when to put hay in the field?

eventerbabe

eventerbabe

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2004
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It's almost october now, and usually if we'd been on a yard there would have been hay out in early september. there still seems to be plenty of grass in the field to keep them occupied but i'm not sure if i should be giving them hay aswell. when does everyone else put out hay? should i just wait til the grass has stopped growing, then stick a bale out?

also, last year we just put hay on the ground, but so much got wasted. this year we want to get in round bales so they have as lib hay all day. is it best to invest in a hay ring (and how much are they?) or will a round bale be ok just being left as it is?
 
i'd noticed that, most of the yards i pass on my way to see my 2 seem to have hay out already which got me thinking i was maybe being cruel by not giving mine any!!
 
So you just put a big bail in the field and they eat as much as they like right? Do you just put it straight on the ground? Does anyone do that for just one horse? What about keeping the weather off of it?

Just asking because i can get the large bails for free and i turned them down as i have nowhere to store them but if i just bought one at a time and left it in the field it wouldnt matter would it?

How long do they last?

Sorry hijacking again arent i :eek:
 
a rolly bale (thats what we call a round one :) ) is relativley cheap around here, we would be looking to pay around £150 Max...
 
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I haven't put any hay out yet, we have lots of grass left still, I will wait until the grass really slows up.

Hay rings are worth investing on in my opinion, I have a feeling they are about £150-200 but don't quote me but I am sure you could get them cheap from farm sales etc. The only thing is that mostly they would be cattle ones and these have a tendancy to rub horses manes as they have the bar over the neck where the horse ones don't, other than that they would be fine.

Or you could do what I was thinking of, get a few palletts and use baler twine to tie them round the bale, so that the horses don't stomp it into the ground, but can still reach to eat over the top :D

J x
 
eventerbabe, we've been putting out a small amount of hay at around 7 or 8 pm for some time now. But thats more because we're short on grass in our paddocks but don't want Fi and Duds out on the big field yet cos of the "autumn flush" in the grass.

Tho given current weather this risk may be gone !

We are about to put a new paddock in place, so may be able to stop hay for a while while the get access to that (longer grass).
 
The grass in Arnie's field is still looking great so him and his mate are still just on that, with a feed in the evening if ridden. I'm watching his weight carefully and he's fine at the mo so they're not getting hay for the moment. Saying that, he'll be coming in overnight shortly.
 
feel better now, maybe i'm not such a cruel mum after all :p mine are in at nights anyway so the grass is just thriving and showing no signs of stopping growing.

thanks for that idea jessey, might suggest that to my mum. i was thinking if we put the round bale in a sheltered corner that might reduce wastage a bit?
 
my daughter's and my horse have haylage now, mainly because my daughter's horse is a fine breed (mine is a good doer) but all the grass has pretty much gone now and after realising they had completely eaten one hedge round their field and they were fighting a bit :rolleyes: at our livery we just ask, and then a tractor takes down a very large (so big, cant call it a bale) but anyway, a large stack of haylage, it will stay there until it has gone and they can munch as much as they like (which mine does :) - i think my good doer thinks it is christmas and has bedded down in the haylage) :D

i would wait until the grass is nearly gone or your horse looks as though it needs a top up

with putting large quantities in the field i think that when it goes mouldy etc the horses stop eating it and we will clear it out and put in fresh - this is unlikely though with my good doer :)
 
We havent put hay out yet either, there is still a fair amount of grass in our field so they'll carry on with that until it starts to look a little more bare. We also keep a check on their weights, Ellie is still a good weight but if she starts to drop any ill think about putting hay out.
 
having just cut my lawn, the grass is definitely having its autumn flush, what with us having a bit of rain here, so I am not feeding hay as yet and am restricting Rosie's ad lib grazing for her laminitis.

cut her down from 3 hours to 1.5 hours twice a day then onto her small paddock, which has greened up!
 
ive started putting up 2 small nets as my grass seems to have stopped but there is pickings and Bailey is still harrasing Bruno, he seems to think the little bit of grass bruno is getting is better than his so is chasing him about.
so ive been putting up a bit to keep bailey quiet but have noticed bruno is picking at the nets too...i figure if they eat it they need it as mine tend to leave hay if they have enough grass to fill them.
i wouldnt put out a big bale if you have grass as it will get wasted ....why not try and get an old bath and fill it up with hay if you are worried?or just watch to see if they start to drop a bit of weight then put it out.
 
ours is fine....once we put a weeks worth of hay out and it was gone in a night, a hay holder might be a investment!! on rainy/muddy days when they were in the small paddock we'd put 1 or 2 haynets up for them to munch on as the grass was muddy!
 
raggydoll said:
So you just put a big bail in the field and they eat as much as they like right? Do you just put it straight on the ground? Does anyone do that for just one horse? What about keeping the weather off of it?

Just asking because i can get the large bails for free and i turned them down as i have nowhere to store them but if i just bought one at a time and left it in the field it wouldnt matter would it?

Sorry hijacking again arent i :eek:
Click to expand...

"How long do they last?" Depends on how fast they eat!

Do bear in mind that within the herd there may be fighting when they are sharing a big bale and the dominent horse(s) may drive off the timid who then won't get any hay.
 
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