# How much does a big bale of silage cost?



## sam4321 (25 May 2011)

Does any one know? can you buy it from farmers or do they generally just make enough for themselves and never really sell any?

thanks


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## Wagtail (25 May 2011)

sam4321 said:



			Does any one know? can you buy it from farmers or do they generally just make enough for themselves and never really sell any?

thanks 

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Do you mean haylage? Silage is not good for horses.


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## Jane_Lou (25 May 2011)

Silage is not suitable for horses as it may cause botulism. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2042-3306.1984.tb02004.x/abstract


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## Miss L Toe (25 May 2011)

Round here a rectangular bale of good quality haylage is £35 per bale if ten bales are delivered at one time, and cash is paid, this is a bargain imho, you should expect to pay more. Buying from a haylage/hay supplier it would be £45 and will feed four horses for a week. It is possible to buy in bulk to last for a whole winter if you have storage, but you have to allow for up to ten percent spoilage.


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## Dovorian (25 May 2011)

Apologies in advance but cannot resist it.....

OP are you not the equestrienne who knows more than her vet? If so surely you would never consider feeling silage.

Hope you horse is recovering from the after effects of strangles and that he/she continues to thrive and give you pleasure.


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## Miss L Toe (25 May 2011)

Dovorian said:



			Apologies in advance but cannot resist it.....

OP are you not the equestrienne who knows more than her vet? If so surely you would never consider feeling silage.

Hope you horse is recovering from the after effects of strangles and that he/she continues to thrive and give you pleasure.
		
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My boy is coming along fine thanks, I did give prices for haylage, someone had already pointed out the silage problem.
My vet is quite happy for me to discuss the health of my horse,  she sees him once a month and I see him  twice a day, I ask her for advice when I need it, and we are on good terms, I have been looking after horses for x number of years and ask her for advice as and when I need it, she is more up to date on horse diseases and obviously has expertise on surgery.
I am not a person who challenges vets per se [latin speak] but as the welfare of my boy is paramount, I am going to give him a good feed with mins and vitamins, plus housing at night because the weather is cold and wet. he is not back to the healthy happy horse he was four months ago, so is monitored daily and pampered (that is to say he is not left out in a field overnight if it is cold and wet), to make sure he does not go down with anything, not ridden at the moment, until I am sure that once he  is fully back to a  cheeky, and pushy person, with a high gloss coat and a mad spooky personality, which is his norm. next stage is to make sure he has not suffered heart disease after this illness.


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## L&M (25 May 2011)

I buy in haylage at £30 per 300kg bale - this would feed 3 horses, out at grass and stabled at night, for approx 10 days.

If you were considering buying a bale for 1 horse you would run the risk of it going off before used. An opened bale barn stored lasts 2 weeks before it starts to become risky to feed. Small bale haylage retails at approx £7 in our area and should last the average horse 3-4 days.

Hope that helps!


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## lea840 (25 May 2011)

MrsD123 where abouts are you from? County?


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## miss_c (25 May 2011)

No idea but I would not feed it to my horses if you paid me!

MrsD - Don't worry, you're not the OP (Original Poster) so Dovorian's comment is not aimed at you.


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## sam4321 (25 May 2011)

Woah woah woah!!!! let me explain ....i would never consider feeding my horses silage just so you are aware. 

I am looking into getting a couple of calves to raise for beef as i have a bit of spare grazing. Therefore im just looking into what the feed costs might be. Being a 'country' as well as horse website, i thought people on here might have an idea of how much it costs to buy silage?


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## sam4321 (25 May 2011)

Dovorian said:



			Apologies in advance but cannot resist it.....

OP are you not the equestrienne who knows more than her vet? If so surely you would never consider feeling silage.

Hope you horse is recovering from the after effects of strangles and that he/she continues to thrive and give you pleasure.
		
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Can you explain your 'dig' at me please? I dont believe ive ever said I know more than my vet.


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## martlin (25 May 2011)

sam4321 said:



			Woah woah woah!!!! let me explain ....i would never consider feeding my horses silage just so you are aware. 

I am looking into getting a couple of calves to raise for beef as i have a bit of spare grazing. Therefore im just looking into what the feed costs might be. Being a 'country' as well as horse website, i thought people on here might have an idea of how much it costs to buy silage?
		
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silage in general is a bit cheaper than haylage, about a 1/3 I would say off the top of my head. But if I were you, I would feed the calves hay/haylage. Also, by the prices rearing calves are fetching at the moment, it might be a bit tricky to make any money on them this year...

ETS: What sort of age are you thinking? little uns around 2 weeks old? if so, they will need milk replacers


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## L&M (25 May 2011)

Sorry, jumped on the haylage wagon too - £15 per large bale here..


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## sam4321 (25 May 2011)

Thanks Martlin - It would be purely for myself and family and friends (and i would imagine the beef would last us quite a while even sharing it!) so whilst i dont want to spend a huge fortune, profit isnt really a major condideration. 

Im thinking of a fairly hardy breed that will mostly live out/do well off grass, but spend a few of the worst winter months inside. They would probably be weaned calves so i would have thought around 6-8 months old.


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## sam4321 (25 May 2011)

Sidney - thankyou, that sounds a good price. Sorry i probably should have pointed out it wasnt for horses in my original post!


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## L&M (25 May 2011)

Ha ha no worries - but just shows how we all are quick to make assumptions without getting all the details, so lesson learnt my end!!!


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## martlin (25 May 2011)

sam4321 said:



			Thanks Martlin - It would be purely for myself and family and friends (and i would imagine the beef would last us quite a while even sharing it!) so whilst i dont want to spend a huge fortune, profit isnt really a major condideration. 

Im thinking of a fairly hardy breed that will mostly live out/do well off grass, but spend a few of the worst winter months inside. They would probably be weaned calves so i would have thought around 6-8 months old.
		
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depending where you are in the country and how bad the winter gets, pretty much every native/traditional breed can winter outdoors  as long as there is something to eat and a bit of shelter.


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## nokia (25 May 2011)

hiya, we sell silage 15.00 -20 a bale, the baler we use are mc hale so the bales are massive

haylage is 15.00 -20.00 per bale

Also we rear calves to, some dairy some beef, as i am sure you have heared their is a beef shortage at the min and the prices for finishers is very high, but remember depends on what beef calves you get.  

Most dairy farms shoot bull calves as soon as they are born, so it would probs be best asking them if they have anything cheep to sell, i went to a farm the other week and their was a massive pile of dead calves...what a waste !!

If you need any advice go on british farming forum, loads of helpfull stuff on their


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## sam4321 (25 May 2011)

Nokia, thankyou for the advice. I considered going the dairy bull calf route as it seems such an awfull waste, but the advice i was given was that considering the cost of milk replacer etc, I really wouldnt get much beef as its like trying to fatten a greyhound. Also im looking to raise 'free range' beef thats had a happy mostly outdoor life, where as i believe dairy calves would need to be indoors and fed a lot to grow/put the weight on, and ive also that dairy bulls can be quite dangerous! 

I will have a look on the forum youve mentioned, thanks


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## Foxhunter49 (25 May 2011)

sam4321 said:



			Woah woah woah!!!! let me explain ....i would never consider feeding my horses silage just so you are aware. 

I am looking into getting a couple of calves to raise for beef as i have a bit of spare grazing. Therefore im just looking into what the feed costs might be. Being a 'country' as well as horse website, i thought people on here might have an idea of how much it costs to buy silage?
		
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Young calves do better on hay than silage and keeping cattle is not easy. Well keeping them is but DEFRA make it a right PITA and you will be getting enough paper from them to fill a skip.

You will need a holding number to keep cattle.


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## TBB (25 May 2011)

If you are considering buying them at 6/8 months old then they are classed as weanlings in Ireland and probably the same with you in the UK, they are sold by weight at this stage and here they probably average 200euros plus their weight. ie if one weighs 250kg then you'll pay 450e. Of course the price will vary depending on the quality and breed and whether they are bulls or heifers. If you are going to use the end product yourself, try and get Angus or hereford not only are they hardy and fatten well but the meat is far superior to the more fashionable continentals and as a friend once said of the holstein (dairy breed) the advantage of them is you can collect the pension for them while you are trying to put weight on them (it takes that long to fatten them)..


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## sam4321 (25 May 2011)

TBB - thankyou , i was considering angus, and the prices you've given seem to be around the same as some local market reports ive seen here. 

Would you recommend buying from smaller farms/breeders or buying from markets?)


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## TBB (25 May 2011)

I'm not sure what its like in the Uk but here its probably easier to buy at the mart although you do see some advertised in the papers then you have to get them weighed etc., and you would have a better selection at the mart. Like another poster mentioned you may have to get a herd number before you buy I dont know what DEFRA's rules are but here you need a herd number and the animals have to have a TB test once a year, they will have to have been tested before they go to a mart here once they are over 6 weeks old.


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## martlin (25 May 2011)

Well, TB testing depends on the area, we are for example in a 4 year parish, which means herd tests every 48 months and no pre-movement testing. DEFRA paperwork is actually easy and BCMS (British cattle movement service), who you will be dealing most with are really good and friendly and helpful. 
If you want just a couple, and want to keep them till 30 months for your own beef, I would suggest either a smallish market or try to buy some directly from a farm, the latter has an advantage of you being able to have a good look at them, seeing the parents or at least the dam, and the calves having a bit of a head start in growth as the market does stress them out a bit and they can lose a bit of weight.
As to the breed, Angus is brilliant, but expensive; Hereford would be a good choice, too. If you don't have a 100 people family to feed, how about some Dexters? OK, so they are fairly small (understatement of the month here), but they are cheap to buy, very easy to keep and the meat is fab.


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