Hay cradle; https://www.agrisupply.com/hay-cradle-galvanized/p/89765/
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Tarter makes a hay cradle as well, sold here by TS and Rural King.
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I have been using compressed bales from Larsen hay. I get the half size pasture bales - about 450 lbs. The bale is compressed so tightly that it’s better than a slow feeder net. I ahve a covered run in shelter and a rack that holds it off the ground, but I know folks who put them directly in the field (maybe on a pallet) and, since they are so tightly packed, have little problem with typical rain (altho if it monsoons the bale will get wet.)
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I know this is a late response, but I just saw this post. As stated above, I have two hay huts which are made out of a rubbery plastic so I find it hard to believe a horse could somehow be cut by one. Perhaps by a hay cradle resting within the hut, if you were pairing one of those with it, but otherwise, I just don’t buy it. I’ve used mine with all kinds of horses for a number of years now and not the first injury of any kind and find them pretty idiot proof. The idiots being horses who seem to find myriad ways to injure themselves, but alas, not on hay huts. My husband, daughter and I have flipped them over and muscled them around to move them about, and again, no injuries to us either.
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For Dressage 69. I thought you might like to view this Boyd Martin video endorsement in which you will see the latest integral hay net fitted to a HayHut so absolutely no extra work required for netting once fitted and absolutely no wasted hay. Net is available in 5 mesh hole sizes up to 2 1/4".- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sezp38kp3BI
would be very interested to hear your experience with HayHut and net in the past year and particularly what mesh size you are using.
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Hay hut with Cinch Chix net and regular 1" hay nets. I double the hay nets and rarely have any wasted hay. My hay hut is 8 years old and doing well.
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https://photos.app.goo.gl/oSwss8yrvW2qEk7ZA :winkgrin: You’re Welcome! Freakin’ ponies. 
And not a mark on him.
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Ha!!! Glad he’s okay! Did he get back out on his own or did you have to tip it onto its side for him?
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I had to tip it over for him. Squished in there with the round bale, he couldn’t figure out how to lift his knees back up over the lip of a window. Idiot! :lol: Sweetest guy and obviously not much bothers him. He’s was just very thirsty as he had evidently been in there for a while. Apparently, that was one of those, “Well it seemed like a good idea at the time” moments.
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OMG that was your video on the Fjord fb group? I laughed SO hard when I saw that!
(And yes, I thought it could just as easily be Xan)
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Yes, that was me and that is him.
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Hello all,
So I realize this is an extremely tardy response to the Bale Barn vs Hay Hut dilemma. However, last year after much reading online, I opted to purchase a Bale Barn and spent the extra $$ for the slow feeder net inside. My patient husband drove over three hours with me one-way to pick this thing up in the six foot bed of our truck. It was a very long, aerodynamically unsound, and slow drive home (the Bale Barn was upside down in the truck bed eeeeeek!) – but we arrived home safely 11/13/2021. The Bale Barn was awesome, the slow feeder net attached inside flawlessly covered the round bales we put under it. And it saved hay, literally no waste, the horses didn’t kill each other trying eat hay – everyone was happy. This season so far I have only used the Bale Barn for two round bales. And while covering the second earlier today I noticed cracks in at least six of the eight openings (!!). Today is unseasonably warm (44 degrees and sunny) so I repaired/covered the cracked edges best I could with Gorilla brand duct tape. Has anyone else experienced premature cracking on their Bale Barn? On one of the cracks a piece was missing entirely creating a hazard to horse’s eyes/faces with a sharp edge. Obviously, I’m rather disappointed having invested so much $$ in something I had hoped would be a safe, long lasting, round bale feeder. Thanks in advance for your thoughts/experiences.
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@Six_Pack_of_Ponies - interesting about the cracking. I’ve had that happen with one Hay Hut (have had same 2 for years now) that I was using on uneven ground and totally blame the cracking on user-error because the other hat hut used on flat ground has not had any issues at all and I feed 20 something round bales through the winter. So. Long story short, if you are using on uneven ground causing shearing, that may be your problem.
ETA: Just wanted to say that even cracked, there are no sharp edges or pieces coming off the Hay Hut, just some displacement and the thing still works fine.
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I have had enough lacerations causing serious blemish/scarring from roundbale rings, hay huts, and hay saving devices that I refuse to put one in a pasture anymore.
I dont care if they waste, they are hay burners after all.
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I have 2 bale barns with nets. I’ve had them for two years and they are fantastic, a huge time and money saver. My guys also seem to argue much less about hay. I can manage it by myself to which is nice
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My horses have been eating from hay nets for the past 8 years and their teeth are not wearing any differently than before. They are all senior horses.
I don’t have any experience with slow feeders that have plastic or metal grates, but I’d think those would damage teeth.
Count me as someone who doesn’t like hay huts. I don’t like the horses sticking their heads in, and I am leary of the moisture level that stays in them. I’m not wanting to flip them over…well, you get it. I also do not have a machine here other than the Gator.
So, I use the round hay racks, with nets in them for small squares. They are functional, and I can handle them.
However, I have two rescues that I am “fostering”, and a donk that I keep at a beautiful place 1/2 mile up the street from me. I use large rounds there. I found that I could buy heavy duty plastic pallets that are 37" by 37", by about 6" thick. They have very small holes- like 1" by 1" on one side, which is the side I keep turned toward the horses, and larger spaces on the other. I use seven of them, and they are tied top and bottom snug against each other standing up. I can roll the round bale in (with help), tie the pallets shut, and it keeps the hay in, and the horses off of the hay. Keeping them tied up tight makes them stay standing. When they eat to the bottom, I cut the string between two, and open them up to roll a new bale in. I can clean out what I need to, and it seems to be very efficient.
I hate wooden pallets, and anything that horses might kick or run into that might splinter. I was able to find the pallets for $10 each, delivered. They seem to be relatively safe, they won’t rot, and they are not fragile.
That’s my hay trap!
Hi Again,
Thanks for the input & comments related to my cracking Bale Barn (or Hay Bonnet as they are sometimes called). After reporting this issue to the manufacturer, I must say they have been very kind – shared there was a “bad batch” of Bale Barns created with inferior materials and would be issuing a credit to the distributor from where I purchased the Bale Barn. Which will ultimately result in a refund or replacement. Since wanting to try the Hay Hut in the interim, I actually forked over the $$ and got a Hay Hut which was delivered to my house (
) YAY Still seeking a slow feeder net to fit it – since my horses are prone to yanking hay out and finding it undesirable. I have to say absolutely zero wasted with the Bale Barn cracked as it is with the slow feeder net. Love everything about it aside from the unfortunate cracking. Not sure if offered the replacement Bale Barn will fly with my husband since it’s a long journey to pick it up. Now if it would be delivered, I’m all in. @FatCatFarm I have the Bale Barn on the flatest ground I can find (though not absolutely flat) certainly not on a hillside though of which I have a few LOL. Thanks again for your time & thoughts.
If you scroll down this page, there’s a hay hut net kit. I’m on year 2 of using it and I love it. Also the hay guys who deliver my hay love it as well, it’s super easy to work with (I hear about the trials and tribulations with putting it in the hay bag first and then putting it under the hut).
I have the hay on a pallet under the hut/net. We just remove the top two thirds of hay netting then drop the hut+net over it. I used to remove the hay netting entirely but some round bales don’t hold their shape and putting the hut/net over a rapidly dissolving round bale is its own special kind of hell. This works perfectly. Once the bale is below the window line it’s easy to unhook the net which makes it easy for them to finish the hay without dragging it outside the hut and for me to retrieve what’s left of the bale netting.
There only reason the net isn’t the best thing I ever bought is because the hay hut is!
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