THIS!! hay nets are a PITA to set up and use. We do free choice all winter by putting a large square bale in a big wooden feeder. It is pretty much an open-top box with a roof. The horses can’t stand or pee/poop in the hay, and the roof keeps the worst of the rain out. It’s durable enough to stand up to the big draft horse (who would destroy a plastic hay hut or bale barn. She scratches her legs on rubbermaid troughs and put giant cracks in them). I can use a DIY net over the top if I want to slow consumption (the sport/hockey
/goal nets on amazon are cheap and I just use double end snaps to fasten them to the feeder, but there’s no way for a shoe to get that high unless someone tries to climb in the feeder – hasn’t happened yet and most of mine are barefoot.
So for convenience, I’d say use large squares or roundbales, with some sort of DIY feeder/platform (lots on ideas on line). If you have feeding staff who will be the ones using the nets, go ahead and use them, but don’t forget it’ll add considerable time to daily hours/shifts over time.
