Cattle feeders (hay)

[grassfarmer]

I agree with hay at that price bale grazing would easily pencil.
Here is a current ad for hay in AB:

"Price: 8 cents/ lb
267 bales approx 1600 lbs. Alfalfa and grass mix half and half. Put up good with twine. South of Stettler"

That's high admittedly but I can see a lot of hay making 4-6c/lb this year out here.

Here are the feeders I was thinking of - they were well over $600 the last time I bought one and that was several years ago. I like them, they stand up to abuse better than most.
http://hi-hog.com/round-bale-feeders-2/

[15444]

The only abuse I see on feeders is that which comes from the operator using a loader tractor to move them. Have yet to see a mature bull squash a feeder flat, but have seen a few dummies do it.

[grassfarmer]

So do you move them by hand through your deep snow?

[RayTurner]

Kato – Yup. Similar problem here…but only with elk.

T.N.T - I am interested in your concept. How does the electric wire work? And how many cows do you run?

[15444]

GF, yes, I move them by hand every 4 days or so. Actually pretty easy with the 1 inch tubing feeders as they fall through the soft snow and don't bring any snow up with them, so you can just push them along, even in 3' of snow. Also light enough to walk on top of the snow/ice when you get a good crust; me not so much.

[grassfarmer]

You wouldn't need a gym membership if you were hand moving feeders for 500 cows.

[15444]

I wouldn't bale graze 500 cows, nor would I ever have that many. Never be that far in debt to have to need such numbers and have no interest in working hard just to pay the tax man.

[RayTurner]

Who says I am in debt 15444. Don’t assume.

[15444]

Wasn't a reference to you in particular. Just in general there has to be a reason why people are of that size herds, whether it be 500 or 1000 cows. Either to support a debt load, a certain lifestyle or some very expensive kids. Or maybe they are just workaholics.

[RayTurner]

Ok. Yup makes sense.

I would agree. Lots of guys I know just want to keep getting bigger and for what? Take care of what you have.

[smcgrath76]

There is always a fine line on cost. The AB Ag work found that a soup dish shaped feeder about 1' high worked well to reduce waste. I am not so sure the waste with bale grazing is as high as folks think. It is kind of like the waste with swath grazing, there can be huge ranges depending on the management of the system.
A lot of folks using processors are spreading on the ground and losing a huge portion of the feed value (15% ). When we bale graze hay we waste very little. Greenfeed has a bigger waste factor. A lot depends on how quick you feel you need to move the fence. For us, it works out to not use the tractor time, for others I am sure that it works differently. At our place, requiring a tractor to feed represents a huge risk factor. With our system I can place all my bales in just over 6 hours (20 gallons of fuel) and not start a tractor again all winter, other than plowing out the driveway after a snow storm. This represents a big savings for us that is offset against the "waste".
We have started seeing elk move into the neighbourhood and if that happens we will either be bale grazing with 3D fencing, or moving to some sort of weekly feeder system.

[15444]

Sounds like a winter full of elk burgers to me.