Bales of hay--round or square?
Judy, from Chester County, Pennsylvania, had a question on yesterday's blog entry about putting up square hay bales here on the farm. She sees a lot of round hay bales where she lives and wondered why we put up square (rectangle) bales. Actually, the majority of the hay we feed here on the farm is put up as large round bales.
We put up 1600-1800 square bales to feed primarily in the young stock barn. The younger animals get started better on the second-cut dry square bales, and they are easier to handle bringing into the young stock barn. For the milking herd and the older heifers/steers outside, we bring in 700 wrapped round bales. One round bale is equal to 15-20 square bales. The round bales work well for feeding the older animals. The feed is good quality, because they are wrapped in plastic we can store them anywhere, and handling them with the tractor takes less manpower than storing and feeding all round bales.
So, here at Howmars Farm we feed both types of bales. But sometimes I wish we were still feeding all square bales. There is just something nice about going to the barn on a cold January night to give the cows another feed of hay before going to bed. You climb the ladder to the haymow and throw down a dozen bales. The cows poke their heads through the uprights of the feed bunk in anticipation of fresh hay, their breath coming out in puffs of steam from their nostrils. You take each bale, place your jacknife under the twine strings, and cut the bale open, freeing the hay that has been compacted for the last 5 months. As you finish, you walk back along the front of the cows listening to them munch contentedly on the hay. Wrapped round bales are nice, but, as usual, the old way of dry square bales just seems nicer.
--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont
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Posted by Blogger Chris at September 2, 2004 01:19 PM
Round or Square hmmm. Does anyone ever see the Heston stacks any more? When I was small and lived on the last drive-in dairy in San Jose, CA(cows and all in the city--not quite kosher with zoning or emission laws etc, but it was a great childhood) we used the square bales and so we kids built endless forts inside and barn and out in the hay alley. But when we moved to Idaho to raise springer heifers (so, we bred them and sold them before they were ready to calve) my father used the Heston stacks. It was a great sight to see. A field of bread loves and then a tractor pulling a contraption to cut those loaves with the biggest bread knife around to feed the eager heifers. Playing in those hay stacks was great too, but that involved jumping from stack to stack vs. designing and constructing a good hideout in the barn. Thanks for reminding me of hay on this smoggy LA day. There's really nothing like a contented chomping cow, is there?
Jonathan Gates reports from Howmars Farm in Franklin, Vermont.