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Boarded Horses - Free choice hay/Hay bags

We tied ours to the stall with eye screws. They can be attached in many ways, or just left to the horse’s discretion. They are pretty heavy. Ours are the round version, the corner ones would obviously stay put better. We can place ours so each horse has their hay where it fits best in the stall—ones with runs vs those without.

FWIW, I had bought 3 slow feed nets from TSC. These worked fairly well (cheaper option), but are kind of a pain to fill.

The XL nibble nets just came in and they look like they would hold a full bale! I’m going to put them up tonight and see how we do, but they are super heavy duty. They look very easy to fill.

I can’t really do the hoop ones because I have some horses who are fairly good at destroying such things.

So far, the horses that have the slow feed nets seem so happy to have “extra” hay.

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Did you try the muck bucket technique? It makes it so much easier. (Still not as easy as simply tossing hay, not saying that. Just saying it makes filling this type of hay bag so much easier.)

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I need some more muck buckets in order to do so, mine are occupied being water tubs replacing leaking ones for right now :slight_smile:

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My Haffie gelding kicks his porta-grazer mini all over the place. He knocks it over, he tips it back up. He’s had it for 5 years now and it’s still going strong. It was a pricey buy, but it’s paid for itself by now. I used to stick it in the back of his paddock in the morning, and will find it by early afternoon right near the front gate (so it migrated about 50 feet and I can usually see the drag mark too). I was using it in combination with a hay pillow that we won in a contest, but I’m back to hanging up small-hole hay nets as the main feeding method.

Right now, he gets hay in his porta-grazer as an afternoon snack. I pre-fill my hay nets for the week (currently using 1.5" nets during the day, 1" nets at night) so I don’t have to weigh out my hay every day to save time in the morning and to be a little more efficient in the afternoon/evening. I use the big Ikea bags, pull the flake off the bale right into the bag and weigh it and put it into the hay net. I use a (clean) trash can and those little spring clamps on the rim to keep the net open. Then before I leave for the evening, I grab a half flake of hay and stuff it into an Ikea bag for the next day’s afternoon snack that goes into his porta-grazer. That way he has something to nibble on while I’m cleaning and before I tack up to ride.

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I use the Hay Chix Free Up Feeder. You can hold the flake in one hand, drop the frame down, drop hay in, then you’re done. We were doing nets but trialed one of these and now they’re in all the stalls it only adds about 10 seconds compared to chucking the hay over the stall door.

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I think those might work for many, but I have a few that I don’t trust with the frame. Well…one of mine, actually…it’s probably just him :joy:

The frame attaches pretty solid to the wall and is high up. I don’t have any issues with it, although my mustang was terrified of the shiny object for a few days.

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I second the muck bucket fill method. I work for my trainer when we go to shows (I guess the rest of the world would call me a groom, I just call it “work”) and I always beg that she bring hay nets. I would rather take the time to fill nets than to have to deal with picking stalls with all the hay waste. Not to mention dumping water buckets several times a day for the “dunkers”. Anyways, I have tried and tried to get people on board with the bucket fill method. It goes so fast. That way you could use whatever cheap and large net that you like. The 55 gallon barrel sounds like a great idea too for giant nets. We usually take over a dozen horses to a show at at time so similar numbers as what you have. The net filler from Schnieders looks like a good idea as well, but I’m betting you already have a muck bucket or bigger tub of sorts hanging around.

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I love the muck bucket method. I use a soft large bucket that I got from TSC and it works perfectly.

FWIW our barn is full of TBs, mostly under the age of 3. Not exactly what I would call the trustworthy sort :smile: Maybe it’s luck but we haven’t had issues. The frame sit really quite flush to the wall.

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Good to know! I will definitely check into them. Mine is a saddlebred who dismantles things fairly systematically. We like to joke that he has secret opposable thumbs. :joy:

I just bought a similar bag based on your post. I have a horse that doesn’t need his hay restricted but I wanted to keep hay up off the floor. And my main squeeze Porta Grazer seemed a bit spendy just for tidiness! I’m pretty happy with it so far, only on day two of using it.

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You saved me writing exactly the same thing. Keep looking and have had a couple of less expensive options. Nibble Nets rock!

I might have to try this. I have one horse who needs to eat all of the hay she’s willing to consume, but she prefers to eat from a hay net rather than loose off the floor.

She also makes quite a mess even with hay in the net. :slight_smile:

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Derby Originals makes an even bigger canvas hay bag like the Dover one that is really well made if you need bigger! Its $23 on Amazon.

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I got the Tough 1 version (also from Amazon)! I’ll keep the Derby Originals in mind if I need another one! Thanks for the tip!

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That’s my guy. I think the net helps him feel fancy lol

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Thanks! I found the Derby Originals one on Amazon. Any sense as to how much hay you can stuff in it? This is for my hard keeper so I give her at least 11 lbs of hay while she’s in her stall. She usually eats somewhere between 7-10 lbs, but I want to make sure she never runs out.

I am not sure of the weight but I can stuff around 4/5 decent sized flakes in mine.