There were small round bales a long time ago (~50's?) that only weighed ~60 lbs. They didn't stack well and thus weren't easy to wagon and move like similar square bales.
The farmer down the road from me doesn't even move these large round bales to feed them. They were place in rows about 8 feet equidistant with around 6 to a row. Large round gate type hoops* are placed over them (a row at a time) and a light electric fence is erected to prevent the cattle from getting to the remaining bales. Small x for bales, big X for bales with hoops. Little c are cattle.
Fence |
-------------------------------------- x x x x x x x | X c c c | c c c x x x x x x x | X | c c x x x x x x x | X | c c x x x x x x x | X c c
--------------------------------------
Use a fixed-pitch font for best display. Every few days they just reset the fence around new bales and move the hoops.
Of course with the wet winter we've been having the cattle are up to their knees in mud after a short time, but that is another story...
- The hoops used look similar to these: