Containing hay in stalls

[Small_Change]

We have a couple piggies living with us who are going through huge amounts of hay and bedding stirring everything in together.

We feed large square bales, so it can be a challenge to break the flakes down into less than half a flake for feeding these guys. We also feed a ton of hay outside, so they’re not always hungry enough when they come in from turnout to tuck right into their indoor feed. We would love to not use nets due to the workload involved with filling them, but something has to change before the lovely people who do stalls for me quit or murder someone.

I am looking for something that is easy to fill, especially given that we use large flakes, not crazy expensive given that we need to outfit a number of stalls, and ideally would allow the horses to eat with their heads in a normal grazing position. Does anyone use a hay bin with any success? My stalls are huge, so to give up a corner for a hay bin is no issue. We thought about just sectioning off a corner with a low wall that they could reach over, but would contain the hay so it doesn’t get dragged around the stalls.

We don’t need to limit the amount of hay they’re eating, just stop the waste and workload from them stirring hay into dirty bedding. We are wondering about just putting a few 2x4’s across the corner to keep the hay behind, starting about 12" off the ground and spaced closely enough to keep the horses from getting a leg between. More of a corner barrier than a true feeder?

[2DogsFarm]

I’ve been looking at bale bags, not so much for waste, but more to allow free choice hay & save me time tossing flakes in stalls.
This one:

Amazon.com: MIYABALA Hay Bale Bag, 44x18x22inch Extra Large Hay Bag with Top...

Or:

Amazon.com: Derby Originals Natural Grazer Patented Four Sided Slow Feed Horse...

I’m a bit suspicious of these because they’re so cheap

Amazon.com: WEEKSUN 2 PCS Slow Feed Hay Net, Hay Bags for Horses with Large...

[luvmyhackney]

Could you use 1”x1”s and cut a rubber mat to make a hay corner so they have to make effort to pull out hay?

[frugalannie]

You have described my horse as well! If hay is on the ground, he plays with it. So I use a hay bag like the middle one that 2DogsFarm posted. Not very expensive, and I don’t close the top. I just hang it on the sides and back with snaps on baling twine (in case a foot gets caught), leaving the top wide open which makes it easy to fill. Mr Messy eats 90% plus of his hay without waste, and it’s held up for over a year.

[pony_grandma]

Can you cut your lg bales with a chain saw?

[Janet]

Could you put the hay in a (clean) muck bucket in a corner, and then put a haynet (or similar) over the top?

[Djones]

https://a.co/d/eZSM2Cc

We have these in our run in shed. Top corners are done with hay string, and the bottoms aren’t attached to anything and even empty the whole thing about a foot off the ground. The side against the wall is secured in the middle at the top (a small carabiner to an eyelet and the side facing the horse isn’t attached in the middle. Pull that toward you, dump in the hay, then hook the top of that side over the eyelet.

[Simkie]

I use a net in this exact situation. 2" holes don’t really slow them down. This net is large enough to stuff flakes from large bales in. And is inexpensive!

https://www.statelinetack.com/item/shires-deluxe-haylage-net/E032403%20LG/

[skipollo]

We use these for our horses:

NibbleNet ® 12XL

They hold a LOT of hay and have lasted our boys years, very durable. We cut a few larger holes in the front because we don’t want to slow down their intake—we just want to keep them from wasting hay (churning it into the bedding, peeing on it, etc).

This is my horse and how high I hang it, for reference. It’s not truly on the ground grazing, but it’s a happy medium between not wasting hay and also letting him stretch down to eat.

[MorganSercu]

How long have they lasted for you?

[LCDR]

High Country Slow Hay Feeder. This is a is new one that came in a few days ago and is ready to go in my hay bolting, messy hay eater’s stall.

Advantage is eating in a natural head position. The grid slips in through the slot on the front and sits on top of the hay, The grid drops down as the horse consumes the hay, and controls eating rate. So basically just toss in a flake or two, slide in the grid, and dinner is served. This is the Junior model. The larger model uses an all metal grid, which I didn’t want. The net fabric part is easy to replace if needed.

[Djones]

2 years but they are not in daily use to be fair.

[NancyM]

I made a manger by putting two vertical slats on either side of a corner of a stall, and sliding some 2 X 6 down horizontally to wall off the corner to make a ground level hay manger. Worked well, no problems. Easy to do. For large square bales, you’d have to fold the flakes to fit into what I made, but you could probably make it larger if you have a bigger area than I had to work with. You can make it as big as you’d like I guess, as long as it isn’t something that a horse would be able to get INTO.

[FjordBCRF]

Some of the horses in our barn have these. They are HUGE and very easy to fill!

[Zevida]

@Small_Change

We don’t need to limit the amount of hay they’re eating, just stop the waste and workload from them stirring hay into dirty bedding. We are wondering about just putting a few 2x4’s across the corner to keep the hay behind, starting about 12" off the ground and spaced closely enough to keep the horses from getting a leg between. More of a corner barrier than a true feeder?

Maybe start with a (clean, new) muck tub in the corner that you can attach to the wall so they can’t drag it around and see if that works. I’m not sure if the cost for that would be more or less than your idea, but otherwise I like your idea of building a corner feeder area. But the nice thing about the muck tubs is they are removable and could make it easier to clean if needed.

I’ve seen these used in turnout paddocks and obviously could work for a stall too - but may be expensive if you need many of them.

https://www.noblepanels.com/corner-feeders.htm

[Calvincrowe]

I use corner hay feeders like the ones from High Country. I’ve boarded where they built ones out of 2x6 lumber. Both worked great and are safe. Much easier than hay nets.

[Xanthoria]

@Small_Change

We are wondering about just putting a few 2x4’s across the corner to keep the hay behind, starting about 12" off the ground and spaced closely enough to keep the horses from getting a leg between. More of a corner barrier than a true feeder?

My old barn had this, but it was only 18” deep. Underneath (maybe another 18” from the ground up) was open, and the week’s worth of pellet bedding was stashed under there. Totally great solution.

[Small_Change]

I am so relieved to hear that people have had luck with corner feeders. We really, really would like to avoid nets in the long run if at all possible so that we’re not trading one workload for another. I love how tidy nets keep things, but to fill the number we’d need daily is a big ask.

Thank you so much everyone for all the suggestions. They are so much appreciated!

[luvmyhackney]

I love these nets have a dozen of them, super easy to stuff if you use a barrel.

[sascha]

Large garbage can. Full bale Tough 1 hay net. Net into can and snug it up under the handles using the rope and catch thingy. Fold a flake in half and pop it in. Loosen catch/rope thingy, tio garbage can over and slide net out. Voila. Roughly 24 hours of mess-free hay.

Bonus, if you have allergies, the folding and ramming in of flakes can be done pretty easily with a 3-prong hay fork.