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Porta-grazer

Just found out about this yesterday. We will be building a new barn soon and I have been trying to find a better way to feed hay without having to fill hay nets and this seems so perfect!

My question for those who have them is regarding size. The XL says it can fit 3 flakes of hay. Are they referring to flakes that are much bigger than mine?! They seem big enough you should be able to fit half a bale in there at least. I go through a bale a day with my horse. Half in the morning half in the evening. Would I be able to fit half a bale in there? Can you really pack it down good? Thanks!

I fit 3 VERY large flakes in mine. I have 85 pound bales and the flakes are really big. With my old guy who hoovered his hay, I filled his Porta Grazer once a day because it took that long for him to eat it all.

I have XL Porta Grazers and usually fit 4-5 average flakes in, but…

If you pack the hay in too tightly, the insert will not rotate easily (or at all). And for best results, the flakes should be “bowed” with their centers raised toward the top.

I’ve had them a few years now and like them a lot.

We have a boarder who uses these for extra hay- not sure the size but they are big, tough, and seem to work really well.

Wicked expensive (freight of course is a killer shipping a big empty thing around) but I was very impressed with how sturdy and well-designed they are.

Hers are years old and still in great shape.

I have been using my corner feeder going on 6 months and I LOVE it. I got the biggest size so I only needed to feed once a day. My guy is a hoover with no off switch and figured out how to hoover through it in a few hours rather quickly.
I have needed to get creative with shrinking the holes a bit, but other than that it’s a godsend and I have an IR horse I can keep flush with grass hay without 3+ trips to the barn a day (boarding, self-care).

They have a special offer with free shipping!

Our whole barn will have these for every stall by the end of next week (as per the owner, we all had to buy one…). I am very excited as my poor mare scarfs up her hay at each feeding in under 30 minutes and then stands with no feed. (also a reason we moved from our old barn) Cannot wait for her to be slowed down!

Can you put hay in a net inside these?

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I have not personally tried that, and I could not really find anything online with success doing that. I basically zip-tied additional pieces to the pan so it still works as designed; but the holes are tighter for our more nimble equine hoovers.

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I thought they sold the lid part with different sized holes?

They have 2 sizes, the smallest hole is 3.5" and my horse was able to blow through that with no trouble. This is also a horse that is not phased by small holes in a haynet, it’s probably effective for most. I just have one of “those”.

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Only if you want to buy 2 XLs at once…

Bumping a zombie thread on purpose -

Watching my mare eat yesterday out of her hay net, I was watching which muscles were being activated. None of the good ones!

Is this the best option for bulk feeding, minimal waste, and good eating posture? Or is there anything else new (cough more affordable cough) on the market that would work the same or better?

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I have a Savvy Feeder, not a Porta-grazer, which is basically the same idea. Same price point, though.

I like it a lot but don’t use it any longer. For my horse that needs a slow feeder, I have determined that what slows her down the most is a one inch hole hay net that I clip inside of a water trough. If you already have the hay net, the cost of the water trough is about $100, so about 1/3 the price of the slow feeder (all of which seem to be around $300).

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I don’t have a useful alternative - just coming on to say that I very recently got a Port-A-Grazer for my mare. I thought it was way too expensive, but then she got injured and is now on stall rest, so I bit the bullet. I will let you know in a couple of weeks how it seems to work.

I don’t know if any less expensive alternatives but if you find one please share.

I have the largest Portagrazer, I think it’s called the corner model. My horse has been eating out of it every day for 4 or 5 years now. It’s in perfect working order, no damage to his teeth and no wasted hay. I think it’s easier to fill than a net but that’s likely dependent on individual preference.

I’m about to order a second one for my second horse. Unless you find a cheaper alternative.

I considered a net in a trough or even a net in a large trash can but I like my Portagrazer and dislike nets.

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Porta Grazers are expensive, but I’ve had mine for 7 years and they are in great shape. They are super fast and easy to fill (much easier than any net) and I like the fact that the horses eat in a more natural head position than is possible with a net. They are worth the money.

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I got one for my guy a couple years back and it was ok for us. He was really rough on his and both pans I have are now cracked.

The company also doesn’t like to think that a horse is that rough and we’re insistent that it wasn’t loaded right which was also a bit frustrating. There were several other horses that had them already for a couple years (where I heard about them from) and they are all loaded how they should be. No pan cracks on theirs.

They also didn’t slow my gelding down fast enough to really extend the graze time for his hay significantly. He is doing much better with the 1” extreme slow feed hay nets by Hay Chix. That takes him about an hour a flake in those.

Just chiming in to say that I have a porta-grazer I’ve been using since 2016 (so 7 years) and it’s still going strong. Yeah, it was crazy expensive, but it’s paid for itself since then. There is one small spot that’s finally starting to wear through as my paddock is rough dirt and I guess after 7 years of being kicked around by a hungry hungry haflinger, it finally is giving way a bit on the bottom. The pan still works fine though.

It doesn’t really slow him down as much as I’d like, although the first week or so that he had it, it definitely kept him occupied. These days, I put the less desirable hay in it and he takes his time munching. He’s got 1” Hay Chix nets as well.

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@endlessclimb, here is a cheaper alternative if you are looking more for head on the ground than a slow feeder.

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