Big Bale Buddy – save hay, save money!

Description

Big Bale Buddy – Round Bale Feeder for Hay or Haylage for Horses, Ponies, Alpacas, Cattle – Reduce Wasted Hay & Haylage

Are you looking for a round bale feeder that will save your hay or haylage without breaking the bank?

At Bitless Equestrian Centre in Wales, UK, over the years we have tried all sorts of feeders on the track system for our herd of mixed horses & ponies (and Enrique the mule of course). Having tried the Big Bale Buddy over 10 years’ ago, we highly recommend it for use in the fields / on the track. We found with tombstone feeders, that the ground around them very quickly became poached and they were not easy to move, unlike the Big Bale Buddy.

But the Big Bale Buddy can be put in a new location each time, it is so easy & light to move (when empty of course!) – it keeps your hay clean and contained until your horses eat it. It catches all the chaff & seeds for your horses to eat. Why stand by and see your high quality (and expensive) hay used for bedding when there is an inexpensive, easy to use and safe alternative?

The Big Bale Buddy is super strong – long lasting – UV protected

Originally developed to withstand the harsh northern Canadian weather, it

• does not freeze to the ground and stays flexible in extreme cold
• is tough, durable, rot and stain resistant, 1500 denier, woven polypropylene with 2 years (1200 hours) of UV protection
• is designed to allow water that gets inside the feeder to seep out while moisture hitting the outside of the Big Bale Buddy will be repelled, keeping your hay drier
• Removes the risk of leg and neck injuries that can be caused by metal and rigid feeders.
• Quickly pays for itself in saved hay. The Big Bale Buddy ensures that almost all your hay gets eaten. Saves you money every time you feed! Typically pays for itself in 6 to 12 uses and keeps on saving you money for years! Feeding large bales without a feeder can waste up to one third of the bale. Lightweight, easy to use, easy to care for and affordable

One year free replacement warranty against tearing and manufacturer’s defects

And from the same manufacturer, we now have on order the Slow Bale Buddy which can be used alone or with the Big Bale Buddy

When using the two feeders together hay consumption is slowed down still further, making this a good option for very heavy or overweight horses. It is recommended that the Slow Bale Buddy be put on over the top of the Big Bale Buddy; both for ease of installation and also so that the hay remains accessible to the animals at all times. If the net is on the inside of the Big Bale Buddy it will bunch up inside the feeder as the bale is eaten, making it very difficult for the animals to access the hay.

We are also selling the hardwearing drawstring net from a UK company to use with your BBB to save even more hay! The amazing round bale hay net from Trickle Net – needs to be put on over the top of the BBB, not inside – once you have the BBB over your bale, then you need to put the trickle net over the top and down the sides; then push the Bale Buddy onto its side, or onto the open end, so you can secure the net safely underneath.   The BBB with net can be used with the opening at the top or on the side – the latter is better for feeding ponies / sheep / alpacas – and is also the best way to use it if you don’t have many horses to eat the hay and you live in a high rainfall area.

The Big Bale Buddy is a safe, affordable alternative to tombstone or other pen-type metal feeders; ideal for feeding large round bales to horses, ponies, sheep, alpacas, cattle, llamas, deer and other grazing animals who need supplementary hay or haylage in the field. For smaller animals – small ponies, sheep, calves, who can’t reach the top of the bale – you can lie the bale on its side to facilitate feeding. Having the bale on its side instead of upright also offers a more natural feeding position for horses and stops continual rain from getting into the bale (see pic).

In a mixed herd of large horses & small ponies, in practise we find that the ponies happily eat the small amounts of hay that are dropped by the larger horses so they are eating amounts more appropriate to their size. This effectively stops small ponies getting too fat which can be an issue when they are kept with larger horses with ad lib access to hay or haylage.

Sizes

Please check the size of your bale carefully before ordering!

Be sure to measure your bale across the flat end to give the diameter – which is how the Big Bale Buddy is sized.

The Big Bale Buddy comes in 3 sizes (measured across the flat end / diameter of the bale):

• Small fits bale up to 4′ 4″ (132 cm)
• Large fits bale from 4′ 5″ up to 5′ 2″(135 cm – 157 cm)
• Extra Large fits bale from 5′ 3″ up to 6′ (160 cm – 183 cm) in diameter

Some Tips based on our many Years’ Experience