Thinking ahead to our brutal Illinois winters. If I have 3 horses on a round bale, how long can I expect a round bales to last?
Obviously depends on how big the bales are and your feeding situation (do they have free access to trash it or is it in a feeder?). But my general rule of thumb is 5 tons per horse per year (this leaves wiggle room). So if you know how much your bales weigh, you should be able to calculate from there how long they will last. And my calculation is the average for year 'round, to include brutal Wyoming winter.
A 1000 lb round bale last 10 days for 3 horse’s in winter months. When extreme cold below zero with wind chills. A bale last 4 to 5 days. In extreme cold we put out 3 to 4 round bales at a time.
Always figure on more hay then what you think you’ll need for winter. 35 1000 lb bales Usaully get s us through the winter for 3 horse’s. Just 2 horse’s and we still did 35 bales. Winter last year was long and cold. Had no pasture till late may beginning of june.
500lb bale? 800lb? 1000? How much do the horses weigh?
Figure at least 2% of their body weight, per day, in hay. Bump that to 3% (and sometimes more) for harder keepers and/or the more brutally cold days.
If the bales are on the ground, figure 10% waste, at least, unless you’re out there every day raking up the still-good hay into piles they can eat elsewhere. Otherwise, hay gets dropped/pulled off, walked, pooped and peed on. And used for bedding :lol:
It’s really a good idea to put the bale where they can’t trample loose hay, or keep it inside and peel off what they need twice a day or so (which is what I do).
We began using one of these when we switched from square to round bales last winter, and it cut our hay bill in half: https://haychix.com/collections/round-bale . Ours is a 4’ net, and with it our bales lasted between 10-12 days each for two horses. Our winters are pretty extreme with subzero temps and lots of snow, and the horses always had access to hay. Not only did the net cut down on waste, but it kept them from burying their noses in the bales and breathing dust. This and our tank heater are two products that I don’t ever want to live without again.
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With the net Inclined shows, I can get anywhere from 5-8 days for two horses, depending on the weather. These are 800# bales of first cutting mixed grasses. Young and tasty!
50-80 lbs a day per horse?
Our bales are medium/large-sized and the our 3 could go for around 7 days before they needed another bale (with no pasture).
