Hay stacks vs. bales (livestock?)

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Regarding haying....have any of you had experience with making hay stacks (vs. bales)?

What can you tell about your experiences? Did you need special equipment? How do you protect the stacks when it rains? (Big consideration where I live.) Do you just let the top part of the stack "spoil" if the weather is bad?

Kind of funny to be asking in December, I guess! (Thanks to Lexi Green for reminding me to ask...indirectly!) And thanks to you for your replies, of course!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), December 04, 2000

Answers

While I predominately use round bales, I do have 100-200 square bales put up for me. They are stacked in the barn with the lowest layer on its side. Otherwise the strings rot.

I think even someone with just a couple of head of cattle should consider round bales. My bales, put up by two different custom operators, range from 800 to 1,200 pounds. Say a square bales weighs 40 pounds for convenience. There would be the equivalent of 20 square bales in the small round bale and 30 in the larger one. Locally a round bale sells for from $15-20, while square bales sell for about $2.50 out of the barn (cheaper if you pick them up off the field). Thus, a round bale cost a fraction of the equivalent number of square bales.

A good round bale hay feeder will cost about $80.

I've seen people carrying round bales in the back of a pickup. At the pasture they are rolled off. A rope tied to a tree or something also works.

Yes, you are going to have some spoilage and some pasture damage around the ring, but it is still a substantial cost savings.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 05, 2000.


Hay ricks I've seen are mostly over in England and Sweden, they're piled up in what almost looks like a little hut with sides, narrower at the base than under the 'eaves' of the steeply peaked 'roof' of hay to shed the water, as opposed to just a loose pile out in the weather. The narrower base keeps rain from dripping onto the lower hay (in theory -- slanting rain will wet it) I've also seen them protected with tarps over the top with bricks tied to the corners to hold them down against wind. I don't know if they have them up on pallets, but I would think that would help.

I had a hauling job moving a horse herd along with their hay supply (I didn't want to take the job). The round bales were moved by another guy and they had been sitting out in the weather, on the ground. They had gotten wet and were slimey and rotten in part. I later found out that several of the horses had died there and I suspect that it was the hay. I don't know about sheep, but horses can't tolerate that kind of rotten food...maybe cattle can...and botulism is an ugly death, and dead livestock are way expensive. We've been offered 'deals' on round bales for the horses and won't take them. For us, it's a classic case of 'penny wise and pound foolish'

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), December 05, 2000.


When I was a kid, field hay stacks were the norm and though i have never done any I have seen how it was done as well as reading an article in Country Jornal magazine about it 20 years ago. They use a pole stuck in the ground that is pointed on top and lay the hay up on that, there is a way opf stacking the hay that seals it off from the weather, live stock eat from below until the pile look like mushrooms. If you live in New England where you have cold/snowy winters it should be a good way to go but here in rainy Oregon it would never work.\ As far as equipment, one could cut hay with a scythe and rake it by hand. Or you could use a tractor and sickle bar mower and rake it but for a few head of stock it should not be too bad. I feed a 3/4 ton of hay per head of feeder beef per winter. I only wish I could get 40# bales, the ones we buy are 115-120# squares, round bales are not even made around here. I will try to find the article on stacking hay.

-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweb.net), December 05, 2000.

Sheepish, I agree with Julie on not using round bales, or any form of hay (stacks included) that has been stored outside at all. Even stored in a three sided machine shed, the square bales we store there get moldy to some extent, too much moisture too easy to absorb there! The best (safest against mold) way to store hay (round or square bales) is in the traditional hay loft, on a wooden floor, on the second story of the barn, with adequate ventilation all around the barn sides. Our hay loft area has board sides, with a half inch to 3/4 inch gap between all the vertical board walls. Stored on a solid concrete or dirt floor, the entire bottom layer will turn moldy very quickly.

Also, around here, the quality of round bales is to be suspect, farmers are quick to round bale "marginal" hay, but always put up the good stuff in square bales, because they know it will bring a better price. We do this ourselves, but are honest enough to tell people that the round bales are for cattle use only, not fit for horses. There is always (unless stored properly inside) at least 1/3 of the round bale that is gone to rot if stored outside, more if it is a wet type climate, so be sure to compute that into your equation for total cost. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), December 05, 2000.


Can't address the haystack question, other than they look neat in old paintings. I have used round bales for my sheep and goats. So far, it has seemed to work well. I keep the bales in a covered barn until ready to feed, they then go out to the field or during the spring in the pen in the barn. No complaints! It sure is nice to be able to move the bales around with my tractor and very nice not having to handle 1000 square bales of hay. I know horses are not suppose to have moldy hay, neither are the sheep, but I find they are picky and eat around the bad stuff. Also, since they are stored inside, the spoilage on top in minimal. This spring will be the test. Sheep will abort lambs if they get to much moldy hay.

-- Betsy K (betsyk@pathwaynet.com), December 05, 2000.


Sheepish, Don't have personal experience w/ stacks. Gene Logsdon writes about them a lot and speaks highly of them. Several of his books talk about making them. Also The small farmers journal had some articles about a year or so ago. Lost my copies in the recent move, so maybe someone else can help. Lynn R. Miller, the publisher of that mag has a newer book - "Haying w/ horses". Seems like a title like that would cover the subject of hay stacks. Anyone have this book? John

-- John in S IN (jsmengel@hotmail.com), December 05, 2000.

I have a different "take" on the round bales.Buy these from farmers who keep them covered.THEN stand them on end on a pallet.Cut a piece of plywood to cover the top.Drill a hole in the center of the plywood. Place a 3 foot piece of threaded rod,with nuts and washer on one end, through the plywood and down into the center of the bale.This will hold the plywood cover on in anything less than a hurricane.Cut the strings/netting/plastic or whatever off the outside.Stand back and watch your goats pull off,walk on,pee on,poop on and waste about 1/3 of the bale.Still much cheaper than square bales.800 lb round bales last my 10 does,and their babies,about 3 weeks even with the waste.Cost is 25.00.It takes 21 square bales at a cost of 50-60 dollars to last three weeks. All that said,there is really no waste here as I compost the spoiled hay and bedding for use on the garden and around the fruit trees for mulch.

-- JT in Florida (gone2seed@hotmail.com), December 05, 2000.

For outside storage of individual bales several places sell what are called 'hay bonnets'. They go over a bale much like a cover over a B-B-Q. If the bale is set on a pallot, there should be almost no spoilage. Check at your local farm supply outlet.

I would not feed round baled hay to a horse, but if you do the hay ring is different from cattle. The one for horses is open at the top with a series of upright V's. The one for cattle is closed at the top so they have to reach through the ring.

I use hay rings for the heifers I have separated, but not for the herd. So many critters go at it all at once there isn't much left. I try to use the same area of the pasture to put a new bale over where the old one was as next summer that area will be a mass of weeds. These get knocked down with the bushhog.

One can pick up nice small Ford tractors, such as the 8N, for around $2,500. If front weights are added, it should handle an 800- pound bale. Used bushhogs are cheap.

For me, round bales are the only practical option as I'll feed out over 200 bales each winter. Square bales are mostly a treat for the heifers and if I have any in the corral.

On the hay ricks, in England they were called 'bum huts' as guys walking along the roads would sleep in them at night.

Was your original question not on hay ricks, but rather just large loose piles of hay, such as seen in the movie Oklahoma? Whether ricks or stacks, it would be very labor intension.

Locally it is getting harder and harder for horse farms to find good quality horse hay due as much to a shortage of willing labor as the hay itself.

The last two springs I have received a call from an Amish farmer (through a neighbor of his) south of here asking if I have any horse- quality hay left. He has taken a pickup load each time, but he is very, very picky about quality and weeds.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 06, 2000.


Sheepish, I have made haystacks - they were not uncommon here 20 years ago, but I seldom see them now. A well-made stack will shed rain and keep for a long time. Assuming you already have the hay cut, dried, raked and hauled to the site, about the only equipment you need is a long-handled pitchfork and a jug of lemonade. Start by setting a pole (8-10 feet) in the ground. It can be attached to logs or boards lying on the ground to help hold it upright. The ground is covered with logs or boards to avoid direct contact with the hay - old pallettes would probably be good for this. Here's the "secret": as you pile the loose hay around the pole, someone stomps it down good right next to the pole but NOT out from the pole. After the stack is finished, the hay will slowly settle, but it will settle LESS next to the pole where it was packed down and MORE toward the outside. This will leave the strands of hay sloping downward toward the outside, thus shedding water better. Two other points: Make the stack slightly bigger at the top than at bottom (as Julie said earlier), and finish it by taking your pitch fork and raking the surface downward. This creates a surface that tends to let rain drain off instead of soaking in. This stack will not need any kind of artificial cover. Of course after a while the outer layer will not be good, but inside will stay fresh - provided the hay was dry when you stacked it!! Removing hay from the stack is difficult, but is made easier if you have a hay knife. Sorry I can't draw a picture here - you would probably recognize it. Incidentally, large round bales are very heavy and can ROLL. Somebody here died when he raised one too high on the front of his tractor and it rolled back over him.

-- Sam in W.Va, (snorris@dnr.state.wv.us), December 11, 2000.

We buy the smaller round bales of alfalfa here. It's stored inside a three sided shed, and it's very dry and good. It is hard to roll off the truck and then roll into the garage, but we do it. It's allot more hay for less money than the square bales of alfalfa. I pull it off and fill up bushel baskets to carry. We pay $30.00 and it is still quite a large roll, just not the huge ones. The goats just love it, and mine look much better on alfalfa than just the grass hay. I buy square bales of good grass hay too. Our grass in the pastures is only good baled for cows. My pony would not allow one of those stacks to remain standing in the pasture! Not in her pasture!

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), December 11, 2000.


Thanks for your answers. I feed square bales b/c I haven't seen any round bales with alfalfa mixed in. However, I do have pasture grass that gets away from me maybe once a season. I was thinking that rather than wasting it in the field (which usually happens because we don't get long runs of sunny weather at about the same time that the grass is aggressively growing and nobody will put it up for me anyway) that perhaps I could stack it for later. It would be more like emergency feed, or something. (I have posted before on not being able to get anyone to bale the stuff up for me.)

I thought haystacks (yes, like in John Constable's paintings) would not be an option b/c of all the rain here. But hey, they have these things in the British Isles. Our climate here is almost exactly like that. So I thought perhaps a stack would be an option somehow.

I don't think I have enough room for storing round bales. Just 3 tons of squares is max for me unless I build the big monitor barn that I dream of. And that's a long-term dream on my budget these days!

Thanks again.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), December 11, 2000.


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