If it’s not getting something at feed time it will wreck it’s joints anyway from kicking the wall.
I’m assuming you are talking about feeding horses something because they will get upset otherwise?
My fat horses get a minimum ration of grain and flake of hay while the older TB mare takes her time eating a maximum ration of senior grain. Can you just give some hay instead of hay stretcher?
He has hay in front of him all the time. I have tried double netting small hole hay nets and he cleans it up just as fast as having it on the floor.
I’ve been looking for a smaller hole hay net but I think I have the smallest on the market.
I would consider a muzzle. And/or not having hay in front of him all the time.
Is he fed free choice hay in a herd?
To be honest, switching grain to hay stretcher isn’t going to go much of anything with regard to his weight. 95%+ of his calories are coming from hay.
Lower quality hay might be lower calories, or, possibly - just lower nutrition, but if it is high in sugar it may be just as high in calories.
I appreciate the challenges of feeding in a herd; I have a mixed herd and it is difficult to balance it all (and I’m not 100% successful). But if he’s the fat one - he needs less hay. Muzzle, hay net, or ration, or all of the above.
I have certainly seen people founder their horses by letting them get obese on hay only diets. You do need to restrict hay for some horses.
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Even with hays tested low in sugars and nutrients?
Hoping the holes are smaller than the smallest holed one I have right now.
Has anyone ever tried hanging a hay net from the ceiling so the horse can’t push against it so easily?
If I am not going to be feeding free choice hay, how many pounds should I be feeding?
I’m worried about him going a few hours at a time without hay in front of him; this is my first easy keeper ever and I’m struggling with it.
Yes, one horse at our barn foundered on tested low sugar hay. She was young, only about 5. Another older pony foundered on coarse low value first cut hay. What they both had in common is they were allowed to become obese. Similar to people becoming obese and then getting diabetes or prediabetic syndrome.
So just as in people you need to keep horses at a healthy weight no matter how you do it. By and large a horse needs about 20 lbs of hay a day. My big Paint needs less than that and I weigh her hay in 5 feedings a day.
Yes, my old easy keeper has his hay net hung in the middle of his stall so he can’t pin it against the wall. It definitely slows him down, but he’s pretty smart and has taken to pinning it against his own body to get bigger bites. Regardless, it doubles the time it takes him to eat it otherwise.
Old Man mentioned above can’t get all the hay out of a 1" net (like the one you posted) if it’s hung in the middle of the stall. If you double netted a 1" net, I don’t know a horse could get all the hay out period. I have to guess that you don’t have a 1" net yet if you double net and say he can get it out as fast as on the ground. Hopefully the 1" net works.
He will be fine without hay for a couple hours. You show and ride for longer than that at a time (if you hack out).
You aim for 1.5-2% of body weight, and then tweak from there. If he blasts the walls anytime there isn’t food in front of him 1) he’s an A-hole, and 2) I’d put kick chains on him.
He is fat, which has way more long term health implications than you seem to think. Like someone said above, it sucks being the bad guy but you have to stop emotionally feeding him. You’re his keeper, not his enabler.
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You may avoid ulcers but you are setting him up for possible founder/ laminitis. If he is truly fat he doesn’t need any bagged feed or hay stretcher. Especially if you refuse to limit his hay. Sometimes you just can’t feed them the way you want to.
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I only have lower quality 1" hay nets right now. They stretch and he can get holes in them easily. Hoping the one I ordered is better quality and will slow him down a lot.
This sentence made something totally click for me, haha.
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Just to add, I believe it’s 1.5-2% of desired body weight.
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That is correct, I should have been more clear. If you’ve got a 1400lb heifer that should be a 950lb svelte hony, then feed to the 950lbs.
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I use 1" hole nets and double them and hang them on the wall. I also use 1 1/2" web bags (SmartPak brand) hanging from the ceiling on a swivel. They both work about the same time-wise for finishing hay. The web bags are much easier to fill and hang.
Web bags hanging on the wall they finish too quickly, same for single 1" nets hanging from ceiling. The double nets hanging from ceiling they give up on because they can’t get the hay out (which says a lot for two very determined easy keepers).
I weigh every meal and when they are out on pasture they wear grazing muzzles. They get teff hay and California Trace Plus, that’s it. I just increase or decrease hay amounts as needed.
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Is this a sufficient supplement to accompany an essentially hay only diet?
You might want to compare to Mad Barn Omniety on ingredient levels and cost.
