@whhisperbaby11, I assume the feeder that holes 6 separate flakes of hay takes up a pretty big foot print so requires a location basically out of the horses reach to be installed?
I googled and this appears to be the only brand out there.
It just seems like the type of thing that most people can not accommodate in their barn, especially people who board.
I hear ya, boarding can make it difficult. Depends on the set up, but it could be done. The shelf hay feeders are so easy to use. You weigh the daily hay, lift the shelves back up, divy it up every 24 hours, and you are done. Mine weighs to much to steal, and it would be easy to drill a hole somewhere and chain it.
For boarding, pellet feeders are great. My comment was general, concerning the relative cost.
The iFeed comes in around $600. Not cheap, but not $4k! Depending on your stall/outlet setup, I have had no trouble with this in a boarding scenario. Used it at 4 different barns now. The first barn I was at didnāt have bars on the stalls so that wouldnāt have worked there.
I have used the Helix feeder for the last 5 years. You can anchor them to a wall or leave them unattached to be flung around. Love them. Just ordered another 2 for the new guy. One horse had shoes and had no problems with getting his shoes caught. Everyone else is barefoot.
I like nibble nets, they do have ones with different sized holes. Google. Thin air canvas
Iāve used the helix feeder for several years with a shod horse and no problems. She tosses it around her stall a bit, but itās held up pretty well.
They specifically say not to use as a ground feeder or hang low if your horse is shod, and he absolutely would get a shoe stuck on the webbing.
Expensive but perhaps the haygain forager is an option?
Perks:
Bumped this up for a report on the Hay Play XL. It arrived very quickly, within a few days, but I didnāt switch to it immediately. It came folded up in an envelope; I unfolded it and draped it over a large box to relax it.
Itās HUGE ā I knew that it was basically going to be 4 ft x 1 meter, but still looks enormous in person. It seems heavy duty, with a velcro closure over the zipper down one side.
I finally put hay in it today, mostly Coastal Bermuda with a little alfalfa mixed in ā didnāt fill it all the way, as this is just for one small horse, in his stall (it can hold almost a bale). It was very easy to fill, and there was no problem with hay getting caught in the zipper (an issue Iāve encountered with other zippered hay pillows). Weāre having thunderstorms for hours (the lightning is intense right now), and I thought this would be a good time to introduce the Hay Play bag, giving him something different to keep him occupied while heās confined to his stall.
Placed the bag in the stall while my horse was still out on pasture before the rains came, then when I brought him inside, he did do a double-take when he first saw it, but didnāt hesitate to eat his cup of alfalfa pellets from a ground feeder on the stall floor right next to the bag. I pulled a little amount of hay out of each hole, in order that some protruded, hoping to encourage him.
Once the rains came in earnest, I had to wait for a short break in the weather to check on him, and he was obviously having no problem eating hay out of the 3" circular holes. Itās pretty severe out there right now, but Iāll run back out to the barn during the next lull in the storm to check. So far, so good.
Dang, I was really hoping to not spend the money, but they sound perfect for my boys when theyāre outside. Off to the website I go. Sigh.
Is yours shod? Iām leaning towards this right now since it seems like it would be harder for them to get a foot caught in it (and easier for them to free themselves if they did). Thanks for the update!
No, heās barefoot.
This is what the website says about shod horses using the bag:
Yes, they are safe for shod horses! Unlike hay nets, these bags are a solid material so there is no netting for legs or shoes to get entangled in.
We do recommend using baling twine (fiber, not plastic) when hanging the bags, so if a horse were to get caught somehow (since they are horses), the twine would break rather than the bag.
If you are using the HayPlay bags on the ground, please see our tutorial on how to tie your bag safely
You can try this https://nettingexpert.com/hay-net/. They have a wide range of hay net options and plenty of sizes to choose from. I actually reached out to them to have one customized, and it turned out pretty good.
Thanks, it works.
Quick update. I did end up trying the corner mesh hay feeder from SS Tack. Installed it looked like this:
Horse liked it, BO/staff liked it because it was easy to fill. Only immediate problem was my very messy horse would take the hay out and scatter it around that corner of his stall. But we was at least keeping the hay in that corner of his stall, not smushing it into his shavings, so barn was overall pretty happy.
Unfortunately, five days after installing, I got this photo from night checkā¦
So this was very short-lived. Best we can tell, he put a foot in it, got stuck, and ripped the whole thing getting free. Not a mark on him to indicate what exactly he did (luckily). Weāre back to the non-netted Smartpak hay bag hung pretty high, and Iām not too eager to try anything else at this point. Ideally he would eat with his head lower, but not at the expense of him getting injured. Chiro and massage therapist donāt notice tension in his neck, his topline looks great, so I might just need to let this one goā¦
Thank you for the update.
I recently had the same thing happen with one of mine and a Haychix Net ā¦it came down and he some how bad the netting wedged in his shoes and I had to cut him free from it with a knife
I personally donāt love the clip that comes with the haychix nets for really aggressive eaters. We have one in the barn that can unhook it with they clip. A heavy duty double snap seems to secure it much better. No-one has shoes so if it does come down its no biggie. I rotate 3 nets with my guy and two are the double snaps and one is the clip that comes with. Heās not brought any of them down but I always pinch myself with the haychix clip.
Hay Chix also makes a Free up Feeder that is secured to the wall and a hay rack thingy too which might be a good alternative.
I posted this on the Fatty Fatty thread, about the Hay Play bag:
It appears very well-made and durable; Iāve had no trouble with the zipper or the Velcro. Itās not lightweight, and I only put a couple of flakes in it at a time (it can hold most of a small bale). Iāve found it works best for me to hang it, either in a stall or in the sacrifice paddock, from a double-ended snap attached to a bucket strap (which is in turn attached to the stall or fence).
I donāt suggest leaving this bag loose, where it can be moved around ā tried that first and it got quite dirty, which necessitated my emptying it and washing it thoroughly inside and out. Awkward to dry, too, but putting the bag over/around a standing fan (which was wrapped in plastic for the winter) worked.
Want to add that my gelding now loves this bag. Itās usually kept out in the sacrifice paddock during the day, but if weather is severe enough to bring him inside, itās hung in his stall. When I say āhang,ā between the bucket strap mentioned above, the double-ended clip, and the fact that the clip is attached to one of the bagās corner grommets, the bag is partially on the floor. I really like the fact that heās eating from the bag in a much more natural pseudo-grazing position, as compared to a wall-hung bag or feeder. Overall, well worth the money, IMO, and Iām happy with my purchase.
Same thing here, except the hay net never came down and was probably at least three feet off the ground at its lowest point when he got caught. They had to cut it out of the shoe (which was sprung from getting caught). We switched him to ground feeding, and then what he has now, which I think weāll stick with.
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