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!

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

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.

Got it to try to safe hay waste and it's done exactly that. Our hay is lasting a few days more just with the bag.

I measured our round bake. This should have fit but too small. Suggest ordering a size larger than measurement.

Really like the durability of this product and it goes on fairly easy. The first week it worked very well but into the second week my horses tossed out a ton of hay and made a huge mess trying to get to the center of the bale. If they ate more evenly the bag would be perfect. It did keep the hay nice and dry.

I have several bale buddies and really love this product. They are much safer than a metal roundbale ring and/or a roundbale net. Customer service is excellent if you require a replacement, they come with a warranty and that makes them 100% worth the investment for me.

This has been a game changer. It has cut hay waste by a round bale a week. It cleans with a hose if it gets dirty. I bought a second after three bales use! My horses have chewed holes in heavy tarps and they haven’t caused any damage to the bale buddy. It’s easy to put on and I’ve done it alone. I recommend this product!Updated: After three months my Houdini mustangs have figured out how to push the top down but it still slows the waste dramatically. They have gotten them pretty muddy but they hose off very well. They survived January’s polar vortex without an issue. I still think they are a great product and a game changer.

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 weatherUpdate ... 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