hill billy
Member
hi, has any body got any ideas on how to reduce wastage feeding cylindrical bale hay and haylage through ring feeders ?
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feed ring wastage.
- Thread starter hill billy
- Start date
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
Don't put bales on end
William Mellor
Member
- Location
- Peak District
Glad to know I am not the only who has this problem, even cleaning round them twice a day isn't enough they just pull it out and lie on it!
mushnt grummmble
Member
Get tombstone feeders
Use chopped bales
Put less in them
Use chopped bales
Put less in them
- Location
- East Sussex
sheep or cattle?
BELOWAVERAGE
Member
I noticed you wasted a lot in your photo's, get some tombstone ring feeders, virtually no wastage.
- Location
- Highland
I tried this and they just pull big sheets off the top.
I also tried putting ratchet straps around the bale and that kept it tidy for . . . 1 day.
How does a tombstone feeder reduce waste - from looking at it I would have thought it would be even easier for them to pull through.
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
They don't pull heads out of tombstone feeder
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
When we had bales with string I used to leave string on
Cowcalf
Member
- Location
- North of Scotland
think it needs to be the cow works to get her head in so does not keep pulling out as she eats, and some have floor in feeder, seen them were there is a second ring round the feeder
Newby
Member
- Location
- East Yorkshire
Ive just accepted the waste by now, to make myself feel better i just think its cheaper to waste a bit of haylage in ringfeeder, than forking out (excuse the pun) in feed barriers and some kind of feeder on tractor. Might be wrong though! When its time to put it through the spreader... problems arise!
Northeastfarmer
Member
- Location
- Cleveland
You need to get your bales chopped
You should Google hay feeder wastage/losses. A US college did a survey on different feeder types.
I'm working on a prototype using a suspended internal cone basket that keeps the bale away from the outer ring and off the floor.
They have to reach in and can only pull a mouthful out due to the basket (hake). It's worked well but now needs strengthening as the basket wasn't designed for cows. Don't know what it was originally for. I've loaded it with long silage as well as hay and it reduces losses a lot. I have it in a 20 section feed ring.
I'm working on a prototype using a suspended internal cone basket that keeps the bale away from the outer ring and off the floor.
They have to reach in and can only pull a mouthful out due to the basket (hake). It's worked well but now needs strengthening as the basket wasn't designed for cows. Don't know what it was originally for. I've loaded it with long silage as well as hay and it reduces losses a lot. I have it in a 20 section feed ring.
MJT
Member
I can't see how a pallet will stop them dragging hay out and sh1tting on it
Stops the bale sucking up moisture from the ground I meant
Will Blackburn
Member
- Location
- Cheshire
Stop this blasphemy, you don't get any waste from wrapped bales end of, you only get waste from clamp, about 40%+ to be precise.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
Horses, I'm afraid, and it is mostly problems with wind blowing hay out of the rack. I got some heavy gauge fishing net and tie that over the bale feeder. Works well. The horses pull the hay through the mesh.
Fortunately, there are net makers/fishing ports not too far away and they always have cheap off cuts.
Fortunately, there are net makers/fishing ports not too far away and they always have cheap off cuts.