Haynet vs Feeding on the ground

[scrbear11]

There has been a video floating around Facebook of the difference between feeding from a haynet vs. feeding hay on the ground. I think we all know it’s more natural to feed from the ground. But what about those hay wasters? The dummy who just grinds their hay into his bedding, or the one who likes to take a poop in her hay pile and then go hungry for the rest of the day. Does anyone have any innovative ideas for feeding large quantities (or actual “free choice”) of hay with limited waste?

I personally have a barn full of wasters. I pay far too much for the hay for them to grind it in to their bedding. So everyone eats from a net. I would love to be able to transition my piglets to eating off the ground. I do have one mare who is more comfortable eating from a net due to arthritis in her neck. And let’s face it, I have a full time job to pay for this beautiful hay, I’m not there to throw a flake every time they finish the flake they have. Would love ideas.

[Calvincrowe]

Are mangers an option? I have big plastic corner mangers in my stalls and it does help with wasting hay (and I hear you on the cost of quality hay and the frustration when it’s made inedible by the darn beasties!). I really don’t like hay nets–made my jumper so, so pissed off to have to pick, pick, pick at hay. His whole attitude changed when we boarded at a barn that fed the “good hay” in nets. He is not a waster, but that’s how they did it, so…

[candyappy]

In my experience horses tend to waste hay because they are not really hungry. If they are eating all day and then are brought in and have free choice hay, the majority will waste it. While I prefer to and do feed on the ground, my horses don’t have free choice overnight. They eat everything.

If they are wasting either change the feeding amount or use a net or feeder.

[Training_Cupid]

Some horses at our barn get the slow feeder bags on the ground - like this but with the straps unclipped (taken off the bag entirely). Yes still some risk of them stepping in but luckily haven’t had any accidents.
https://www.statelinetack.com/item/tough-1-web-hay-slow-feeder/E013353/

[BeckyS]

I have filled a regular slow feed hay net and done a daisy chain knot to the remaining ties, then tossed them on the ground. I’ve also taken nets like that and tossed them in a 55 gallon drum manger type thing.

So far, no issues.

[lovemyboy]

The corner “mangers” are great, but I always find they tip them over (which is so frustrating!) or won’t eat all the way to the bottom. I guess you could be geative and put something heavy in there to take up space and weight it down. Or if they had a smaller version.

[Abbie.S]

I also love a well built manger in lieu of a hay net. Ones built into the wall or firmly attached so they don’t get tipped over or pawed at and thrown around the horse’s living area are perfect. Google has some great building ideas if it’s something you can afford to install or have the right set-up to do.

A few years ago, when my mare was at a co-op, I built two mangers by cutting one of those big blue plastic barrels (in our case, they were old sap barrels from a sugaring operation, but a barrel could have served many purposes in its former life), cut it in half and set the half in a wooden base we built to fit the barrel. Fit the exposed edge of the halved barrel with an old garden hose we slit to do the job and voila, insta-manger.

We could have added a net on top pretty easily, but that was enough for my horse at the time (who liked to pee on her hay, despite having plenty of deep bedding, so it wasn’t an issue of splash). One lived in her stall, the other in the drylot she had access to 24/7. It worked perfectly, and was basically free ninety-nine…almost all the materials were salvaged or leftover from other projects…I think we bought the 4x4’s that created the four corners, but that was it.

Hay nets are a good for short term, but I don’t like using them as a long term solution.

[Simkie]

I do nets, and hang them low–bottoms are about 6" off the ground–and even my mare with the c spine arthritis does just fine with that setup. I certainly wish I could feed them hay tossed on the ground, but the waste would be astronomical. Hay is just TOO EXPENSIVE to go that route. (And candyappy, I’d love to send you a horse or two. Mine will waste just because they like to, hunger be damned.)

If nets hanging didn’t work for whatever reason, I’d build a box with a net topper, or secure a net inside a dry water trough. Either would basically be a net tied to the ground, instead of the fence. @Brian (I think it was) has some neat solutions to building a slow feeder box thing.

[Scribbler]

A horse at our barn just ended up catching a foot, I assume this means shoe. In its hay net and standing all night in some awkward position. Some level of leg injury and impaction colic from not being able to drink.is what I heard not first hand

IME if you aren’t overfeeding horses est up their hay and don’t waste it.

[Texarkana]

@BeckyS

I have filled a regular slow feed hay net and done a daisy chain knot to the remaining ties, then tossed them on the ground. I’ve also taken nets like that and tossed them in a 55 gallon drum manger type thing.

So far, no issues.

I do this, too. No manger, just toss them on the ground.

I also hang nets low in the pasture and stall. I think they like the nets on the ground more, though.

(My horses are all barefoot FWIW)

I do feed a small amount of hay loose on the ground, because I do think it’s important for them to be able to eat without physical restriction. But oy vey, my horses are professional hay wasters if given any large quantity loose at once. They really won’t clean it up loose unless you are significantly shorting them, which I do not care to do.

[Simkie]

@Scribbler

IME if you aren’t overfeeding horses est up their hay and don’t waste it.

Damn, I wish I could say this. I have a couple horses who would gladly pee in and bed down in a half handful of hay, and starve to death. Doesn’t matter how nice the hay is, or how hungry they are. It’s just how they are. I guess be grateful you’ve never had one in your barn :lol: (Would like like to borrow one? Guaranteed to add some humbleness and humility to your feeding regime, along with a whole hell of a lot of frustration…)

[Dutchmare433]

At home, my horse just eats off the ground, they feed frequently enough/he is outside long enough that he doesn’t waste any.

At shows, it’s a different story. He eats a ton more hay because I can’t hand graze him for 11 hours, but he’ll also mix it in mercilessly if it’s all on the ground. So he gets a flake on the ground plus a full hay net hung at medium height. He actually will alternate between the two, often times finishing the hay net up first, then cleaning up what’s on the ground. Granted, it’s only one horse and feeding part on the ground/part in a net would probably be a pain for more.

I have a friend whose horses are out 24/7 on dry lots and she uses hay pillows (https://www.thehaypillow.com), which seem like the best of both worlds, but are super expensive!

[danacat]

My horses live mostly outside – big run-in sheds with a giant plastic tub for each horse with a net inside that holds a three string bale, so no waste – and no real neck strain since they eat ‘down’ – but they do get their alfalfa on the ground next to each tub, no waste there either because they eat it so fast.

Luckily my stalls are wider than deeper (10 x 16) so no terrible hay waste when the horses are in – they mostly manage to keep their hay (fed on ground) on one side of the stall in a corner – all except for one who is a ‘dragger and mixer’, so he gets a hay net hung about a 18" off the ground.

Hay is just too expensive these days to allow a lot of waste. They would all get nets in their stalls if necessary.

[Palm_Beach]

No real science behind the “hay nets are bad” internet movement. Put up a net if your horse wastes hay. Horses usually pick through and eat the pieces they want, then clean up what’s left if it is not ground into the bedding.

[Angela_Freda]

@Scribbler

A horse at our barn just ended up catching a foot, I assume this means shoe. In its hay net and standing all night in some awkward position. Some level of leg injury and impaction colic from not being able to drink.is what I heard not first hand

IME if you aren’t overfeeding horses est up their hay and don’t waste it.

A barn I worked off board in had this happen to a horse one morning when I was there alone.
Horse got his foot into his corner, permanently attached to the wall feed tub. Hoof was above elbow height.
Did I mention I was all alone and the feed tub permanently attached to the wall? Good time.
Horses are freaks, they can make a catastrophe out of almost anything, but we can’t stop using useful, widely used without incident implements because one might do something stupid.

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

I have one vacuum and two picky eaters, one of whom is a hard-keeper. After watching the reviews carefully over the past year, I purchased Porta-Grazers for all three and am VERY happy. They allow a head-down grazing position (good for teeth/jaw alignment/wear as well as neck posture and respiratory function), are easy to fill and keep clean, and best of all? No more wasted hay to throw out and cry over.

They’re not cheap, but I’m already getting the investment back in hay money and peace of mind.

[NancyM]

My horses are not stabled, the in-training horses live in paddocks. Hay is served in tire tubs on the ground. I have a variety of tires, but the BEST ones are made from “floatation tires”, which are five feet wide and about three feet high when laying on their sides. A power saw takes most of the top side of the tire off, leaving a small rim around the outer side. They are too heavy for horses to move, and they can’t hurt themselves on this… it’s all rubber with no holes or metal stands. They hay stays in the tub, they can’t get much out onto the ground, only what might fall out of their mouth by mistake while chewing. They have not pooped in the tub, and peeing into it has not happened either. The salt block sits in the rim on the bottom, gets some shelter from rain in there. Rain drains away through the center hole of the tire, or through the holes I drilled in the lower rubber sides around the center hole.

The other bonus of using these tires is that the two horses who live together in the paddock can’t chase one off the hay pile, because the tire is in the way, and affords a block to the dominant horse, giving shelter to the submissive horse for eating hay. The lesser horse just keeps the tire between the dominant horse and himself.

Tires are free to pick up from tires stores, it costs the store money to have them taken away otherwise. You can fashion a net cover to slow down eating if you wish, drill holes through the top sides to tie into place (I don’t do this, but have a friend who does). Too big to use in stalls though. In stalls, I have a corner manger (which does not hold hay from being dragged out very well), or they eat off the ground. Stall living is only short term- at a show, or ?

[danacat]

[QUOTE=NancyM;n9797781]
the BEST ones are made from “floatation tires”, which are five feet wide and about three feet high when laying on their sides. /QUOTE]

I love the BIG TIRE idea for feeding my guys outside (not in run-in shed) in the fall once the ‘horse flies’ are gone and also into the winter for as long as possible. Question is: how often do you move tires and/or clean the ground inside? I’m worried about mold starting. Also worried about adding hay on top of uneaten hay – so again, when to clean?

Maybe a stall mat cut to size stuffed in there on the bottom for a ground barrier – but that might ruin drainage potential. Hmmm…

[trubandloki]

@Scribbler

A horse at our barn just ended up catching a foot, I assume this means shoe. In its hay net and standing all night in some awkward position. Some level of leg injury and impaction colic from not being able to drink.is what I heard not first hand

If a horse getting injured on something that is generally useful was a reason for not using things then my old guy would have had to get rid of his water bucket lots of years back. He was being silly in his stall one night and got his leg caught on his water bucket and pulled some things in his knee. Lead to stall rest and all that fun stuff.

@Scribbler

IME if you aren’t overfeeding horses est up their hay and don’t waste it.

As Simkie so nicely pointed out, consider yourself lucky if you truly feel this way.

I own a mare who will walk into her stall and pee on her hay almost instantly and then have a total meltdown that her food is ruined.

I found out by accident (after thinking I had tried everything for that horse who was not eating enough of their hay) that she actually likes eating out of a small hole hay net. It is like she enjoys the challenge.
This same mare will pull the hay right out of bucket or manger and then spread it in her stall and pee on it.

I do not think there is any one right way to feed (or bed or stable or anything) horses.

[scrbear11]

I do have a MD Barnmaster barn. It’s metal. Securing mangers and the like to a wall is difficult. I am experimenting with my two personal horses. I threw just two flakes this morning. I want to see how much they eat. I hate the thought of either of them standing without hay if they gobble down both flakes immediately. Especially since one is ulcer prone. We will see what the girls have done with their hay over the course of the day.

All horses on the farm are shod, so we cannot use the slow feeders on the ground (the hay pillows). I love the concept though. It may just be that I have to stick with what has worked so far… the slow feeder hay nets stuffed to the brim and hung high enough that no one can paw and get a shoe stuck to it.

In the field I use shallow water troughs as hay holders. I saw another farm do this and loved the idea. I can move the troughs around as needed and if someone steps in it, paws at it, they aren’t going to get hurt or caught in anything.