Round Bales..

Wow you guys are lucky. Mine in Oklahoma are going for 85-120 a bale and that's for decent hay not the good hay.. Cow hay is going for ridiculous prices so the auctions were overran with cattle.Texas and Oklahoma had horrible heat this summer and were only able to get two cuts in some places if they were lucky.

Daughter and I are so happy right now we could just cry. Our feed store (that promsed we would have enough hay there for the winter) just told us they were out of hay. We were desparate. Tonight, neighbor just dropped by offered to sell us several bales of hay at $50/bale. He baled it himself, and wound up not feeding out as much as he thought he would - possibly due to the mild winter we've had here in Central Oklahoma (not counting the winter storm due in this weekend). Looks like we are set until spring! Most of the hay around here is selling for between $120 - $135/bale...for crap hay!

Yay! Happy for you Dee, I know it sure is hard to get hay in Texas with the drought right now..

My gelding that I got last month was fed round bales, he is 23 and he is really big. Would they just keep eating if they had nothing to do? What about food fights, my two get their hay in separate piles.

I got a job working for my hay supplier! And I feed round bales to my girls but I throw it twice a day to them & my goats. My boss kept his prices the same as last year... $45 a 1000 lb round bale.... but of course is having to turn people away because his supply is so short. I am considering the hay more fiber than anything else & my girls are getting supplements 2 x a day. I'm in NE Oklahoma.
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I can't even fathom how cheap y'all's hay is. I live in Texas, about an hour from the coast, and a bale of coastal hay from the feed store is about $15.00 for the crappiest hay I've ever seen. It's completely falling apart, molded all the way through. Luckily, our horses are on 9 acres of land, just to the two of them, so they have no need for hay. They're also on 24/7 turnout, so they can graze whenever they please.

I'm in central VA, I've only used about 4 bales $5 bales of hay this winter. Weather has been so warm my grass is still growing. Horses nibble at the hay then go back out to the field.
But last year (summer 2010) I started feeding hay in july. I saw the righting on the wall and bought a barn full.

Although at first they may gorge themselves, after a couple days they realize the hay isn't going away, so they slow down and regulate themselves. As for fighting over feed, make sure there is a pile for every horse plus one extra one, but aren't you feeding round bales?

No square bales are more available in my area and there is alot of suppliers. I was just courious how the horses would handle free feed. I am thinking of a weekend away without a horse sitter.

Gosh, I'm so jealous of most of you!

We have no pasture. Zero. Nadda. The horses live in pipe corrals.

Alfalfa and bermuda (the only hay you can really find) is currently $20 for 100 lb bales.

So I feed that year round and I have a growing 2 yr old so he gets extra. Try feeding $20 + tax, 100 lb bales all year long with no relief. I'm so jealous of you guys!

I would kill for a nice big grassy field or cheap hay. If hay keeps going up a lot of people will be forced out of owning horses. The last saddle I bought was from a lady that got out of horses when hay hit $17 a bale. I pray I'll always be able to have my horses.