Round Bale Hay and feeder questions

[stevenf]

I'm sorry to have to ask what some will see as an ignorant questions but I need a large volume of hay and so now I've got a Tractor to handle it I'm going out tommorrow morning to get a round bale.
1. How can you tell by looking or poking around in it how fresh the hay is and if its any good or not.
2. Do I need a round bale feeder to keep the bale grouped up or will they hold together pretty well without the feeder enclosure. I'm also figuring it helps in keeping the equines off of it and from defecating on it as well. A feeder is relatively inexpensive something like $200. or so but I've never used round bales always square its just a lot cheaper to buy it in bulk and I've got 8 head eating on it so it won't last long regardless.
Steve

 

[floridahay]

I have been growing Coastal Bermuda horse hay for the last 25 years so I will try to help answer some of your questions. We used to feed cows and the bale feeders seemed to save a good bit of hay,I thoink they will pay for themselves pretty quickly. I don't know what kind of hay you will be looking at but I would think that in Texas you would be looking at some of the hybrid bermudas. Look for any mold in the hay,it is not uncommon to see some on the bottom where it is on the ground but there should not be anyon the inside. One of the most important things to look for is how long and leaves and stems of the hay. The longer the leaves and stems the older the grasss was when it was cut, which means it had lost a lot of protein if it as not cut in a timely manner. I try to cut my hay at 30 day intervals if possible with normal conditions, this usually will keep the crude protein in the 16-18 percent range. Often times this is not possible with weather conditions but you will still have reasonably good hay at 6 week intervals with the protein still up to about 12 percent. Another test is how does the hay smell. It should have a pleasant odor, if it smells musty or moldy be cautious of it. Hope this helps,if you have any more questions I will be happy to try and answer them.