roundbale and the feeding area

[SquishTheBunny]

I feed my two boys roundbales throughout the fall winter and spring. The area around the roundbale gets quite icky with mud in the wet season. In the winter I try to poop and scoop as much as possible but in the wet season it’s just not possible.

In the spring/summer I move the location but grass won’t grow where an old “roundbale spot” was. Even 2 years later the rested spot (fully decomposed and flat) won’t grow grass. Do I need to add topsoil then replant?

Also, this year I have not segregated them to a sacrifice area yet. The pasture has some mud but isn’t totally churned up either. What is the likelihood it will regenerate with grass if it is rested from march through late may? I feel it did pretty good last year but can’t remember how much grass was left before it was rested.

I have 2 horses and in the summer have 20 acres so I’m not too worried about amount odd grass, but the area around the barn that they are currently in (2 -3 acres?) I’d like to keep looking reasonably nice!

Any tips for winter and spring horse keeping is definitely appreciated! I am in year two of having horses at home, have learned a lot but still could learn more! Also…tractorless!!

[asb_own_me]

I’d like to hear suggestions for this as well. We feed our group a round bale in a Hay Hut that we “installed” in a spot in a shared fenceline, to avoid having to have two bales, two huts, etc. It has been so wet this fall that we aren’t going to be able to wait it out…the goop has gotten so bad we’re planning to DIY a wood round bale feeder with a roof for one pasture, put the HH in the other, and close the gap on the fenceline. UGH. And double-UGH for creating brand new bale-blight spots as we no doubt move them around the pastures this winter to avoid the mud pit churn.

[FatCatFarm]

When I have removed a round bale from one area to another, I spread manure/stall cleanings thickly over the bare areas and then reseed and have yet to have a problem with those areas recovering.

I have Hay Huts too and have now placed them each in a place which is sandy and already bare and do not move them any more. Yes, it gets muddy there, but not tremendously so, but also quickly dries out when the weather does. If I wanted to get proactive, I’d probably have some gravel and then M10 dumped where I wanted to put the round bales and groom it into a bit of a raised area with a flat top in order to have a firmer base with less muck.

[FreshAir]

We have a hay hut and we put stall mats around it. That helps a bit. If we were very spendy, we would do two stall mats so the poop end is over a mat too.

[Mosey_2003]

Pour a concrete pad. Or make a gravel pad.

[SquishTheBunny]

Concrete or gravel is not an option, not ideal for their feet standing on that 24/7 unfortunately. Also, with the wet season concrete would get slick and poop would mash in the gravel (no option to pick poop during the week…)

I’m not terribly concerned about the mud because it’s just two horses and they certainly don’t stand in mud to their ankles.

I was more concerned about reseeding that roundbale spot once I give the feeder to a different location or remove it all together for the summer.

Just reseeding? Does the ground need neutralization? Weeds don’t even grow in the old spot (about a 10 foot diameter dirt circle) so wasn’t sure if grass even had a chance!?

[ASB_Stars]

I have exactly the same situation. This year, I was feeling particularly disgusted about looking at the mess that had been left from the winter, and I scraped all of the hay/mud/manure down to the topsoil, and re-seeded. It came back beautifully! I am considering where to put the rounds this winter, currently. They are using a hay rack, right now, but when we get snow, I can’t get the Gator out there to fill it, so the rounds are a Godsend.

[jawa]

I’m in VA, so this may not apply. I’ve had 3-4 horses eating on a round (in a metal feeder that I had created a roof to cover) at a time, so it takes 3-4 weeks for them to finish (unless the weather is bitter cold, then less time). In the field that my horse(s) was(were) in, I would go out and fork away the pulled out and pooed and peed on hay and spread it around the pasture. The next time we needed a new round the bale feeder got moved to a location 15 or so feet away. That way the area where the feeder sat didn’t get too terribly damaged. I never recall an area not coming back to full growth in the spring. Sometimes the areas would look even better due to the dropped hay seeds.

The last two places I’ve had my horses, I’ve had a run in shed that could accommodate a round bale, feeder and the horses. I clean out the run in the same as I would with the feeder in the field.

If you must keep the bale in one location, I would look into using mats around the feeder. This will keep the horses from creating muck and mud to stand in. You will need to periodically clean the area.

If you want the round bale area to grow grass in the spring, you may need to remove some of the hay and manure and till the area to get rid of the soil compaction and reseed.

[LadyBug]

My round bales are in a home-built “hay hut” with a roof. Last year I bought a round bale net and the significant reduction in hay around the hut has made a huge difference. It doesn’t get nearly as nasty and mucky. We also move the hut around every other round bale or so (it takes my herd of 4 about 2 weeks to finish one off).

The grass grows back if I reseed, although you can still see the spot a bit. My husband rented a slit seeder for our yard at the house this fall and ran it over the spots where the hay hut sat before he returned it. The amount of grass that grew in was amazing!

Also, my pastures come back fine after they get worked up a bit during the muddy season. I don’t have a dry lot, but I try to close the horses in one of the smaller fields for the winter. I’m about to do that now to minimize the damage until everything freezes. After the mud is frozen I’ll open the gates so they can wander throughout the winter. I learned my lesson on keeping everything closed off too much last year when a ground hog dug a few holes in my big field! This year the horses will be rotating around and spending time in all of the fields throughout the winter and spring…