Hay nets

[moving_to_dc]

@Palm Beach

No one called you stupid. I don’t have a tractor either and I have nowhere to store a delivery of round bales. I go get them one at a time and have them loaded into the back of my pickup. Then we push it off inside the pasture and ring and net it. They eat it for 3 weeks and then we go get another one.

The OP gave her location as Oklahoma. Depending on where she is, she may well have trouble finding round bales that will fit in the bed of a pickup without overloading the payload, and bales that are possible to “push” off . East Coast bales tend to be much, much smaller.

Our family farm is in KS, right over the OK border. I also lived in OK for 9 years. The round bales our family puts up are well over 1200lbs, typically in the 1500lb range, some are even over 1700lbs. We know this because we weigh EVERY load as it comes off the field. No guess-timates - we KNOW what they weigh. The few times I had to buy hay in Oklahoma, the bales were the same size as what we put up… No way in heck can that size bale be pushed anywhere, and it will squat a half ton truck, and destroy the tailgate if you try to pull it off with the tailgate down.

[Horseman15]

This past weekend I started using a full bale hey net. I tied it up in their hay feeder rack. I tied one end to each side using baling twine on the bottom end. I wish I had done this a very long time ago!!! For in the barn I used the ones with the square metal top that drops down to load. I love those too!

[Horseman15]

This past weekend I started using a full bale hey net. I tied it up in their hay feeder rack. I tied one end to each side using baling twine on the bottom end. I wish I had done this a very long time ago!!! For in the barn I used the ones with the square metal top that drops down to load. I love those too!

[costco_muffins]

We do a full bale in a slow feed net. If you can come up with any type of bin (wood, plastic, rubbermaid tub) and find a way to simply clip the bale in, it will make your life super easy. That is how we have been feeding for the past three years and 7 horses can get fed now in 30 minutes once every two days.

[Montanas_Girl]

@Palm Beach

Why not get a round bale, a ring and a net and spend a fraction of the time messing with hay?

Round bales aren’t an option for everyone. Having previously owned a horse with Equine Asthma (formerly known as RAO, and COPD before that…seems like the name changes every couple of years, but I digress…), I personally won’t feed round bales to any horse if I can help it.

[KLB]

If I am feeding from small bales I have enough small hole hay nets to make up a weeks worth of hay (I hate the job and only doing it once a week makes it bearable). I use clips to clip them to the fence as this is much quicker and less hassle. I used to use a bucket/garbage bin to held fill the net like others have said above, but I now use a hay net filler to hold the net open.

I know this is in Australia, but maybe something similar is available in the states. This was the best $25 I have spent.

http://www.ashbree.com.au/stable-accessories/feed-accessories/dura-tech-stablehand-haynet-filler/