Hay and bedding budget

[Brave_Mucker]

I am trying to budget for 2018 hay consumption per horse. This winter season we have our horses out on pasture most of the day. We put hay out 3x’s, sometimes more depending on the temperature. We are in the north east, north of NYC.

On average, how much hay do you feed per day per horse? Assume 40 lb bale of second cutting.

Same question regarding bedding. We have 12x12 stalls, rubber mats. We are buying pine shavings from a local distributor…all baled. We need two bales to cover the stall. We are adding a new bale each day to replace the “used” shavings…does this sound about right?

thnx

[clanter]

We need two bales to cover the stall. We are adding a new bale each day to replace the “used” shavings…does this sound about right?

Not for me, our horses are in their stalls about 15 hours per day. 12by12s for the horses, 6by8 for the minis, 8by12 for the pony… I use on average 6 bags per week to refresh all the stalls on as needed bases and four bags of pellets. Stalls are clean thoroughly once a day when the horses are in the pasture. At early AM feeding If there are piles of manure in places where they could romp through spreading those piles they are picked up otherwise in order for 40yr plus pony to eat they are kept up for another 1.5 to 2 hours.

As for hay consumption our location makes our use not comparable as we feed a faction of your requirement… a very bad weather day for us is when the temps drop into the low 20s

[moving_to_dc]

@Brave Mucker

I am trying to budget for 2018 hay consumption per horse. This winter season we have our horses out on pasture most of the day. We put hay out 3x’s, sometimes more depending on the temperature. We are in the north east, north of NYC.

On average, how much hay do you feed per day per horse? Assume 40 lb bale of second cutting.

Same question regarding bedding. We have 12x12 stalls, rubber mats. We are buying pine shavings from a local distributor…all baled. We need two bales to cover the stall. We are adding a new bale each day to replace the “used” shavings…does this sound about right?

thnx

I feed my hay by weight of horse and weight of the flakes, and I purchase my hay by the ton. Horses get 1-2% of their bodyweight daily depending on weather. It makes it very easy to calculate how fast I am going to go thru it. I will never go back to buying hay “by the bale”, though I realize that seems to be a set in stone method for most people. When I break down my per ton costs to a per bale price, I am paying $8 for a 75 lb bale of premium brome, delivered 120 miles and stacked in my hay barn.

I would go broke if I had to add a new bag to my 10x12 stalls daily. If horses are in for 12 hours, I can make 2 bags last about 4 days. I do not bed deep and bedding is swept to the back 1/2 of the stall (necessary for our operation) and my stalled horses are pretty good at keeping their stalls tidy. I am anal about NOT removing ANY clean bedding, and I gently scrape the clean away from the pee spots, and then use a scoop shovel to get every single bit of wet bedding out, I want to see the edges of the pee spot where it meets the dry mat, if that makes sense. I also use a fine-tined manure fork, so I am able to scoop out the tiniest poop ball and leave the clean bedding behind. I abhor the normal manure forks that just disintegrate the poop balls and scatter them everywhere. It usually takes me 3 stalls to fill a 6cf wheelbarrow.

[allons-y]

I just have my own 3 at home, out 24/7 unless ridiculous weather. So shavings are minimal. Stalls are matted. I feed hay 4x a day now in the winter. 5am, 12nn, 4pm, 8pm roughly. The times depend on my work schedule. I have no grass right now, just last years brown stuff. I go through 1-2 bales a day, obviously the bale sizes vary. Two are easy keepers and one is hard. They only get hard feed at night, 2 0f 3 don’t need it, but they all come in, so the token handful is given for vits, etc. I have a good stall routine with 2, one is a stirrer so he uses bedding up quick if in over night. I also clean stalls meticulously, I’m trying to pinch my pennies. I am in the South, so I really can’t compare with your numbers, sorry.

[Lolliver]

I feed a very nice alfalfa mix, and mine get about 25 pounds per day. They are fat and happy. I am in central Illinois, so our winters are probably pretty similar.

[trubandloki]

I am confused by this question. Sorry.
You know how much you use for your horses so why does it matter how much someone else might use for theirs.
Every person has their own system that works for their critters.

With three horses, in the winter I go thru about two bales of first cutting grass hay per day (approx 35-40). I feel a lot of hay. I feed almost no grain product.

I use bulk sawdust and pellet bedding. I can say that one bag per day per stall seems like a lot of bedding to be using.
I know places that the horses are in 24/7 and they use about half a bag per day per stall.

[Dressagelvr]

Horses are grazers and I believe that, barring metabolic issues, horses should have free choice hay 24/7/364. Expensive, but absolutely what is best for them.

Bedding wise, I bed pretty deep, but they’re also out as much as possible.

I don’t have exact numbers on hand, but my actions are always based on what is best for the horses.

Keeps the colics and other ailments way down.

And keeps them happy too.

[SLW]

I have small horses (one with metabolic concerns) that weight tape at 900# so my numbers will be different than yours. The square bales I use weigh 55+ pounds and my horses have paddocks, not pastures, that they enjoy during the warm months in addition to a large, full time turnout dry lot connected to their stalls. I feed very little hay June, July, August & September. Otherwise I pretty much feed a bale every 24/36 hours so I order 265 bales and that leaves me with very little in the barn when the new hay arrives.

If you live where the winters are brutal consider using some horse quality round bales during the worst of winter.

[mmeqcenter]

Mine average 20-30 lbs/day of hay per horse year round. This is for a 900 pound pony, and three ~1100-1250 pound thoroughbreds, heights ranging from 15.3hh to 17hh, and one of which is a boarder. The rest of our boarders are partial boarders who provide their own hay and grain and who are all apparently extremely easy keepers.

The bedding is hard to compare, as I don’t know what size your bales are.
For stalled horses, we start each new horse with three bags that expand to 10 cubic feet per bag. Then, add as needed. We had two mares stalled that were in 12 hours, out 12 hours - they each got a new 10 cubic foot bag about every two or three days. They’ve since switched to pasture board. We now have one gelding and one mare on stall board that are out AM and PM, just come in for a few hours for feedings. They maybe get a new 10 cubic foot bag once a week.

[Simkie]

Ha. Well, I’m a huge dork, so I actually track bales fed by week. I’ve created an excel workbook. It looks like this:

The thin black line is a rolling four week average.

It’s not a perfect system for a few reasons–I use an average bale weight for each hay lot, and I only count a bale “fed” when it’s done. That’s why the blue line goes up and down…if a bale is 80% fed in week one and 20% fed in week two, it counts 100% in week two.

But overall, this give me a damned good look at hay consumption for my four horses. They’re fed free choice in nets nearly 100% of the time, so waste is minimal. I am averaging 565#s a week all in, which is just under 1.5% bodyweight of my herd. That climbs to a peak of just under 2% in the coldest weather. Odd heavy bales in the stack probably take those numbers up to a solid 1.5% in warmer months and a solid 2% in the colder ones. Horses have recreational grazing in the summer as long as it’s not wet, but I don’t have enough grass out there to really take the place of hay.

I feed both alfalfa and grass. I break it down further by hay type. I have it tested, so it’s even possible to break out by Mcals fed per week.

I could weigh actual hay fed but that’s a whole 'nother level of work. But the data sure would be nice.

[Horseman15]

To give you an idea for me - 2 Off Track Thoroughbreds in the 1250 lb range.

They go through a small square bale of grass hay daily. They also go through about a third to a half a bale of Alfalfa daily depending on the weather (I give them more when it’s colder out or if they’re working). They also go through a 50 lb bag of feed (Tribute Kalm Ultra) in 3.5 days.

We haven’t dealt with bedding yet as right now they’re 100% pasture ponies. But when I boarded them they’d go through 6 to 8 bags of shavings a month per stall (I used to help with barn chores). But that was completely dependent on how much they were stalled.

I hope that gives you an idea of larger horses that are in work.

[gumtree]

I have only bed on straw by and large. Shavings only because that was what could be had and or allowed to be used for the brief time our horses were in that location.

I find shaving to be a PITA to muck properly and expensive to bed on. But I understand this is area specific. IMO and experience a lot of people seem to be obsessive with “clean” stalls. Granted there can be at times a fine line between clean, spotless and not clean enough. In the end the horse doesn’t care one way or another.

I rarely get into a “diatribe” over feed. I generally only discuss it with others who are in the business of horses as their livelihood. IMO way too many people rely on subjective “science” of what a horse “needs”.

We have only had to throw hay to our horses in the winter once the grass goes. I use the standard rule of thumb that has pretty sound research behind it. 1.5 - 2% of body weight. For our horses, which at one time was a population of over 40++, the majority of which live out 24/7. They get 20+lbs of hay per day of a decent quality Orchard, 1st & 2nd cuttings that I grew and baled. I grew plenty so I no need to skimp. But need to waste any also. What I didn’t need to get through to the next hay season I sold. Hay is part of our profit margin.

Our horses were given their daily hay with their afternoon feeding. Each horse had their own “pile” of hay. We have big enough pastures to able to place in a clean location through out the winter.

IMO and experience and that of those who have managed large herds for years. The “school of thought” that feels/thinks horses MUST have hay in front of them 24/7 to “graze” on is more of a myth than fact. Ours have done just fine year in and year out for years and years.

We feed grain twice a day. 6-8+ lbs total with 12%+ fat. Horses in training are feed according to needs.

In short our horses that are not in heavy training, or no winter training get 1/2 of a 45+lb small bale per day. Given once a day in the afternoon. They almost always have enough left over the next day to nimble on. We up that on the odd really cold weather spells.

[Sweetums_Mom]

I watch to see if the horses are eating all of the hay that I put out. If not, then I reduce the amount. If so, then I may leave alone or increase, depending on temperatures. I put out flake piles all around the 6 acre pasture, anywhere from 1-3 bales (of varying weights, timothy/alfalfa mix) overnight and from 1-2 bales per day for 6 horses, mostly OTTB’s.

I also watch to see how much of their hay they eat while they are in their stalls for grain. If they just nose it around then I don’t worry too much about them not getting enough outside.

Unfortunately, this does not lend itself to budgeting very much…

[Calvincrowe]

Hay should be figured on a weight basis, which is why I buy by the ton (so I know that each bale is roughly 100lbs. as I feed Eastern Oregon/Washington orchard). For my two large (1000lb.) boarders, I feed 30lbs a day, plus winter pasture (which is really about nibbles and exercise) along with soaked BP for medications. I know that one bale lasts me just about 4 days. I can then calculate how many bales I’ll need. It’s not an exact science, but I can buy roughly one year’s worth of hay each summer. Of course, I feed far less hay when I have pasture from April to September. I have limited land but make the most of it. And with our wet winters, I do not use it much to keep it from ruin.

I use pelleted bedding, which is a game-changer for small acreage/small barn owners. I start an empty 12x12 matted stall with 5 soaked bags, and then add about 1 per week for a normal 12 hours in gelding. One gelding is super clean, pooping and peeing in two individual spots, so he uses much less. One is often a messy stirrer, and he gets more. I buy by the pallet (1 ton, 50 bags) and that lasts me about 5 months.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I’m feeding a hair under half a bale per day per horse, BUT they are out on heavy pasture too and they eat grass all day long. So 20 lbs grass hay per horse, plus 12 hours pasture. I also usually give them each a flake of compressed Standlee alfalfa or a couple scoops of soaked alfalfa pellets (2.5 lbs) and they get 2-2.5 lbs ration balancer with a fat-based top dressing. Neither horse is in work right now.

I double the hay in severely cold weather.

I don’t bed stalls, they live outside with matted shelters.

In the summer I feed hay on the dry lot at night and pasture during the day. Or vice versa.

[Brave_Mucker]

Thank you all for the great comments and insight. My eureka moment happened when I learned, through this thread, to base it on weight 20lbs of hay per day. I am able to build an annual forecast based on the number of horses we have on property. Thank you all!!

[clanter]

@Simkie

Ha. Well, I’m a huge dork, so I actually track bales fed by week. I’ve created an excel workbook. It looks like this:

The thin black line is a rolling four week average.

your chart appears to something our horses would also produce to inform me that I was shorting them, they are forever attempting justify an increased allotment

[Simkie]

@clanter

your chart appears to something our horses would also produce to inform me that I was shorting them, they are forever attempting justify an increased allotment

Your poor horses, clanter! They’ve told me that you’re STARVING THEM :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Simkie]

@Brave Mucker

Thank you all for the great comments and insight. My eureka moment happened when I learned, through this thread, to base it on weight 20lbs of hay per day. I am able to build an annual forecast based on the number of horses we have on property. Thank you all!!

Well, yes…as long as you have all average sized critters. 20#s is 2% for a 1000 lb animal. If you have a lot of smaller or bigger ones, you’re going to be off.

[clanter]

yes, I expect to see such a chart on an easel in the barn this evening