Well, its Wed and we need to put out a new bale. Given it would normally only be 4 days and it had been a week, I’d say the net has definitely slowed consumption. Its too soon to tell if it will affect anyone’s weight. I’ll update again in a couple weeks.
Oh, and don’t get one unless you don’t mind picking out the sticks in between uses. We don’t get a lot of trash in our bales, but it still took 10 minutes or so to pick them all out.
[QUOTE=tinah;7901408]
Well, its Wed and we need to put out a new bale. Given it would normally only be 4 days and it had been a week, I’d say the net has definitely slowed consumption. Its too soon to tell if it will affect anyone’s weight. I’ll update again in a couple weeks.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the update Tinah. So it almost doubled the time your horses take to consume a round bale which is is a good result making the net pay for itself in pretty short order.
[QUOTE=HungarianHippo;7891720]
I’d suggest trying a hockey net first and test the concept. It’s a 1-3/4" mesh and you can get a 10x10 net for <$50 here (or any custom size you want). .[/QUOTE]
I keep meaning to try a hockey net, wondering if anyone else has?
There is a youtube video out there on how to do up your own hockey netting which is great if you have the time for it. I’m just always so time starved that I want something I can throw on be done with it, which is why I went looking on eBay and snagged a Cinch Chix for about a third off. If it does make a good bit of difference, I may spring for one of the Haylow nets as that looks like it’s the easiest/quickest netting option out there and it’s the same price as a new Cinch Chix. There is a vendor on eBay who is selling a knockoff verson of the Cinch Chix nets for $170; a new Cinch Chix goes for about $250. Hockey netting is the cheapest way to go, but more work to get on/around the bale and cinched up.
I use netting on mine (purchased from this seller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-X-16-Heavy-Duty-Round-Bale-Horse-Hay-2-Black-Square-Nylon-Net-1-7-8-36-/331152277824 – our piece is 15x15 though the price has gone way up). It’s not quite the right size to actually create a real net so we just roll out the round bale to the net, then wrap the bale with the netting and weave/sew the net together with bailing twine. I’ve had this net for a year and a half and it’s still in great shape. It took us a while in the beginning to weave it together for each bale, but we probably get in done in under 10 minutes now. The nice thing about the loose netting is I can fit it around any sized bale so it I have a really wide one it works and it also works with taller/more narrow bales.
[QUOTE=Fred;7904273]
I keep meaning to try a hockey net, wondering if anyone else has?[/QUOTE]
The mesh size is a little large to really slow down eating. I experimented with one many years ago with it inserted in a hay ring. I cannot say that consumption was slowed, but the money I saved on “waste” made up for that. I have not tried this, but you might experiment with doubling the net over the hay in an attemt to reduce mesh size and see what occurs. I would not under any circumstance try this without supporting the bale in a hay ring. I actually think using stand alone nets of any kind are a recipe for disaster. I’ve had two unshod horses catch their hooves in the netting and spook. But the use is popular, so I wouldn’t oppose it use because complaints are few and far as I can determine.
Got the Cinch Chix in and on a new bale for the three big geldings last night and they are pissed! Definitely not happy about having to pick through the netting to eat. They are eating but it is obviously slowing their consumption at least at this point. The net went on without a tremendous amount of difficulty. It still has the original cheap nylon cinch rope on which is dry rotted and will give you splinters so I’ll be replacing that soon. Can definitely see the appeal of the Haylow nets though and not having to do more than just throw it over the round bale. If I buy another, it will probably be one of those. I want the skinny 3 yr old OTTB filly to finish gaining weight before I’ll do that. She came off the track in May and was painfully thin and still needs to gain weight.
We put the Cinch Chix on a new bale Saturday and my horses are being the biggest drama queens. They have ALL eaten out of the “nibble net” style, tiny hole nets in their stalls/in the trailer/at shows and the holes on the Cinch Chix net are approximately 3x larger.
The bale, in its new Cinch Chix net, is in a Hay Hut. The horses are taking turns poking their heads into EACH window of the HH, nosing the bale, and moving to the next window. This routine ends with each of them moving back about 6 feet to stare longingly at the COMPLETELY INACCESSIBLE bale that is clearly mocking them.
And the Oscar for Best Herd Performance goes to… :lol:
Oh that’s too funny. I use HayHuts too and mine are not doing that, but they can be seen stalking away from the HayHut more often with a distinct air of irritation. They, of course return, because there is really nothing else to eat at this point. We’ve had a very dry fall down here and the grass is kaput for the season and the lack of rain fall has meant that it was a waste of money to throw out rye. Suck it up buttercups! I just hope I can keep finding decent round bales through the winter. Apparently several local farms experienced army worm incursions which reduced their hay yields significantly.
Update - they’ve all gotten over the drama of having the Cinch Chix net added to the bale and are now happily munching at the Hay Hotel (the Hay Hut).
There is ZERO waste.
ZERO.
I couldn’t find one lone snip of hay on the ground yesterday when I looked. Amazing.
Hay Hut + Cinch Chix = HAY BUDGET HEAVEN
Yep. That was my finding as well when I checked the geldings’ hay hut yesterday. Zero waste. I was impressed as there had been only minimal waste with the just the hay hut. I guess adding the frustration of the net has them hoovering up everything that drops before having to work more out through the netting.
for those using hay nets. I just found that my horse’s teeth have vertical groove marks in them that the vet is looking into. He and my farrier both either have them or know farms that use them and are asking around about their horses teeth. I use cinch chix slow feeder nets, bale size and round bale size. We all think the horses pick at the net to get the hay started and are wearing their teeth. Please check your horses teeth and let us know if you are finding the same thing. One horse has deep grooves, the other doesn’t pick a the net as much and the vertical wear marks into the enamel are not so noticeable but are still there. We’ve been using the nets for about 9 months now. Love them but. . . . not if they are damaging teeth!
[QUOTE=r;8163039]
for those using hay nets. I just found that my horse’s teeth have vertical groove marks in them that the vet is looking into. He and my farrier both either have them or know farms that use them and are asking around about their horses teeth. I use cinch chix slow feeder nets, bale size and round bale size. We all think the horses pick at the net to get the hay started and are wearing their teeth. Please check your horses teeth and let us know if you are finding the same thing. One horse has deep grooves, the other doesn’t pick a the net as much and the vertical wear marks into the enamel are not so noticeable but are still there. We’ve been using the nets for about 9 months now. Love them but. . . . not if they are damaging teeth![/QUOTE]
Can you post photos of the tooth damage: I’d be interested to see it as I was about to order some cinch clix type nets to go inside the hay huts today!
Farrier checked his horses teeth and sees no problems. Vet too says barns he checked don’t show tooth wear so I’m not sure what’s happening with my Morgan. I’m also not seeing any mention of this from anyone else. Not sure I can figure out how to post a pic…Will hope to talk to my vet tomorrow to see if he thinks it’s something else or from the net.
