Why not just swap his current 6.5 pounds of bagged feed for a high quality, moderately high calorie complete feed like TC Senior? That would increase his total calories per day in a form he’s likely to finish in the limited time he’s inside to eat. Complete feeds are high in digestible fiber and designed to replace forage for horses that don’t (or can’t) get enough otherwise. You get a lot more calorie and nutrient “bang for your buck” with a complete feed than an unfortified product.
If his current hay is lower calorie or lower quality than what he was on before, he may just need more calories from a different source than he did on his previous hay. Or he may be eating slightly less hay than he was before, depending on the herd dynamics.
Unfortunately not an option since I board. And I don’t love the idea of buying hay for other people’s horses (one, maybe. But two is too many ).
Getting them done this month, but they were done less than a year ago. He doesn’t drop a ton of grain and LOVES the alfalfa. It’s good grass hay but he’s not thrilled lol
I’m trying to picture the setup of this, but this would likely be ideal. He can have his “special” hay in a net and have the grass hay on the floor for immediate easy eating. If I go the hay bale route - which isn’t necessarily easy, but isn’t impossible.
To be fair, he wasn’t in work before. Hasn’t been in a year, or really much before that. He’s lost weight/muscle since moving, but I’m not worried, just trying to find the sweet spot with a new setup.
This might be an option - but the other feeds are barn provided. He’d be the only one on Senior so that’s another bin in an already full feed room. Not ideal . The Unbeetable would replace the hay stretcher or get mixed in, so that wouldn’t be taking up more space and might not add to my board bill (or not much, anyway).
Also, in summer or when the grass is in, he seemed to do fine on TC30 and hay stretcher. I’d like to keep his base ration the same and just add on top for his “winter” diet (again why I am focused on forage), as it’s easier for the barn to order feed and store it.
Adding in, he’s about to go through a round of omeprazole and sucralfate. I’ve had a logistical nightmare trying to work out the timing and now am waiting for my new horse to arrive so I can do a round for both of them at the same time.
Hay bags are easy to hang, no tying necessary. Grab the closure rope in four (or three, or two, depending on how low you want it to hang and how much rope loop you want hanging) places and pull up, use your clip of choice (I use a double ended snap) and clip those four loops together. Use the clip to hang the bag.
Can you just put a clean muck bucket type tub in the corner with nice hay in it? That sounds more like what you want.
And untie the rope at the top of the net, thread the snap on, and retie. So the snap is attached to the net.
Then fill the net.
Then tie the top of the net with three basic over hand knots, with the snap tied into the knot.
Then hang the net from the snap on a ring mounted to the stall wall.
Or, you can use a double ended snap. I do that outside to hang nets on the fence. Fill the net, tie it up, then clip the snap to both ends of the rope and either pull around something (top fence board in my situation) and clip back to the net, or clip to a ring mounted in the stall.
I started using the swivel rings inside after my one mare broke multiple double ended snaps twisting the net around. But it is nice having it tied into the net (not going to walk away without some effort!)
I do that now with the chopped hay. Trial and error says the horse will just flip the bucket and throw hay everywhere if it’s too full and not nailed down. But it works okay right now
I’d recommend the Porta Grazer because you can fit 30+ pounds of hay in it, it won’t go bad for a least a week if the hay is dry, and even the small hole insert doesn’t slow my guy down much.
The other option I’ve had really good luck with for a hay waster that didn’t need to be slowed down was a Hay Chix Free Up Feeder and a SmartPak 4" hole hay net. I swap the hardware on the hay ring to allow me to easily remove the ring from the wall completely and replace the hay net.
Do you have an electrical outlet in the barn, but no water heater to supply running hot water? If that’s the case,a $25 electric kettle produces hot water very quickly and safely.
Something like the Porta Grazer you can attach to a wall. You don’t have to put the top on if you just need something where he won’t walk all over the hay. But I would see if you can get alfalfa bales first for a stall snack that he will probably eat faster than grass hay, or add pellets if you need a bucket forage.
Fivestrideline, I skimmed thru the responses, so pardon it if this has been covered.
My crew absolutely love Alfalfa. They don’t get too much of it in warm weather, but when temperatures drop, they each get a skinny flake (2-3lb), served in a feed-pan for dinner. (Along with their usual hay ration in a slow feeder.)
If you can find a suitable spot to stack them, you might pick up a few bales and give that a try.
As far as a slow feeder, I can heartily recommend the SavvyFeeder. They are expensive, but they work, and they are very durable. I was skeptical, but after a couple of years of daily (and nightly) Equine abuse, I can report zero issues, aside from having to hike every morning to round them up out of the pasture. I fill the feeders with 8-10lb of loose Timothy hay morning, and evening, and generally find a pound or so remaining, so they are doing exactly what they are supposed to do; All-Night Nibbles.
No stall bars - it’s all board and open on the aisle. But I think there’s space to run a bucket strap around the boards, so maybe that could work!
I may start here. The Shire’s nets are cheap enough that I can hang those and see if he’s as interested in hay as he is the chopped stuff. I may try the Unbeetable too, just for funsies.
Thanks all! I’m not sure why this has been breaking my brain so much, but I really want him back to his filled out self!
My horse is a hay waster too. He’ll eat for a while, then paw it into the middle, pee on it, lay on it, watch his friends, then he’ll be upset because he has nothing to eat.
I got him one of these:
It’s a BIG hay bag. I also don’t want to slow my horse down while eating, and he has no issues with these holes. I did cut some bigger ones in the front when I bought it because I was worried about it, but he doesn’t have any problems with it.
This is him eating out of it for size reference. He’s 16.3" and wears an 81 blanket. We feed large squares, but if we had small squares, I bet I could get almost an entire bale (if not a whole bale) in there.
These have a stiff rim around the top and I found them easy to load, although I think a real hay waster type could still waste some out the front. Unlike the complaint on the website, I’ve found Kensington products to hold up very well:
I was also going to suggest the Kensington hay bag. I have one and it is my absolute favorite hay bag. Of course I bought mine on sale and probably would only buy another on sale, as spending $80 on a hay bag is a bit hard to stomach for me.
I didn’t see where you posted that a regular feeder in his stall was prohibited? No matter , how is he supposed to get the extra hay( he needs) if he is out 24/7 unless the weather is bad ?
It seems the problem is that they don’t get enough hay to start with and now a portion of that minuscule amount of hay is trampled into the mud.
I always prefer to add actual long stemmed forage over " feed or pellets etc". I would go for the alfalfa and maybe he can spend some time in his stall morning & evening so he can eat a few flakes?
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