How many bales of hay do I need for winter?

Short answer

Pounds you need ÷ what one bale weighs — and the second number is the one people guess wrong by 2×

Work out the pounds first, then divide by what a bale actually weighs — a "small square" runs 40–60 lb, a 4×4 round 400–600 lb, a 4×5 700–1,000, a 5×6 1,200–1,700 (WVU). So "I need 20 round bales" can mean 8,000 lb or 34,000 lb. Get the pounds, weigh or ask, then divide and round up.

The arithmetic

Pounds of hay = the sum over your animals of (body weight × 2.5–3%) × days. The per-species rates are on the goat, sheep and cattle pages; the calculator below does the sum.
Multiply by the waste factor for how you feed: rack or ring about 15%, slow-feed net about 8%, ground about 30%. NC State measured 5% from a rack and 13% off the ground for small squares; Oregon State's range is 10–50%.
Add storage loss. NC State uses 5% for bales under roof. Rounds left outside, uncovered, on bare ground lose more; if that is your setup, buy the cushion.
Divide by bale weight — the weight, not the nominal size. Then round up and add 10%.

Why do waste figures run from 3% to 50%?

Three extension services, three waste ranges, and all of them are right about their own setup.

NC State (Polk County): Measured: basket feeder 3%, hay rack 5%, small squares on the ground 13%; storage under roof 5%
West Virginia University: 5–20% overall, depending on storage, feeding method and quality
Oregon State University: 10–50% added on top of the calculated need, depending on the feeding system
Cornell Small Farms: Folds waste into the rate: 2.5 lb per 100 lb becomes 3.0 with waste, about 20%

NC State measured small squares fed to horses from racks. Oregon State's 50% is round bales unrolled on wet ground for cattle. The method, not the math, is the difference — which is why our calculator asks how you feed instead of picking one number.

Use 15% for a feeder, 30% on the ground, 8% for a slow-feed net, and then weigh three bales from the seller before you believe the count.

What changes your number

Which animals, at what weight. Mixed herds add up species by species. A Nigerian Dwarf is not "a goat" at 150 lb.
Buying by the bale vs. by the ton. If the seller sells by weight, this page is moot: buy tons. If by the bale, weigh three.
Storage. Under roof, about 5%. On pallets under a tarp, more. On the ground in the weather, the bottom and outside foot of a round is gone by February.
Moisture. A bale put up wet weighs more and feeds less. Grass hay is 90–93% dry matter; wrapped baleage 20–55% (WVU).
Running short in March. Spring hay is the most expensive hay of the year and the hardest to find. The 10% cushion is cheaper than one emergency load.

A number we won't give you

A storage-loss number for rounds left uncovered outside. The figures on this page — NC State's 5%, Cornell's prices — assume hay under roof, and outdoor losses depend on climate, ground contact and bale density too much for one number we'd stand behind. If your rounds sit outside on dirt, the cushion is not optional.

Pounds to bales

Hay needed, with waste	Small squares (50 lb)	Large squares (800 lb)	4×4 rounds (500 lb)	4×5 rounds (850 lb)	5×6 rounds (1,400 lb)
1,000 lb (0.5 t)	20	2	2	2	1
2,000 lb (1 t)	40	3	4	3	2
4,000 lb (2 t)	80	5	8	5	3
6,000 lb (3 t)	120	8	12	8	5
10,000 lb (5 t)	200	13	20	12	8
20,000 lb (10 t)	400	25	40	24	15
60,000 lb (30 t)	1200	75	120	71	43

Round-bale weights are the midpoints of WVU's ranges. Yours will not be the midpoint; weigh one.

Waste by how you feed it

Method	Measured or assumed waste	Source
Basket feeder	3%	NC State, measured
Hay rack	5%	NC State, measured
Slow-feed net	about 8%	Our calculator default
Ring feeder	about 15%	Our calculator default; WVU 5–20% overall
Ground, small squares	13%	NC State, measured
Ground or unrolled rounds	about 30%	Our calculator default; Oregon State up to 50%

Pick the row that matches your barn, not the one you wish matched.

Run your own numbers

This is our winter hay calculator with a mixed small herd filled in — five goats and two cows. Put in your own.

Your animals

Species	Head	Avg weight (lb)
Goat
Sheep
Cattle
Horse
Alpaca / Llama
Donkey

Days of winter feedingNov–Feb is ~120. Gulf Coast might be 60–90; the north, 150+.How you feedBale typePrice per bale ($, optional)

You’ll need about

228 bales

Total hay (with waste): 11,385 lb
That’s: 5.7 tons
Per day, all animals: 95 lb

5 goats: 23 lb/day → 2,700 lb2 cattle: 60 lb/day → 7,200 lb+ 15% waste

Hard winter, late kids, or a doe in milk? Most folks buy a 10% cushion (251 bales) — hay is scarcest and priciest in February.

The same tool lives at /tools/hay-calculator with every species and the arithmetic explained.

What a bale costs per ton

Price per ton = price per bale ÷ (bale weight ÷ 2,000). At Cornell's 2024 New York figures a $4–6 small square is $180–265 a ton and a $40–50 4×4 dry round is $120–150 a ton — the small square costs half again as much per pound, and what you are paying for is handling it without a tractor. Your prices will differ; the ratio usually does not.

What to do with the surplus

Hay you did not feed is not wasted if it stayed dry: it is the first month of next winter, or the thing a neighbor pays full price for in April. Hay that got wet is not hay anymore.

Then stop planning from averages

The table above is somebody else's hay. In Homestead Paradise you log the bales you actually buy and the animals you actually have: each pen shows feed cost per head per day, each item of feed shows the day it runs out, and the budget page shows whether winter is running over what you planned. 14-day free trial, no card.

Start your 14-day trial — no card

Keep planning

How much hay do goats need for winter?How much hay do sheep need for winter?How much hay does a cow need for winter?What does it cost to feed livestock through winter, per head?How much water do livestock drink in winter?What does a stock tank heater cost to run?

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from a land-grant university extension service, a government agriculture or energy agency, or a breed registry — never from another blog.