3x3x8 Alfalfa

[Crestonegsp]

Anyone feed from 3x3x8 bales of alfalfa instead of small bales? I am looking into the larger bales and want to know how they have worked for people and with the price of hay this year I can save some money.

[Born2Hunt]

I feed the regular bales how much are the big ones

[Crestonegsp]

Here in Colorado they go for right around $100 and weigh 800 to 900 pounds

[Born2Hunt]

Ill have to look into that out here its 15 a bale and they are around 80/85 lbs so that would be a great deal

[Fireside]

they are somewhat messier to feed. hard to peel off the right amount to feed, and you end up with lots of hay on the ground. Use an old fashioned pitchfork to peel off and feed. you need a tractor with forks to move and stack bales. You can use a tow chain on a (heavy, well set) post to pull them out of a truck bed if need be.

[Birddog3412]

Ive never seen or heard of a 3X3X8 but we have been using 4X4X8 bales of straw and hay for over 10 years. They stack better (not as much wasted space as round bales). You can pull off in flakes just like the small bales, but they are very thin, maybe 4 inches. And they will fall apart when you are carring them because of there size. Just like small bales the weight depends on who baled it.

[dan v]

You need a way to handle them. If you've a tractor big enough or a skid steer you're golden.

[tn red]

They work fine,like Fireside said little messier.I use a small utility trailer to feed it off seems to work better.

[markj]

Why alfalfa? it is too protein and will reduce the life of yer horse. Feed em brome or grass hay. No mold cause a horse cant digest it like a cow and it could hurt the animal.

We feed large rounds to our cattle, themqaures are OK but the feeders I use are for rounds. Paying 60 per large round weigh 1500 to 1800 lbs.

If fed in small amounts alfalfa is OK.:

There are three main points of contention among horse people regarding the feeding of alfalfa
hay for horses:
1. Alfalfa hay contains too much energy.
a. It is too rich for horses in maintenance, causing excessive weight gain. If fed in
small enough amounts to prevent weight gain, horses will always feel hungry,
with insufficient gut fill, and will look for other things to eat including fences and
barns, hair off other horses, dirt or manure.
b. Excess energy in the diets of growing horses can cause developmental orthopedic
disease.

http://ucanr.org/alf_symp/2001/01-061.pdf


So if feeding alfalfa I would stay with smalls for better control on the feed.

We had race gorses, while in training they got alfalfa, off training and off season they got brome.

[Vonrommel]

The processed bales of alfalfa that I have purchased in the past contained a lot of "dust" from the processing into the larger bales. If you have a horse sensative to any dust (allergies/respiratory problems/coughing/sneezing/etc.) they will be worse with the use of this product. If you've never seen a horse with C.O.P.D., count your blessings. I wouldn't feed it again.

[Swagg]

The processed bales of alfalfa that I have purchased in the past contained a lot of "dust" from the processing into the larger bales. If you have a horse sensative to any dust (allergies/respiratory problems/coughing/sneezing/etc.) they will be worse with the use of this product. If you've never seen a horse with C.O.P.D., count your blessings. I wouldn't feed it again.

Round here all the hay is made the same way. The larger bails just come out of a larger bailer The dust tends to form when they bail it at the wrong time, and will happen with both the large and small bails. Making good hay is sort of an art form

[tn red]

The processed bales of alfalfa that I have purchased in the past contained a lot of "dust" from the processing into the larger bales. If you have a horse sensative to any dust (allergies/respiratory problems/coughing/sneezing/etc.) they will be worse with the use of this product. If you've never seen a horse with C.O.P.D., count your blessings. I wouldn't feed it again.

Its mold in the hay causing the COPD to flare,you should never feed dusty hay of any kind to horses with COPD .The best roughage for horses with COPD is pasture or alfalfa cubes.

[northern cajun]

The processed bales of alfalfa that I have purchased in the past contained a lot of "dust" from the processing into the larger bales. If you have a horse sensative to any dust (allergies/respiratory problems/coughing/sneezing/etc.) they will be worse with the use of this product. If you've never seen a horse with C.O.P.D., count your blessings. I wouldn't feed it again.

I have been around horses (as in 50-100 head) almost my entire life never had the problem feeding alfalfa to the race horses and Timothy to the mares. Mold is not good.

[gotpointers]

We are in the same boat as you as.far.as.prices and what's avalible. I have been feeding large square bales of alfafa for years now. I have tried 100 dollars.worth of 2 string and 3 string bales and the 3 by 4 always have been more hay for my money. There's someone from colorado advertising on albquerque craigslist selling alfalfa from there for 140 per ton which would put you at about 50 per bale. Try to get ton prices rather than per bale prices and stock up once in the summer. The way i see it no dairys buy small bales and they only pay by the ton not the bale. I like the bales that have some grass in with the alfalfa. This makes it better for my horses who don't need as rich of hay as the dairy cows and i can negotiate a lower price from the farmer.
Also the problem others have had with the flakes falling apart is due to the low moisture content that dairys require their hay to be at due to mold and spontaneous combustion. They probe every load with a meter and reject the wet stuff. I have an old 24 foot gooseneck enclosed horse trailer that they load and i feed out of so i never have to handle the bales. Before this i would pull bales off my trailer onto pallets with another truck near my pens and feed from there. I was getting dairy rejects for 45 last year and now they are wanting 100 a bale.
Also if i could be getting the costal and brome round bales reasonably in my area i would be all over them. I have thought about going to TX and loading up but i think the fuel costs would offset any gain.

[Scott Linden]

Just don't feed those round bales - critters can't get a square meal!

[Finelinegundogs]

The big bales work great and right now with hay being in very short supply in many area's they are easier to come by plus they will be quite a bit cheaper. I used to broker Alfalfa in to Ocala, Fl and other parts of the SE and there is a BIG difference in the quality of the hay, depending on where it is from. If you are from the south, it will be tough to bring hay from the north and midwest and keep it for very long due to the moisture content in the hay up there. New Mexico has the best alfalfa there is. If you are getting moldy hay, find another grower/supplier. And the processed small bales are just junk hay, low end and not of quality. Buy from someone who guarantee's their hay 100% and ask for moisture content tests. They should be below 7% to ensure you won't end up with moldy hay by the time you feed it.

As far as the post about alfalfa reducing the life of your horse, this is a ridiculous statement. I've been training and showing quarter horses for over 20 years, had many world champions and owned a large breeding farm in Ocala, FL. We have ALWAYS fed alfalfa. Key is you have to feed the right grain to work well with it for an overall balanced feed program. You are much better off feeding alfalfa only and zero grain than feeding both with the wrong grain. We use oats (3-7#) and top dress with a 30% diet balancer pellet (1# per day per horse) and if you want an awesome hair coat, add a 1/2 cup of rice bran pellet per day. You horses will look great and be as healthy as possible. Folks forget that grain is striclty man-made and not a natural feed for horses. Our pastures have feed bunks and they stay cramed full of alfalfa and they can eat as much as they want and to prove it doesn't reduce their life....I have one mare who is 21 this year and she looks 10 and had her best baby ever this year.

So back to the big bales, like so many have stated, if you can move them around they are great. You won't have any more waste and can often times get a better quality hay in the big bales as the top hay farmers sell more big bales to dairies than they do little bales so they are more available.

One other thing, there is a site called internethayexchange.com and you can go on their, set up a free account and find hay growers in your area. most of them test their hay and will give you the results on their post along with what they have available. Hay is going to get a LOT tougher to come by this fall and winter so it is best to get it bought now.
SD

[markj]

As far as the post about alfalfa reducing the life of your horse, this is a ridiculous statement. I've been training and showing quarter horses for over 20 years, had many world champions and owned a large breeding farm in Ocala, FL

I knew this would get someone up. We raised, bred and raced thoughobreds, our stud was a sloopy son out of seattle slew. I have a tape of him getting knocked to his knees in NY, got up and won the race. We ran alfalfa thru them when on training and on track, off track and just in the pasture we fed grass. As they do in a lot of the top horse farms in KY where we bred our mares and foaled.

Feed what you can afford, some places grass is cheaper some alfalfa is. They make a great feeder for the lagrd sqaures, just remove the twine and drop it on. Never feed hay has mold as I said, bad hay can kill a horse, cholic it up. Horses are far more sensitive to mold and bad hay than other domestics.

At one time we had 25 horses running across the country, made some money, Dad retired age 52. I used to make a lot of cash feeding them racers and providing bedding etc. Seen how the big guys do it, is all I am saying.

[Vonrommel]

I like how people twist things around on this board, it's really quiet funny! You need to re-read what was said. I'll paste it below to save the trouble of having to find it.

What I said was "If you have a horse sensative to any dust (allergies/respiratory problems/coughing/sneezing/etc.) they will be worse with the use of this product."

And, If you will note, I said "processed bales". These are not baled in the field, they are processed inside a manufacturing area, and they are much more dust in those bales.

I know what good alfalfa looks like, I use it on occasion, but I prefer quality Timothy/Orchard grass hay the best. I know what mold is, and lastly I have burried a horse with COPD so I know what causes it, how to temporarily care for it.

Take what ever you want from this post. Feed what ever roughage you want, doesn't bother me one bit. But, I said I wouldn't use "Processed bales" again, and I won't. The original poster wanted to know if anyone had fed it, maybe they aren't talking about the processed bales, maybe they are, so I gave my 2 cents on them.

Jeff

The processed bales of alfalfa that I have purchased in the past contained a lot of "dust" from the processing into the larger bales. If you have a horse sensative to any dust (allergies/respiratory problems/coughing/sneezing/etc.) they will be worse with the use of this product. If you've never seen a horse with C.O.P.D., count your blessings. I wouldn't feed it again.

[tn red]

Anyone feed from 3x3x8 bales of alfalfa instead of small bales? I am looking into the larger bales and want to know how they have worked for people and with the price of hay this year I can save some money.

Yes i have fed them & yes it is cheaper than buying small bales. I would thank you can get a good quality hay in your area of your choice good luck

[kensfishing]

The problem here in the mid states all of the roads are dirt and these people drive faster on them than the freeway. Wind blows and dust drifts to the fields. Either alfalfa or grass. Some of it is so bad you have to grind it just to feed to cattle. My big red horse from AZ. has problems from alergies and dust. Take him south and he quits coughing. Bring him home and it starts all over again. The old the horse the worst the problem. My horse vet here in Iowa doesn't like it either. As far as feeding alfalfa, feed for years in AZ. Never had to feed grain. Rode the same horse all day at trials no problem.

[markj]

but I prefer quality Timothy/Orchard grass hay the best

I hauled in some 1500 lb bales yesturday, can get lot more too, 65 per. Fieold is off the road back in the Loess Hills a valley bordered by hills so no road dust.

I know another guy has 4x4x8 alfalfa sells by the ton, no weeds or road dust.

Hay is sensitive, gotta do it right or it molds up, bales it late after noon after flipping it twice to dry it out then 20 days to "sweat" it out before you feed it. We have limestone on the roads and that will kill just about anything eats it.

Best way is to get a grinder wagon and grind everything up, less waste and you have better control of how much is fed.

Anyone use the distellers grains we get from the ethanol plant? We feed it to cows in a grind mix and it works great on them cows, I wonder if a horse could eat it if done right. Is fed "wet" it dont dry out it molds up right quick.

They also make a feeder for them large sqaures keeps the bale up off the ground and they dont waste as much as a round feeder.