Space to store a year's worth of hay (with answers aggregated!)

[LamenessRus]

I’m planning to a build barn in the Mid-Atlantic, US region. (We don’t have the property yet, but expect to buy some time this year, and because of our needs [ok, fine, they are actually wants], we will almost certainly have to build versus buy something already there.)

I plan to put in a track system, so will be feeding tons of hay. Because I’ve never kept horses at home in this region, I don’t have a ton of hay contacts. As such, I plan to buy a year’s worth in summer and store it.

I did a bunch of searches about hay storage, and, naturally, everyone has different ways of describing their setup, so I tried to put it all in one place (see below for results).

First, a few caveats:

• not every answer included how much their horses rely on pasture
• assume a standard “eat 2% of their body weight” formula
• a lot of people think their xyz (bale sizes, horse sizes, etc) are “average”
• Column D is my 1 horse / 1 year calculation (where not already provided)

The trends I see:

• 1 horse eats about 150 bales of hay per year
• 1 horse needs about 1 stall’s worth of hay per year

Obviously, this is highly depend on many factors (horse, bale size/density).

According to this, for 3 horses eating only hay (no pasture) I should expect to store 1 year’s worth of hay in a 36’ x 12’ space. Does this seem about right? I have warmbloods, and plan to house 1 middle aged broodmare, her youngin’, and a 3-4 year old. So, assume 3 “average” warmbloods.

Regardless, I thought this table might be interesting, or at least useful for others trying to make sense of everything that’s out there!

EDIT: I math’d it wrong - for 3 horses, I should expect to store hay in a 36’ x 12’ space, not 24x12!

[Mallard]

Too much variable here. Not all squares are the same.
How high is your 12’ x 24’ space?
I always count on 1 square bale (50# - 2’ x3’) per horse, per day.

[rulex]

FWIW I easily fit about 150 2 string bales (50-60lbs) in a 12x12 stall. Could probably push it up to 170 total.

[kaya842]

My math is half a 50lb bale per day (my max math is 36lb at 3% body weight of a 1200lbs horse so large WBs or drafts). I’m not sure how the other posters horses are eating 50lbs per day, that’s a crazy amount. Every bit of hay I fed is in a net. I had 0 pasture for 5 years and the 25lbs/ day math worked well for me. I am short and not very strong so couldn’t stack bales super high (4 high max) and would get about 100 bales per 12x12 stall. This math worked for 2 different TBs and a WB that I had at home. FWIW, I mostly fed alfalfa. I always fed free choice (netted) but the horses kept better with alfalfa than with a grass mix (in the Midwest it’s called an orchard mix).

[K_VanOlst]

@LamenessRus

1 horse eats about 150 bales of hay per year

YMMV obviously but I have decent grass in the summer and buy some round bales for cold snaps in the winter and I still plan for approximately 100 50 lb bales per horse per year. And I have smaller more thrifty horses than the average WB. 150 bales seems WAY too low to me.

[GraceLikeRain]

So much depends on the size of a bale. If I was feeding exclusively hay, then I would plan on 20 to 25 pounds of hay per day. A lot of people say they are selling 50 pound bales of hay but at least in the south it is really really rare to find bales that are much more than 35 or 40 pounds. If it was a true 50 pound bale then feeding 25 pounds a day would require around 182 bales a year. You would want to have some buffer so closer to 200 bales per horse. Depending on the size of your horses and their caloric needs per horse that could look very different but just speaking from the lens of my own experience. Like a poster above, I don’t find myself able to handle bales stacked more than four high. Honestly, I struggle with three high if they are a true 50 pounds. I think you should take into consideration the true weight of the bales you can access, Your height and strength, and who else may be helping you pull or stack bales

[4horses]

Depends on how well you intend to stack it. Most people I know buy hay on an as needed basis because they don’t have that kind of hay storage.

To me, it seems like I go through a lot of hay. I know I would need more storage then that but I don’t stack to the rafters either.

[2DogsFarm]

I’ve easily fit 300-350 small squares/40-50# in a 12’DX24’WX10’H space inside my 36X36 pole barn for 20yrs.
This has fed:
First: 2 horses - 16h TB & 17h TWH
Next: 1 horse & 1 pony - 13h pony, 17+h WB
Currently: 1horse, 1 pony, 1 mini- 16h horse, 13h pony, 34" mini
I feed hay year-round as my pastures are never what you’d call lush.
I also put a couple flakes outside the barn when there’s snow & pastures are dormant.
Horses are never stalled, they come in on their own for grain & hay twice daily & hay only at nightcheck.
But I feed a lot less hay when grass is in.
More when there’s no grass.
Works out to around a bale per day.

[TheJenners]

Um 50 pounds per day?? Don’t my horses wish I have two big Irish girls, in off grass completely due to the winter, and they get 10-15 pounds in a hay per feeding each and look great. They would be blimpo status in no time of I more than doubled that.

[GraceLikeRain]

I don’t think anyone said 59 lbs a horse per day unless I missed it ?

If you do 15 lbs a feeding and are feeding twice a day that’s 60 lbs a day across two horses.

[Texarkana]

Who is getting 50lb small bales in the mid-Atlantic?

I know people tend to throw that number around, but unless it is dense alfalfa or compressed hay, most of our “average” small bales around here tend to be more like 35-40lb.

I also want some of you to come stack my hay for me! You all are Tetris champions.

[steelerino]

I used to feed my 16.2hh not in work TB 20 bales a month. 150 seems very low.

[mmeqcenter]

When I had a boarding barn, and now with my current babies, the 20-25 pounds of high quality hay per horse per day was probably the most accurate for 90% of horses of all sizes and breeds. When using hay for all forage needs. They had/have supplemental grass just for moving-about-to-graze purposes, but my boarding facility was in Florida with not great grass (sandy soil), and now I’m on smaller acreage in Georgia, so any contribution to weight is negligible right now until I can get more pasture space fenced.
Then, of course, how many per year you’ll need will depend on the size of the bales.
I do rolls of grass hay, and supplement with alfalfa flakes. I’ve got seven rolls in a 12x20 carport. I think I can fit somewhere around 200 small squares in the same space, stacked four high. Basing that on how much space my current 45 alfalfa bales are taking up in another 12x20 carport. My alfalfa bales are easily 50 pounds. The only times I’ve seen 35-lb bales was coastal bales in Florida. That’s so small!

[TheJenners]

@GraceLikeRain

I don’t think anyone said 59 lbs a horse per day unless I missed it ?

It was in there somewhere and got edited out, I wasn’t the only who caught it either, see below

@kaya842

I’m not sure how the other posters horses are eating 50lbs per day, that’s a crazy amount.

[LamenessRus]

@K_VanOlst

YMMV obviously but I have decent grass in the summer and buy some round bales for cold snaps in the winter and I still plan for approximately 100 50 lb bales per horse per year. And I have smaller more thrifty horses than the average WB. 150 bales seems WAY too low to me

Thank you, I was kind of thinking the same. Now that I think about it, when I boarded, I would regularly throw a 1/3 of a bale at night, on top of what the barn staff were already feeding. Extrapolating that out, that right there is 120 bales a year just as an extra night snack (they were on the smallish side though - maybe 35 lbs).

I think a lot of the responses I searched, found, and aggregated may have an implied “on pasture half the year” that isn’t explicitly described when they post, which would certainly impact the numbers. Or lots of people are buying really dense bales!

[LamenessRus]

@Texarkana

Who is getting 50lb small bales in the mid-Atlantic?

I know people tend to throw that number around, but unless it is dense alfalfa or compressed hay, most of our “average” small bales around here tend to be more like 35-40lb.

That is great to know - when I’ve boarded around here, the bales were super light. Though my comparison was versus out west, where the bales are really heavy (~ 70 lbs or so, if I remember correctly).

[endlessclimb]

I bet my orchard grass bales are 50#. The first cutting timothy/orchard probably 35-45# depending on the bale.

[TheJenners]

That would be nice, mine are 100+ and I have to use a wheeled dolly to bring them in from the hay barn.

[endlessclimb]

I would love to have the savings of bigger bales, but being able to throw them by hand is necessary.

Mine are stacked 6 or 7 high - to the rafters.

[Simkie]

I weigh every bale as I pull it out of the loft, and the current load of 2 string second cut grass bales is running ~55-60 lbs a pop. Last year’s of the same (different grower but same supplier) was ~50-55 lbs each. I track it all because I like the data. (eta: usually grown in upstate NY, sometimes CT. This is all from the Fingerlakes area.)

I buy about 12 ton of hay a year for three horses. It fills 3/4 of the loft in the barn, which has a foot print of 48x34, but obviously the roofline limits the stacking (and a center aisle is maintained down the length for access.) Horses are fed hay full time in fall/winter/spring and overnight in the summer. They graze “okay” pasture during the day in the summer.

The day that hay comes in is one of my favorites all year. Such a great feeling to have a full loft!