I have recently moved my 3 horses to a new pasture (as of 11/5/16) and I put a big round bale of hay (not sure the dimensions) out there for them. It’s almost totally gone, and this thing is huge. Can anyone let me know some best practices for slowing down hay consumption or things I can do? I feed them feed twice a day (morning and night) and the round bale of hay sits out there all day. Thanks!
Probably best to post this in the Horse Care or Around The Farm Forum for more responses.
You can get slow feeders that fit around the round bale. That’s what my barn does and it works marvelously!
I put my round bale in a slow feed hay net (and that is set into a home built hay hut which keeps it covered, off the ground and some what contained). That has saved a ton of clean up and waste and it does slow them down.
Slow feeder nets inside a metal feeder will slow them down a lot
The average 1000 lb horse needs 20 lbs of hay per day to maintain it’s body condition in moderate temps. Your 3 horses need a minimum of 60 lbs of hay per day.
approx weight of well cure grass hay round bales is… 4x4 r.bale~600 to 750 lbs a 4x5 r.bale~800 to 1000 lbs
If it is cold, raining, or the horses are underweight or the hay is lacking nutrition, their hay needs increases.
We must know how much the round bale weighs, the type of hay it contains, how much your horses weigh, the weather conditions where you keep them, if they receive any grain, and if the round bale is under cover, to advise you accurately.
A hay analysis would be even better.
Beware of using hay nets with inferior hay bales. The nets stop the horses from pulling off and discarding any inedible hay, as often with round bales there can be a lot of bad hay covering the good hay in the interior of the bale.
[QUOTE=csaper58;8931071]
The average 1000 lb horse needs 20 lbs of hay per day to maintain it’s body condition in moderate temps. Your 3 horses need a minimum of 60 lbs of hay per day.
If it is cold, raining, or the horses are underweight or the hay is lacking nutrition, their hay needs increases.
We must know how much the round bale weighs, the type of hay it contains, how much your horses weigh, the weather conditions where you keep them, and if they receive any grain to advise you accurately.
A hay analysis would be even better.[/QUOTE]
The OP is not asking about diet changes, they are just asking how to make the round bale not vanish instantly.
Well, it does help if we know if there is anything else out there to eat. The guy that had the pony before I got him literally fenced off the section of pasture with the round bale in it and limited access to after work. There are waste reducers, like the klene pipe products https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txfABERQNcE which you need to load with a tractor that has a bale spear or get really clever, and then a variety of net devices as well as home made things like this item https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhcpzTERx6A which might work with a round bale.
[QUOTE=trubandloki;8931086]
The OP is not asking about diet changes, they are just asking how to make the round bale not vanish instantly.[/QUOTE]
I am not suggesting “diet changes”. I am suggesting reasons the bales are being eaten faster than expected.
[QUOTE=whitney_hope9;8927035]
I have recently moved my 3 horses to a new pasture (as of 11/5/16) and I put a big round bale of hay (not sure the dimensions) out there for them. It’s almost totally gone, and this thing is huge. [/QUOTE]
Did you put it in a feeder, or just on the ground?
If you just put it on the ground, about 60 to 70% of the bale “went to waste”. So there went a good chunk of your bale between the wind, and getting stomped on the ground. 
You’ll want to put it in a feeder. And may also consider putting a slow-feed net on it.
There are various net products out there. Just google “round bale net feeder” and you’ll find tons. Both slow-feeder versions and “regular” feeder versions.
Short answer? Slow net around the bale. Put a few rubber stall mats out and linked together to place bale on, so none of it ground rots or gets trampled into mud.
However, csaper58 had very sage advice on really checking ‘why’ and making sure it’s not a nutritional thing first, instead of assuming your horses are pigs.
[QUOTE=trubandloki;8931086]
The OP is not asking about diet changes, they are just asking how to make the round bale not vanish instantly.[/QUOTE]
Yes but if you haven’t fed rounds before you might not realize how fast they go. My 3 horses go through a 3x3 round bale in 3 days all winter long.
