Are round bales safe for my horses?
As winter approaches, horses owners are faced with finding a suitable yet affordable source of hay for their equine companions. There are many varieties of hay that can be fed and this article is not intended to address all sources of hay, nor identify the “best” source of hay for your horse. The intent of this article is to answer a simple question that resurfaces every winter: Are round bales safe to feed my horses? The answer: it depends.
All hay, regardless of type or presentation, must first be judged by quality. It is important when deciding on a hay source to gain a full knowledge of the type of grasses involved in the bailing process. Hay should be clean, with little dust and free of debris such as wire, rope, trash, mold and weeds. Hay, regardless of type, when bailed should be fairly uniform meaning all the blades of hay should look like they belong to the same type of plant. If there is a large percentage of weeds this decreases the quality of the hay and may increase the possibility of irritants such as stickers or spear grass. Other factors influencing quality include time elapsed since it was bailed, method of storage, maturation at time of cutting, as well as temperature at time of cutting. Samples may be sent to your local county extension agent for quality analysis.
These things established, let’s address the possibility of a round bale. A round bale is often more cost effective and less management intense than using square bales. If a square bale and a round bale, both bailed from the same cut with the same nutritional analysis were fed in the exact same amount to a horse, they would both meet the roughage requirements. A common problem associated with round bales for horses is overeating to the point of colicking. Horses, with all of their wonderful attributes, are lacking in a bit of wisdom for self preservation-a horse can literally eat itself to death. For this reason, it is important that care is taken in introducing a horse to the round bale. The ideal method of starting a horse on a round bale is to place the round bale in the pasture while there is still good grass. Most horses will prefer good grass to good hay and will limit their initial intake of hay. As the pasture dies, the horse slowly replaces the roughage intake of grass with that of hay. A common fault in using round bales is waiting until all the grass is dead. At this point, the horse is craving a good source of roughage and when it is given a round bale it will often overeat to the point of colic. If the pasture is gone by the time you start to feed hay, this situation can still be avoided by simply keeping the round bale in a separate area and allowing your horse limited access to the bale which is then gradually increased to allow the horse’s digestive tract to adapt to the new hay. Be careful that the horse does not go without hay for any length of time between round bales as this can also set them up for overeating once the new bale arrives.
These are some suggestions to make feeding round bales safer for your horses. All horses are different and some will tolerate certain management practices better than others. If good quality hay is fed in a reasonable management situation, round bales may be an acceptable option. If you have any questions, you should contact your equine veterinarian to discuss the best options for your horse.
Maria Wilson, DVM
Rockwall Equine Center
972-524-6616
Filed under: News & Updates, Vet Corner
