Anyone feed round bales?

  Isn't there a saying that God looks out for Idiots?  (or something like that).  A hungry horse will eat even the nastiest hay that would kill it if it had to.
 
  I feed regular round bales on occasion but never silage RB but I'd stay away from them.   If the bale was put up perfectly and has not started to ferment, than it would be nothing more than fresh cut hay.  You would have to be able to use the bale up within 2-3 days before the bale heats up and starts to mold and ferment.  I would never trust the integrity of the plastic to not get pin holes or tears that would allow O2 in to start the fermentation.  I've had problems with limited use of Chayffe Hay  (only 40# bag) with being able to feed it before it spoiled.  If it's even slightly warm, the hay would be junk for horses.
 
  Stick with the small squares.  If you can find decent quality RBs,  buy one and toss it out in the field  and stretch your SS. 

I try to have 24/7 forage and the grass is gone for the year.  I keep rounds out there.  I think it depends on where you live but the rounds stay out all year around here.  You don't see any stored inside.  Sometimes they're better than others. 

A friend of mine keeps her 8 horses on round bales.  They do alright.  She doesn't have a feeder so she has to go pitch them hay everyday. 
Reidar's barn also feeds roundbales.  If it were up to me, they wouldn't.   Reidar does not need to be standing at the hay bale 23 hours a day.  Perhaps if he were a more active horse it would be different... but he feels it is his personal mission to eat every piece of hay put in front of him.  He's the pasture with about 10 other horses/minis/donkeys and about 7 cows too so he doesn't get ALL of it... but he tries. 

Mine can stand there 23 hrs a day and it takes a couple of months to make them look fat.  Then I'm out for a day and I see hip bones. [8|]

We feed roundbales, we make our own and have no place to store squares so I go with the round bales. We have 2 horses currently, it takes them a week and a half to demo one, and they clean most of it up ( we don't use a feeder ).
 
 Mine both stand there all day, and yes, they're fat . [:-]
 
 We don't store ours inside, they sit out, so I unwrap the outer layer and get rid of it so they're not eating moldy hay. Haven't had a problem yet.
 

I'm trying a new hay man tomorrow - at least that's the plan.  He's a little closer but won't have a trailer so I'll have to get them on my pickup one at a time and tie onto a tree to pull them off.  Still, it's $35 vs $50 and I can always pick up on my way to or from work.  Can you see me coming on the base with a round bale on my truck?  Maybe not. []