I really dislike nylon/poly hay nets… they burn your hand/wrist if (like me) the 35/40lbs of hay comes off your shoulder before you intend it to; they shed tiny bits as they fray and small bits come off and do get ingested with an aggressive hay eater (or stuck in their font teeth like floss); they are more likely to cause burns/damage to a pastern/leg if a clever pony gets it off the wall and gets tangled in it; you can’t throw them in the washer/dryer to clean them; there’s too much plastic-type stuff in the world that doesn’t readily biodegrade; they don’t last 20+ years like the cotton ones do; as they wear down, splinters (when they are really cold) are possible and they cause tiny scratches on soft lips/noses.
Cotton is biodegradable, soft and pliable, washer/dryer friendly, good ones don’t fray - and even if they were to, I don’t worry about a horse/pony digesting a few strands of cotton, they don’t burn/splinter, much more likely to break if tangled around feet and not cause extensive damage, and are soft on lips/noses.
It has occurred to me to go to a sewing store and get some 100% cotton cord and make one - or add cord to one I already have to make smaller holes… if I am in fact looking for a sparkly unicorn. Sounds like that may in fact be the way I have to go. Or, just get over my picky ways, and buy a poly/nylon one and hope for the best? If I had the budget (which this time of year near Christmas and just haven taken a vacation, I just don’t) I’d consider getting those corner slow feeders (Porta-Grazers I think they are called) with the insert that would be multi-purpose down the road and probably last for 20 years if properly maintained.
The two ponies still have a bit of pasture to nibble on and temps don’t get really, really cold here (like multiple days in a row) until Jan. Its their overnight hay that I worry about them gulping down and then running through that energy before their morning feeding. During the day, I do four small hay feedings to spread out their consumption (and they get extra hay at the final 9PM feeding). They can’t have free-choice like my senior horse gets (both are prone to founder and have to be kept on the lean side, with strict pasture access management when the grass is lush). Though in winter, I do allow a little extra padding for warmth, since there is no lush grass to worry about, then we work on loosing the extra pounds (if needed) in spring before they go on limited grass turn-out.
I’m guessing that cotton nets are a lot more expensive to manufacture (material wise), which is why companies don’t make them. I realize I’m picky and a cotton snob (pretty much all my clothing/bedding is cotton as well). I was just hoping that someone had a secret supplier of slow feed cotton hay nets that I just wasn’t finding. LOL
