Check in with me in 6 months to see how stupid an idea this was.
The bales are much farther apart then they are supposed to be but we've got 15 out in the field and we'll have 15 more under a tarp somewhere plus more in the barn; but we're going to start with this and see how quickly all the animals get super fat. The cows look like we blew them up with bicycle pumps!
They didn't have a round bale for 2-3 days (too much rain for delivery) so they were hungry when we put the bales out, but so far so good. They've only taken down one & there is still lots left to it.
I decided to leave the bale strings on for now. The article I cited before even mentioned that strings are a major problem with this system. Either you take them off & the bales are less able to stand up to elements/animals; or you leave them on & now you've got bale strings all over your field. Bale strings get caught up in machinery & animals and trip nice farmers (me!), so they are dangerous. The best option given was to switch to twine which will degrade; we didn't have the option of requesting that this year (barely got our hay as it was - everyone is busy!)
More hay Saturday/Sunday - looking forward to a full barn!
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