3 pt hay unroller?

Erik Ks farmer · Feb 7, 2012

I picked up a hay unroller yesterday, have been wanting one for sometime. Used it last night to bed down some cows that are calving and experimented with feeding today. I think I feed too much, unrolled a 4x5 bale of brome (about 900lbs) for 22 pairs with 300lbs calves. Will see how well they cleaned it up in the morning (I feed in the late afternoon to keep them on a regular schedule when I'm working). Curious as to your experience feeding this way.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 7, 2012

Eric it seems that you feed pretty heavy. I shoot for 20-25 is pounds per head per day. Saying that if they are eating it feed it. I work for railroad and am gone approx 4 days a week so I do alot of 2 day feedings and some 3 day feedings. I really struggled with those until I bought a bale processor. With the processor I mix good feed and some coarser year old feed and have very good results with it. This year I am struggling with it as the feed usage varies so much with temp changes. If it is 15 degrees I do my chores and if I come back several days later and it went to 50 degrees they start wasting some. With the open winter I am still trying to use up last years hay about 2 weeks left and I think that they are looking forward to something fresher to eat..

Sid · Feb 7, 2012

My good hay goes in bale rings. I find less waste. I baled some hay this year that wasn't worth baling other than the fact it is better than a snow ball. They only eat about sixty percent of it. I am unrolling it on the ground to scatter the manure.

Hay unrollers have a place, but It would not be my only way to feed. I don't like unrolling good hay and watch cows walk right down the middle of it behind the unroller.

oj · Feb 7, 2012

Up here in western Manitoba, i've been using an unroller for several years now and will never go back to ring feeders or a processor. 50 cow/calf pairs and calves about 600lb were eating about 3 bales a day (2 hay, 1 silage), bales about 1200lbs each, but 2 year old hay.
Sure they "waste" some, but our pastures are now carrying twice the number of cows than we started with on the same acres, all the pastures now have a good layer of thatch under the grass. I look at "waste" hay as fertilizer...
Using an unroller i can put the manure where i need it most, and in my opinion a processor wastes too many leaves, they get blown away as dust, especially alfalfa.
We feed on pasture until the cows start to calf (late March). Cold temperatures don't seem to bother the cattle unless they have no shelter (bush), although this winter so far has been a lot easier than most.

Roy Ward · Feb 7, 2012

I just finished building one today and tested it, worked great. No more hay rings for me. 40 cows eating from both sides. Cleaned it all up. No more mud and grass kill around a hay ring. A lot safer, no more pulling off twine with cows all around you. No more cows grabbing off hay while your going from the hay pen to the ring. Total cost was $300.00, I can't believe they cost $800.00 to $1500.00.

cole in mo. · Feb 7, 2012

My neighbor feeds hay like that, around 100 head, if its solid he uses the truck with the hey bed, other times its with the tractor. Looks like they waste some, but they scatter out the length of the unroll, and it looks like they get to eat more at a time and not get bumped and pushed around the hay ring.

Grampy · Feb 7, 2012

We roll it out, most of it with a pickup w/hyda bed, use a 3pt. unroller on a tractor if the weather is REALLY bad. Tryed a prossesor once, it did OK but it was impossible to justify the cost, at least for our operation. We consider 30 lbs. per cow per day a full ration. (alfalfa/grass hay) Here in S.E. Mt. that's usually from mid dec. through march. Ours calve in march. Ken

Buckeye · Feb 7, 2012

I have been using one for several years now. I tried a hydraulic one first that spun the bale, but did not like it because the chain driven by the hydraulic motor kept breaking from uneven bales. The type that unrolls on the ground works really well. I go by the rule of thumb that one 5 x 6 bale will feed 30 cows. Wet ground conditions may require more.

NEKS · Feb 7, 2012

The last few years have been feeding in rings 90% of the time. Years ago I was unrolling it and they did a good job of cleaning it up. This year it seems like I unroll a bale and they leave a lot of it like, I am not going to eat it if walked on. I do notice with bales in feeders that some cows stand around while others are eating. I blame it on there pecking order. My 3 pt unroller is: 1. cut the strings off. 2. make sure the bale is turned so it will unroll. 3. Push it to get it started.

JMOR · Feb 7, 2012

(quoted from post at 23:24:00 02/07/12) The last few years have been feeding in rings 90% of the time. Years ago I was unrolling it and they did a good job of cleaning it up. This year it seems like I unroll a bale and they leave a lot of it like, I am not going to eat it if walked on. I do notice with bales in feeders that some cows stand around while others are eating. I blame it on there pecking order. My 3 pt unroller is: 1. cut the strings off. 2. make sure the bale is turned so it will unroll. 3. Push it to get it started.

ep, fella here unrolls like that....just set on slope, cut, push start & gravity does the rest.

donjr · Feb 8, 2012

About fifteen years ago NRCS put in a big concrete feeding pad fo us to feed hay on and get out of the mud. I fed in hay rings for several years on it, and have tried unrolling hay for them in the pasture. But it seems to leave bare spots, and when I went to MIG grazing we cut them out of all but one pasture for the worst part of the winter. The past five or so years, we've been feeding hay just behind the c-bunks in the barn. The herd gets silage in the bunks, and hay is dropped in over the bunks. What they don't eat they use for bedding, and about once a month what is left is pushed into a storage pit where it composts for the rest of the winter and is spread in the spring on corn ground. They don't really waste too much of it, and the calves seem to love the warm bedding. Usage is only about 20# per day per head, plus silage. And the healthy dose of manure goes back into next years corn. Plus the cows stay pretty clean in comparison to many I've seen go through the sale ring. It pays to get out of the mud.

showcrop · Feb 8, 2012

I've noticed that in West Virginia they have very low cost efficient bale unrollers. They just take the bale to the top of a hill, turn it on it's side, pull off a few feet then give the bale a push down the hill. Driving through you see strip after strip hill after hill.

old harv · Feb 8, 2012

Roy, would you be able to post some pictures of your unroller please? I would like to make one to feed my sheep with. I could feed in pasture feilds until the snoe gets too deep, and then I would not have to haul the manure. Thanks, Harv

3 pt hay unroller?

Erik Ks farmer

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Anonymous-0

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Sid

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oj

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Roy Ward

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cole in mo.

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Grampy

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Buckeye

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NEKS

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JMOR

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donjr

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showcrop

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old harv

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