Hay fed loose on the floor?

[lenapesadie]

So I’ve acquired an aged gelding that needs a little plumping up. I’ve been feeding hay in feeders of some sort for a hot minute now and out of habit out this boy’s hay in a nibble net yesterday when he arrived. I noticed straight away he seemed frustrated with the net so I dumped the hay in the corner of his stall. He’s not sloppy with his hay (ie dragging into the middle to pee) and he’s at home with me so I can keep hay in front of him all times.

Any downside to just letting him have a pile of hay in the corner?

He’s scheduled for a dental next month as vet noted he was in need of one during our “PPE”.

[Simkie]

Nope, nothing wrong with that! Lucky lucky that he’s polite and doesn’t bed down in everything but the choice bits–if only we could all be so lucky! Enjoy your new guy!

[Red_Barn]

I always feed hay on the floor or ground. After all, horses evolved to eat with their heads down, so it seems like common sense.

It might waste a bit more, I guess, but I’ve seen plenty of horses foil their owner’s frugal intentions by pulling all the hay out of the feeder and trashing it completely, so there you go. You’re lucky to have a guy who’s neat and sensible.

[2tempe]

Agree - hay on the ground is more natural. What you may find is he moves the hay. Had a gelding that would move his from the inside wall where it was placed, across the stall to the window so he could eat and look outside while chewing. At shows he would move it depending on his opinion of who was stabled next to him.
My current horse HATES hay nets. Tried one and the response was clear.
I would keep an eye on the quantity you throw at any one time; if its too much, he may get it messy and end up with more waste.

[leheath]

If he does get messy with the hay, I put mine in one of those giant black feeders/water troughs so he is still eating at ground level but it’s somewhat contained. My gelding loves peeing on his hay!

[lenapesadie]

@Simkie

and doesn’t bed down in everything but the choice bits

My other gelding takes skimpy shavings into his own hooves. And then gets upset if he runs out of hay.

This new guy just quietly chews. I do think he may sort out the softest bits. That or he isn’t as big of a hay eater as my other gelding. He had some leftovers this am all pushed to one side. Regardless, I figure I can give his reject hay to my other guy that isn’t too picky.

We love the new guy already. He’s so quiet and sweet.

[lenapesadie]

@Red_Barn

After all, horses evolved to eat with their heads down, so it seems like common sense.

I have a Porta Grazer for my other gelding. I really like that it lets him eat with his head down and prevents him from using hay as a mattress lol. Slows him down a bit too.

New boy doesn’t need to be slowed down and he seems super tidy so I’m gonna keep free feeding him on the floor until it’s a problem lol

[lenapesadie]

@2tempe

What you may find is he moves the hay.

This boy moves it just a smidge. My other gelding plays football with his Porta Grazer and moves it all over. Goof.

I had the same thoughts about not giving him too much at a time. Yesterday, his first day here, I gave him two flakes at turn in @ 730 pm and another 2 flakes at night check @ 10pm plus half a flake of alfalfa. He had a fair bit of hay left this am, probably over a flake. So I didn’t give him anymore hay today at turn in. He was munching away on the leftovers after dinner. I’ll probably give him two flakes again at night check plus his half flake of alfalfa.

[Scribbler]

I feed on the floor. The mares hoover it up. If you feed way too much they might waste it. More likely just eat until they burst.

[leesa1]

Are you using sand for bedding? In australia the most common practise is to feed hay on the ground, unless it’s on sand else they’ll ingest little bits of sand that get caught up in the hay and will eventually end up with intestines full of sand.

[lenapesadie]

@leheath

I put mine in one of those giant black feeders/water troughs

An extra muck bucket would be a simple idea to try if we bump into issues!

Horses, ugh. Geldings can be so weird about pee. They can’t stand splashing themselves when they pee, but sleeping in it is cool (at least for my boy).

[lenapesadie]

@Scribbler

just eat until they burst.

This is my other gelding. He likes snacks.

New boy cleaned up the vast majority of his leftovers by night check. Still quite tidy. I gave him 3 flakes since I’d rather he waste a bit then run out. And one flake was small. I’ve got a scale around here somewhere, haven’t used it since I started boarding two years ago. I’ll probably find it the day after I buy a new one lol

[lenapesadie]

No they are on pellets over a limestone base.

Sand colic is a concern here in FL too, but thankfully my patch of ground doesn’t look like a beach.

[CanteringCarrot]

My gelding doesn’t eat any hay once it’s been “tainted” by touching his bedding. He also likes haynets. He’d often choose it over eating from the ground. I offer him a low net outside in his paddock, and put up a rubber mat in the corner of his stall like a makeshift feeder of sorts. It’s cheap, (BO had some rubber mat pieces around) and it works. We have it in a few stalls now and the horses eat naturally, but the hay is more contained. I mean, I suppose some “artist” could still get messy with it.

It’s sort of like this:

[S1969]

@Red_Barn

I always feed hay on the floor or ground. After all, horses evolved to eat with their heads down, so it seems like common sense.

It might waste a bit more, I guess, but I’ve seen plenty of horses foil their owner’s frugal intentions by pulling all the hay out of the feeder and trashing it completely, so there you go.

Same. I have hay racks in two of my stalls but they just pull every single bit of hay down and eat it from the floor. Same with any kind of feeder outside.

The key to not having it wasted is to feed a correct amount, which can be tricky if they eat a lot of hay overnight or if stalled for any length of time. So in those situations, feeding more often solves the issue. (e.g. two feedings of 2 flakes a few hours apart works better than one feeding of 4 flakes.)

[clanter]

have one mare that if the hay hits the floor it is soiled and that is for the goats… she is picky to say the least

[vxf111]

Clever. My girl paws and would destroy this. My dumb gelding would get stuck in it. Maybe when I get some well behaved horses

[trubandloki]

@S1969

@Red_Barn

I always feed hay on the floor or ground. After all, horses evolved to eat with their heads down, so it seems like common sense.

It might waste a bit more, I guess, but I’ve seen plenty of horses foil their owner’s frugal intentions by pulling all the hay out of the feeder and trashing it completely, so there you go.

Same. I have hay racks in two of my stalls but they just pull every single bit of hay down and eat it from the floor. Same with any kind of feeder outside.

The key to not having it wasted is to feed a correct amount, which can be tricky if they eat a lot of hay overnight or if stalled for any length of time. So in those situations, feeding more often solves the issue. (e.g. two feedings of 2 flakes a few hours apart works better than one feeding of 4 flakes.)

I wish my horses got the manual. I have one mare that will take that single flake of hay that you tossed into her stall, walk on it, pee on it, and then have a melt down that she has no hay.
If given the choice of hay in a small hole net and the very same hay (same bale) on the ground, she will happily eat from the net and act like the hay on the ground is evil and tainted.

[walktrot]

The Horse magazine has an article this month on slow feeder safety.

Slow Feeders

I had to move my 26 y.o. gelding to a new barn last November because of significant problems with care after 19-1/2 years there. Very complicated situation. He wasn’t getting enough hay, among other things, and “my friend” the BO said she had been telling me for 2 years he wasn’t getting enough to eat. It was a boarding facility so I paid her money every month. The new BO and vet said it was the right move in the nick of time. Much longer at the old barn and I would have lost him.

I knew he was not doing well but the magnitude of the decline was much worse than I realized.
That’s not uncommon because you don’t notice subtle daily changes that accumulate when you are with them everyday. Our farrier of 20 years had the same reaction. Fortunately our retired vet gave me the name of the perfect facility owned by the perfect barn owner. They didn’t advertise. We arrived on 11/23/20 and he hasn’t run out of hay yet. When I said something on day one BO she said she was keeping track. There is a mountain in the corner of the stall. Bedding is swept back into one-fourth of the stall floor. He has another mountain outside under the overhang. He spends almost all of his time outside, having been on pasture board for 19-1/2 years. He hates stalls but is fine with a window in the grill so they can stick their heads out. A back door, always open, leads to individual runs. His is oversize.

All that hay is on the floor. If the stalls are cleaned consistently everyday his hay stays clean. They have to replace the fat around the internal organs first. It was about 2-1/2 weeks when the changes started showing on the body. No one taped him when we arrived, but he’s 16hh and looks like he has gained back at least 150 pounds. He holds his weight, won’t pork up. He is very happy now. I have my old horse back, thanks to the new BO’s care and attention.

[candyappy]

I always feed hay on the ground and they usually eat it all. If I try and put it in a feeder or tub they just drag it out anyway.