Large - The Ultimate Round Bale Hay Slow Feeder, Prevents Waste, Preserves Hay, Safer for All Livestock & Horses. Durable in All Weather, Lightweight, Easy to Move

Decided to go this route because metal round bale feeders are soooo expensive now and 3 horses and a pony eating a round bale in 3.5-4 days was just not good on the hay budget and they were wasting so much. Can't use a net feeder because they have shoes on. Using this bag has extended my round bale from 4 days to 7 days. I could probably get another day out of making them clean up what little they have pulled out, but setting a new bale every Sunday works great for my busy work schedule. I was worried that the 11-hand pony wouldn't be able to reach the top of the bale and have to be fed separate hay. It actually works out that the 3 horses pull just enough hay out on the ground that they slow feed the pony until the bale bag drops to where she can reach it, lol. Some notes from trial and error on this bag: It is a bugger to get on by yourself, especially if your hay guy wrapped your 4x5 bales a tad bit larger than the 4x5 they are supposed to be. If you have ANY doubts about your bale size, get the larger bag! Using a front loader bale spear, it is nearly impossible to get the elastic stretched across the end of the bale to start by yourself. I wound up setting the bale down on the edge of the elastic, band then wrestling it over the end of the bale, picking the bale back up, and pulling it the rest of the way on. My bales are also net-wrapped. For the first bale, I cut the net wrap completely off first. Bad idea. If your outer wraps fall away when you release the netting, you will say lots of bad words trying to stuff that wrap in the bale bag while trying to stretch the elastic across it. For the second bale, I had the idea I could put it in a net slow feeder first then put the bale bag over it to extend my hay bale further. I think this would have worked if I had the extra large bag, but again, not possible to stuff all of that in a bag by yourself without lots of bad words and beer. The third bale, I only cut about a foot of the net wrap loose, got the bale bag well started on the bale, then cut the wrap back a section at a time as I pulled the bag forward. This kept the outer wraps of the bale from falling away as I pulled the bag forward. Much better success this way! I saw a comment where someone put grommets under the elastic and cross-bungee strapped the top to hold it together better, I'm thinking that will be the next attempt!

Easy to assembly and put on round bale!! Quality of material is great, folds in on itself to help prevent hay from falling out, great hold.

If your horses are any thing like mine, I do not recommend the bale buddy.. I had high hopes for this product but ultimately it just ended up being a massive waste of money all the way around. In the past I’ve always used the typical round bale net and usually with my 2 horses eating off that a round bale lasts anywhere from 10-14 days depending on temperature, and if they’ve been on the round 24/7 or pulled off at night to come in. When they’re done it’s always very, very minimal waste, 5% of the bale at most in super wet/ muddy conditions. First use of the bale buddy my horses went through the round bale in a WEEK and wasted probably at least 50% of the bale. I might as well of not even of bothered putting the bale buddy on it. It does not help cut back on waste, and is basically like throwing $135 out the door, you’d be better off with a round bale ring than this thing.

Used Bale Buddy to contain hay from net wrapped round bales that fell apart. It is very durable. The horses used it and moved it around the paddock, stood on it and product stood up very well. There is NO WAY I could put it on a round bale! NOT HAPPENING! But containing loose hay was a perfect use.

The large Bale Buddy was the perfect size for our round bales. It took a little work getting it on, but with some wiggling and just working around the bale, it only took a few minutes. I would suggest using two people as it made it easier for one to be on one side and one on the other. We had the bale on a pallet, put the Bale Buddy on, then lifted up the bale, pallet and all, to transport to the pasture. We have mini cows so set the bale on its side so they can access it easier. Yes, they did pull hay out, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was without the bale cover. Once they ate about half, we flipped it upright so they could eat the rest from the top. Using a pitchfor to toss any loose hay back in the Bale Buddy every morning minimized waste. Not perfect, but definitely worth the money and did save on alot of waste. Also kept the bale fairly dry even though we had a steady rain all day one day. But that was when it was on its side. It will still get wet when upright, but does allow drainage.

I’ve seen some negative reviews but I have great luck with these. So much I have 3 now. It definitely saves hay from waste and protects from our harsh winters and my mud weather. Easy to put on and store.

Keeps my mares from standing all over the hay. I wish the top elastic was a drawstring instead, it would be easier to get on. Took my and one other person a good 15 min to get it wedged on the bale but got it done with some serious pulling back and forth. So far so good. I chose this instead of a hay net because I have older mares who both have front shoes on

We do love this but it needs a good rope or strap at the top. We use straps at the top and bottom and then strap it to a tree otherwise they rip it over and the hay falls out.

So much easier than putting square bales out . The girls seem very happy. Was a bit difficult to get it over and flipped over (the weight of the bale not the bag) but very happy . Thank you ! Seemed good value for the price . Will update if it doesn't stand up to weather Update ... So I put 4 grommets in the top behind the elastic and installed 2 Bungie cords in an X to keep the sides from falling down . Kept the hay in better too. I think I will also add a slow feed net over the top to keep them from pulling all the hay out but the Bungie cords work pretty good (better than without ). Still happy with it .

Doesn’t work