Hay Hut damaging manes

[Bluey]

We use chimney tile square tubes over hydrants.
We have filled them with any material for insulation, wadded-up newspapers, commercial fiber batting insulation, whatever you have handy, we tape over the insulation and around the hydrant pipe on top of the tile tube and have never had one of those freeze, in the most exposed locations, in the coldest of winter.

We have made “sleeves” for hydrants out of a length of car inner tube placed over them around the pipe, filled with insulation and taped on the hydrant.
That worked very well also.

[keysfins]

Amazon has pool noodles. Amazon has everything!

[keysfins]

Bluey, your post has me and :lol:

???

[Libby2563]

Update: got home from vacation and ordered some pool noodles and Gorilla Tape from Amazon. (Yes, Gorilla Tape is my go-to also and Amazon really does have everything!) I’m going to start by taping the pool noodles on so I don’t put holes in the Hay Hut in case I want to re-sell it. Then if it seems to help maybe I will escalate to zip ties or something. We’ve got some dry and not-too-cold weather this week so I’m looking forward to getting it on there and seeing if it helps, before the old man’s mane totally disappears. Thanks for the suggestions!

[Squirt]

I just wanted to add that I have noticed that with larger horses using the hay huts losing their manes, even with neck covers on. If it were me I would probably try raising the whole thing up. I’ll be interested to find out if the pool noodles work.

[BarnField]

I have two big 17 h draft crosses that share 1 hay hut and never noticed any rubbing issues with their manes. I use the hay hut for only 4 months of year (winter), and no issues the last 3 winters.

[Libby2563]

Another update: I haven’t had time to put on the pool noodles yet (bad me!) but I think I’ve figured out what’s happening.

The older (shorter but dominant) horse’s mane looks way, way worse than the younger one (taller but bottom of the herd). I thought this was because the older guy’s started out thinner, but really there is hardly any visible damage to the youngster’s by comparison. A couple days ago I saw the older horse lunge at the younger horse while they both had their heads in there eating. He slammed the top of his neck into the Hay Hut as he did it. Aha!

I spend about 40 min with them every day (cleaning, filling hay) and this is the first time I’ve seen this but I really think it may be the cause. It’s not like he’s so tall his neck touches the thing while he’s eating. And it would explain why he looks so much worse than the baby (who is kind of oblivious to criticism and doesn’t always react when he gets charged at, so he probably isn’t hitting the Hay Hut as often).

[FatCatFarm]

Well at least the pool noodles still might help.

[JJL]

Has anyone had problems with the hay hut bowing out on two sides? Mine is looking like someone squished it. The ground isn’t quite level, could that be it?

[mht]

@JJL. Having had Hay Huts for at least 10 years, I can share some handy tips with you.
We put 2x4 lumber around the bottom outside of the huts. Keeps them from bowing, and gives us something sturdy to push on when they sometimes freeze to the ground
We have a large tire inside of ours, with a rope attached, and tie the rope to the hut. Put the hay on the tire. This really helps when we get some strong winds. The hut may blow over, but it doesn’t go far.

[JJL]

The lumber is a great idea! I’ve only had mine for a few months & want to be able to use it for several years. Thanks

[beowulf]

I’m back and bumping this thread up because now I’m dealing with the same problem. Libby, did the pool noodle or duct tape work?

Totally a first world problem but I’m on year 2 of my gelding having his mane rubbed out in one fat section where the neck touches the cut-out. He’s just too tall. Of course, he’s also the horse that pushes/leans into the cut-out and has bowed out one side…

I could raise the hay hut but would really prefer not to. Don’t even know how I would do that in a way that’s easy and works with my current set up.

[Libby2563]

@beowulf

Libby, did the pool noodle or duct tape work?

So, I bought black pool noodles but never tried to attach them, because I stopped using the Hay Hut. I had two young horses in a row who were too timid to eat from the Hay Hut. I think they would have gotten over it if not for my a-hole TB, who won’t share nicely. I wouldn’t want my head stuck in there with him around either. So the Hay Hut just sits off to the side now and I have two wooden hay feeders with roofs instead.