# Hay to Baleage Weight



## azmike (Jan 4, 2015)

I am trying to get an estimate of feed needs for this winter. We are doing a lot of baleage, alfalfa and sorghum/sudan. The bales are 1500 pounds plus. What do you deduct for the water weight to figure your hay totals? Just figure what a dry bale of the same size would weigh? Thanks, Mike


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## Bonfire (Oct 21, 2012)

Maybe do a microwave test on the next crop to get an idea.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I am not sure I would make any adjustments. I do not want to speak with authority because I do not feed baleage/silage.

If a cow eats 2%-2.5% of her body weight per day then I would figure my bales by weight. Baleage has more feed value than hay. My understanding is that 1500 lb. of haylege/silage/baleage would pack more punch than 1500 lb. of dry hay.

I may well be proven wrong in my thinking. Either way I am going to learn something.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

Here is hoe I figure it 1st you need to to know the moisture of your wet hay then all you have to do it convert it to dry matter and figure your ry matter weight of hay per cow my experience with balage has been they will eat about the same or a little more volume but will require less total dry matter lbs per day to stay in good shape or even better shape confused yet basically if you feeding lets just say 50 lbs per hd per day of dry hay so if you wet hay is 40% than add 40% more wet hay per hd per day so what would roughly be about 80 per hd per day of wet hay bet they won't really eat 80lbs it will be more like 65-70lbs per day and they will do better on the balage. I just basically deduct the water in the balelage that still give's you a safey margin


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Heres how I do it....

Cattle will eat up to 3% of their body weight per day. I think thats on a dry matter basis. That 3% is assuming intake isnt limited by roughage etc.

I just take my total lbs of animals times the number of days feeding and divide that number by 3%. That will give you total dry matter needed. I know my dry bales are 800-850 lbs and my silage bales are some amount more. I just use the 800 lb/bale to figure out how many bales will be needed total.


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

Quit making it confusing for yourself. I have a basic rule of thumb, my 4x5 rounds will feed 20 head a day. That is at a rough 4% in weight per head. Going to have roughly the same intake and as winter goes on, I see more hay consumed because the weight increases. Now gains will be dictated by how well the animal digests the roughage and makes the weight conversion.

Example: The constant variables are the cattle, the same bale weight, the feeder, time of day they are fed, and the weather. The only change is: Day 1, I use a 10% protein bale; Day 2, I use a 20% protein bale. Higher quality hay always puts the energy to more weight.

Now if by deducting for water weight that you meant to keep the nutrient intake consistent, you will have to sent a core sample of each cutting to a lab. Then you will know nutrient content per matter.

It would be ridiculous to cut back on matter to achieve maintaining the same weight gain. Stuff the bellies full so your wallet is fatter. This is the whole point of balage or higher protein content per day, not so you can just get by with less.

If I'm wrong, please correct me with a scientific journal so I may improve my operation.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Tim/South said:


> If a cow eats 20%-25% of her body weight per day then I would figure my bales by weight.


What breed of cows do you have that can eat 20% of their body weight? I can't afford that breed.


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## azmike (Jan 4, 2015)

Great information to consider. I'll send some samples to my lab for breakdown. I like the biz philosophy "stuff the bellies full so your wallet is fatter"!!

We are very excited to have added the baleage to our program. My buds that hay here are wondering if we are dumb or just nuts, nobody in this area does it.

So actual numbers could be 1500 pound baleage =700 pound hay bale difference 800 pounds -- water at 8.34 pounds = 96 gallons of water per bale


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## Supa Dexta (May 28, 2014)

In the depths of winter here, a 1400 lb bale will feed about 17 animals. That's roughly 85lbs a piece, but half that is water, and big northern charX cows. This is cattle outside in the elements of wet, cold canada. My baleage goes further than hay by a noticeable amount, they waste less and stay in great shape. - I feed good. (4x50" or 52")


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