Chat
12-28-2013, 04:27 PM
A decent one is not particularly cheap, but I love hay bale bags! They are made of sturdy, lined canvas and hold an entire bale of hay or straw. They make life so much easier when you're on the road. Handles make the hay easy to lift and carry, and the bag keeps hay from getting all over your trailer or your tack stall at a show after it's opened. It also keeps greedy goats from raiding the hay, pawing through it, and scattering it all over the place when your back is turned for one tiny instant.
I use a bale bag at home too because my hay shed is currently a long way from my goat pen. I like to bring one bale up closer to the pen and I don't want it getting wet or raided while it waits to get fed out. This works if you only have a few goats like me. Mine only go through about 2 bales/week.
One trick for using hay bale bags that I just discovered after months of doing it the hard way is to put the bag over the hay instead of trying to put the hay into the bag. I used to spread the bag out, lay the bale in it, then wiggle and tug the canvas over the bale. Stupid way to do things! Took forever and usually resulted in the bale being crooked in the bag, which makes it hard to close the zipper and the flakes difficult to remove. Instead, put the hay bale flat on the floor, drop the bag down over it, then roll it over and zip the top.
I use a bale bag at home too because my hay shed is currently a long way from my goat pen. I like to bring one bale up closer to the pen and I don't want it getting wet or raided while it waits to get fed out. This works if you only have a few goats like me. Mine only go through about 2 bales/week.
One trick for using hay bale bags that I just discovered after months of doing it the hard way is to put the bag over the hay instead of trying to put the hay into the bag. I used to spread the bag out, lay the bale in it, then wiggle and tug the canvas over the bale. Stupid way to do things! Took forever and usually resulted in the bale being crooked in the bag, which makes it hard to close the zipper and the flakes difficult to remove. Instead, put the hay bale flat on the floor, drop the bag down over it, then roll it over and zip the top.