Hay feeding

MrC

MrC

https://m.facebook.com/MrKiasLife/
Nov 10, 2014
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how do we feed our hay?

In the stable Kia is fed from a haybar my dad made us due to th Vet letting me know that Haynets can be bad for older horses teeth :) His haybar is at chest height for him.

When I was feeding hay in the field it was from a home made haybox, kept the hay off the ground and mud, reduced waste and still allowed natural position.

Kia’s stable and haybar etc

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So how does everyone feed their hay??
 
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i very rarely use a net. Brook has hers on the floor in her stable and the Shetlands all have walls racks that we use.
Ive twice now had to run for a knife to cut free a horse with a leg through one - not the small holed ones albeit. Id made sure to tie them high enough etc but once empty and with a bit of capering about in the box, legs had still gone through.
In the field we have either big round bale feeders or IBC frames which are my current favourite as we barrow out a heap to fill them and it doesnt get wasted so much as putting out an entire round - which they tend not to go through quickly enough and it then gets wet and old and they dont want it
 
Nets for me, just to slow Gracie down a bit. Jack also has nets because he's very fussy with hay on the floor so leaves a lot. I just know that with a haybar he would nudge it all out to find the best stuff, then not touch all the stuff that fell out, which he would then mix in with his straw as an added gesture!!
 
On the floor in the field. I'm currently pouring buckets of water over it to soak since developing a nasty cough. It does seem to have improved though.
 
Harvey has a net in the Winter because otherwise he just throws it everywhere. In the Summer when is is out at night and in during the day he has it on the floor (which i prefer)
 
On the floor, I've given up with haynets, I hate filling them. Would like a haybar.
 
From the floor at night and if they are on the yard during the day lots of nets hung about at low level. No hay in the field as it's not needed.
 
Raf has nets because he drags hay through his bed, Jack has a net overnight and loose on the floor at any other times - he doesn't waste any. There's a hay box in Raf's paddock and round bales in the larger fields. YO puts hay out in autumn, as soon as she thinks the grass is losing it's goodness. You can tell if we've had a 'flush' of grass because the horses will all be grazing instead of eating the hay. I was thinking about this the other day actually - I've been on the yard nearly 8 years and none of the horses/ponies have ever had laminitis or significant weight issues in that time, despite all having constant access to forage. Touch wood - I probably shouldn't have said that.
 
On the floor outside or a tiny holed net in her stable, if I chucked it on the floor in the stable there would be none left after an hour, she is a gannet, she also has a small 'desperation' net of straw too, just in case she thinks she is starving.
 
Hay nets hunt low neither boys have ever got stuck in them. In the field they have wood boxes with slates in the bottom for the crap to fall out of.

Tried on the floor most of it ended up on their beds which was fine when they were on straw not so now they are on a shaving type bedding
 
I use all sorts depending on how much they need, currently it's loose in boxes or the IBC cage or the wheely bin feeder, when there's more grass cover (because of the sand colic risk) I'll spread it around the track on the floor, if they are scoffing and gaining weight it goes in small holed nets. If they are ever in I prefer it on the floor or in a big tub but will use small holed nets if they are hoovering it up or wasting it.
 
We've gone back to the ground and had a slight change on the access making it safer to put out.
There's 13 peckish mouths to do.

When stabled I had an elimanet that holds 2.5kg, a net I doubled and a net of straw plus straw bed. Mean human soaked it as well.
 
Has anyone got a haybar? If so would you recommend did horse get used to it ok?

I'm often pushed for time and have given up on haynets.due to the time it takes and I hate filling them. Have been putting hay on the floor but she often doesn't eat a lot and what's left ends up in the bed and wasted. I don't want to give her less because I like her to have the option to eat more.
 
We have a haybar in the stable and yard field shelter for Charlie , although we have to soak before filling it, certainly less waste with it, only thing is it don't last him long, so we tend to split between that and a double net. The horse next to him has haybar and the first thing he does in empty it onto the floor to eat it - a lot gets trampled in the bed so she does have a lot of waste.
 
If you can get yourself a box style pallet they are great to fill up, i find less waste as they tend to be lower and larger so from my experience less get pulled out as its at a more spread out natural position anyway. They had about 20 haybars at the big yard i worked on, all but 2 of the horses used to drag it out and have it all over the bed. Quick to fill but so much waste.
 
Lissie said:
Has anyone got a haybar? If so would you recommend did horse get used to it ok?

I'm often pushed for time and have given up on haynets.due to the time it takes and I hate filling them. Have been putting hay on the floor but she often doesn't eat a lot and what's left ends up in the bed and wasted. I don't want to give her less because I like her to have the option to eat more.
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I made similar before haybar's were a thing, cut a bit of board so it leaves a big enough gap behind when put across the corner of the stable, nail a baton either side (in front of the board) to the wall, then you can slide the board upwards to clean out behind it properly and not having the slanty angle they can't flip the hay out so easily. The horses I had at the time were all happy to use it.
 
Thanks guys maybe the haybar wouldn't help then. She's not too bad for putting it in her bed but the bits she does is still annoying and a waste as she won't eat after it's been in with straw.

@Jessey I'll suggest this to my OH, he's pretty handy so could probably do this.
 
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