. Plus all of the waste, and the fact we KNOW the horses like and will eat all of their cubes. I have a place to store them much easier than the hay as well.
Thank you to everyone for your help and opinions!! |
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