Ahhhh, The Round Bale

Matt surprised me with a round bale yesterday - a real treat. A round bale is equal to 15 bales of square hay that I don't have to climb the ladder and throw down, then spread around. The critters love it because they can stand around it and eat to their hearts content. Unfortunately it requires special equipment not only to bale it, but to use it on your own farm if you buy it from someone else. You need a tractor with a special spear, or pincer unit to pick it up and carry it to where you want it. You can't throw it down the hole in the floor like I do. Actually, I have to lie down on the floor and carefully throw flakes of the bale into the hay feeder or it bounces out all over the sheep and lands on the floor. Other bales I throw down then drag out to the boys. Round bales can be dangerous, too. A shepherd I was acquainted with went out to the field to put out some round bales and never came back. Jimmy was found dead underneath one that night. Another shepherd I know likes round bales because when placed on a bad spot of pasture it will improve the ground over the next couple of years. Our barn is not set up for round bales. The hay elevator Chris Kupris purchased for a cool $14,000 shortly before he sold the farm is a square baler. It is unlikely that I will be set up for round bales in my lifetime, but I wouldn't mind having them delivered and placed in the yard for me. Sure does save a lot of wear and tear on these old joints.