Hi! I have several horses that live out most of the time. They have grass, however I also give them hay bags on the fence. The one recently developed some neck issues & the chiropractor wants me to stop using the hay net. I’m looking for ideas on a diy or something to buy that I can put in the paddock, is safe for a horse with shoes, and that will keep the hay from getting in the sand. The chiro wants it at the ground level- not hanging up… I’m in south fl so lots of sand- I’ve tried putting it in a muck bucket & a rubber tub- but he immediately flings it out with his nose or flips the tub over and eats it from the sand. When he’s sick of it he pees in it. The amount of hay I’ve wasted this week alone is reason to figure out a solution. Any suggestions or ideas? Thank you!!
What about using a low fence for the horses to reach over into a matted area? T posts & wire hog panels would be inexpensive.
Sorry, that sounds like an accident waiting to happen! Just no.
A friend fastened a Rubbermaid tank, 100 gallon, to a heavy stall mat, then put eye-bolts in the tank bottom to fasten both ends of hay bags to. Horse is eating low, can’t throw the hay out. I would probably use a bigger hole net so he is not wrenching on hay to get it out. Horse standing on the mat and mat weight low, seemed to prevent tank flipping.
An alternative to the nets is a piece of metal grid or bars to hold hay down in the tub. Be careful with sharp edges. Do fasten the grid or bars down to the eyebolts so horse can’t throw them out of the tub. Have seen that happen!
His neck issues could be hay net related, pulling hay hard to get it out of the nets, especially small hole nets. Some horses get really active/fighting the net while trying to get hay out the holes. Not all his issues may be from height of nets on fence.
Not cheap, but the Tarter ‘hay basket’ plus a Haychix net is a solution I’ve seen work well.
What about a rubbermaid water trough with some kind of top( with extra wide spaces) where the horse could get his head in easily( with plenty of room on the sides) to eat but not get the hay all over by flinging it out?
I fed mine in a trough for years but they just flung it all out looking for the leaves at the bottom, so I gave up and just feed on mats. they eat it all, but I don’t have sand issues here.
Could you feed in some kind of tub and mat the area around there so hay will not be flung in the sand?
May take several mats and resetting them every so often if they shift, but would keep the hay out of the sand.
Also if you feed really good hay and less of it, he would have less waste.
We feed alfalfa and there is no waste.
I’ve done something similar with several different types of tanks. I wanted to secure the tanks to a fence post and then secure hay nets to the bottom of the tank. With the Rubbermaid tanks and other brands that I’ve used, they all have a drain hole with a threaded plug. I remove the plug. The drain hole is used to secure the tank to the post. (You can drill a hole in the side of the tank if you don’t want to run the chain all the way up the inside of the tank. Any drilled holes can be repaired later so the tank can resume being filled with water.). First, I ran a chain with large links through the holes. Then I secured the chain and tank to the post. The chain links are large enough to connect a larger threaded chain connecting the link close to the bottom of the tank to tie the hay nets or use a loop of twine. I put mats on the ground under the tanks to catch dropped hay. I didn’t want to put permanently damage any mats by putting holes through them. Mats are definitely needed because hay still gets pulled out and on to the sand. I used 2" square hay nets and they worked perfectly.
If you drill holes in a tank and later want to use that tank for water, it’s easy to repair. All you need is two large fender washers large enough to overlap the hole in the tank, a large rubber fender washer of the same size, a nut and bolt, and some water pipe repair cold weld, like JB weld. Rubber washer goes on the inside covered by a metal washer. Thread bolt through the hole. On the outside of the tank, cover the hole with cold weld putty. Put the second washer on top of that. Add a nut to the bolt, tighten, and now the tank is usable for water again.
Portagrazer. It’s expensive, but there is zero waste, and given the price of hay in FL, I’m sure you’d appreciate that 😊.
If you have a tub you are already using, I would use an old fashioned regular hay net (the ones with 4"x4" holes) and use eye bolts and double end snaps to keep the hay bag in the tub. This will have him feeding from a low position and the hay net will keep him from flinging hole flakes out. It won’t keep him from wasting the hay, but it will cut down on some waste.
A large hay bag hung low may be another option. The bags have a mid sized opening so wouldn’t cause as much torque on his neck, but help to keep waste to a minimum.
I have seen where people take the large wheeled trash cans and cut a square hole out of the side at the bottom. The can is attached to a post so the horse can’t just dump it over. You may have to figure a way to latch the lid.
For any of these you would probably be best served by using a mat or 2 around the area to catch the hay that falls out.
I use large heavy equipment tires, I like the ones off large logging equipment, and they have been common in our area. They are free at your local tire store. Make sure that you get one that does NOT have steel in the side walls- the tire store workers will know which ones will work for you. I have one right now that I have just finished working on that weighs about 1000 lbs. I cut drainage holes on the side that is going to be the bottom side with a power drill, and cut the entire side edge of the tire off what is going to become the top of the feeder with a power reciprocating saw (you can use other types of saws too, including a chain saw, but I have found that the reciprocating saw with an aggressive blade is the best tool). Start this cut by drilling a hole to put the reciprocating blade into. When you cut the edge off, this leaves a nice rim that helps to hold hay in the feeder, not too easy for the hay to be thrown out by a pesky horse. The one I have recently been working on is about 3 feet high, and 6 feet across, but there are a variety of sizes and types of tires that will suffice. Of course, the big ones must be moved with a tractor. But once in position, it is not going to be moved by horses. Any water that gets into it drains away. It protects the hay from getting mixed up with the sand footing (thus avoiding sand colic). It stops the hay from being blown away in high winds. It stops hay from being stepped on, and pooped on etc. There is nothing to get legs tangled in or caught on. There are pictures on the internet of horses somehow getting themselves INTO the tub, and can’t get out again and die, but personally, I feel that there is less risk of that than of dying of sand colic, or any of the other options of ways for horses to kill themselves especially with other options for hay feeders, so I accept this risk.
The other nice thing about a big tire feeder like this is that if you keep several horses together in a paddock and feed them together, the tire is big enough to afford some protection from bullying by the more aggressive horse. The junior horse can keep the tire between them, so no one gets chased off the hay. It keeps the peace.
A big tire like this will hold an entire round bale (the smaller ones… 4 X 5), if you wish. Or, you can just put a measured amount of hay into it at mealtimes. You may be able to fashion attachments to secure a net over a round bale being held in a tire like this, if you wish. I don’t do this, my horses are TBs, and can eat all the hay they like- I do not restrict their hay consumption. You do need the right tools to do make these feeders but not uncommon tools, and tires that are already cut are common (around here) and sometimes offered for sale, or someone can make them for you fairly easily. If you lived close to me, I could sell you one, and deliver it to you! They never wear out or break, and can’t be destroyed in any way by horses. And, my cribber likes using hers to crib on, which is an excellent spot for her to choose because it does not wear her teeth down at all like wood surfaces do.
we used a 100 gallon water trough put into a four wheel cart…just called thing his chuck wagon Being in the cart it could easily be moved in out of the rain, or when we changed paddocks.
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Thank you so much for all the detailed instructions! Do
you put something in the bottom of the tire like a mat or something so the hay is not directly on the ground? Sorry if you explained that part and I’m just struggling to ‘picture’ it!! 🤦🻔♀ï¸ðŸ¤£ thank you!!!
THANK YOU asl for the great ideas & replies! I will get to work trying to ‘picture’ your suggestions when a photo wasn’t included. Everyone’s help is greatly appreciated!
And a side note- someone mentioned its prob the neck Tork that the chiro doesn’t want the horse doing- and that’s wxactly it- he has had a slow feeder & a regular hay bag in past- and both he loves to wrestle with. He also will throw it over the fence, multiple times after I’ve fixed it- so that certainly can not be good for his neck either!!! LOL. Thanks for the suggestions!!!
l leave the center of the tire as just ground. You can put a mat under there if you are worried. But I find that the “fines” of they hay coat the ground there, and ingesting sand from that area isn’t an issue. Especially if the tire is big enough.
Please be careful using tractor tyres as hay feeders. Horses do get stuck in them and some die before they are found. This one thankfully was rescued.
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/scaled/2011/08/10/article-2024460-0D6086DB00000578-431_308x185.jpg
I just thought that I should add… if you get a suitable tire to use, check it thoroughly for nails that may be puncturing the rubber, usually on the baring surface side. They are easy to pull out with some pliers if you find one, but you do need to “look”. They may be quite small, but may cause an injury to your horse using it as a hay feeder if you miss one. So LOOK! A nail may or may not be the cause for the tire to have been turned in to the tire store as junk, other minor rips or tears in the rubber don’t matter. But nails do matter.
