Several types of bales are commonly used for alfalfa. For small animals and individual horses, the alfalfa is baled into small, two-string bales, commonly named by the strands of string used to wrap it. Other bale sizes are three-string, and so on up to half-ton (six-string) "square" bales – actually rectangular, and typically about . Small square bales weigh from depending on moisture, and can be easily hand separated into "flakes". Cattle ranches use large round bales, typically in diameter and weighing from . These bales can be placed in stable stacks or in large feeders for herds of horses or unrolled on the ground for large herds of cattle. The bales can be loaded and stacked with a tractor using a spike, known as a bale spear that pierces the center of the bale, or they can be handled with a grapple (claw) on the tractor's front-end loader.
several types of bales are commonly used for alfalfa for small animals and individual horses the alfalfa is baled into small two-string bales commonly named by the strands of string used to wrap it other bale sizes are three-string and so on up to half-ton (six-string) "square" bales – actually rectangular and typically about  small square bales weigh from depending on moisture and can be easily hand separated into "flakes" cattle ranches use large round bales typically in diameter and weighing from  these bales can be placed in stable stacks or in large feeders for herds of horses or unrolled on the ground for large herds of cattle the bales can be loaded and stacked with a tractor using a spike known as a bale spear that pierces the center of the bale or they can be handled with a grapple (claw) on the tractor's front-end loader