Weighing horse feeds

[freshman]

Hanging scales make a lot of sense for weighing hay bags, flakes, etc, but a shipping scale with a platform with remote display* usually has a much larger capacity and design that makes it much more useful for hard feeds and everything else, even hay bales and just general use. I use the h*ll out of mine for all sorts of things. $40 bucks will get you this 200 pounder at Sam’s Club and I’m sure Costco, etc, has similar options.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shipping-scale-200-lb-capacity/prod7590375.ip

If you feel like searching through the 5 million scales like this on ebay, you can score one even cheaper and look for larger platforms, capacities, etc, at similar bargain prices. Probably some good deals on Amazon, too. But you can get a lot for your money if you don’t sorting through results on ebay; some are from USA sellers, others from China or other international places. Good deals and usually only take a week or two extra time to arrive, but harder to return if defective, etc. If you go the Sam’s Club or similar big box store option, at least you know you can take it back to them, fast and without a hassle, if it doesn’t work out.

*The key is the remote, detached display so you can put bulky items on the scale and actually see what it says! Very awkward or even impossible to read the display when it is down there on the scale itself and totally covered by the big bucket, box, hay bale, whatever.

[gypsymare]

Walmart has a cheap luggage scale with the display on top of a big black plastic molded handle. Hang bucket, press on and it zeros then add feed. Super easy. I weigh hay bales and flakes with it, too.

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;6537678]
You can get a fish scale at Walmart, I have this one, it was $5.00 adn goes up to 50 lbs:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Berkley-Scale-with-Tape/16637411

I hang a bucket on the scale, then set it to “0” lbs. Then, whatever I add to it, the weight of that feed is what the scale shows.

Then I can use that amount and fill the scoop, so I know for next time just how much of the scoop I need of that feed to equal say, 2 lbs for example.[/QUOTE]

I’ve been using the same $5 Walmart fish scale, too. LOVE IT! I can use any bucket I want and easily tare it out…

[Smith]

I think there are many scale manufacturer on Ebay and amazon that are offering a range of Animal and food scales that you need at really cheap rates. I have bought one from ebay last month in $20 with many features and powerful battery.

[kasjordan]

It’s kind of easy to figure out how much your scoops weigh too if you know how long a bag of feed lasts…I go through three bags in 14 days with my two horses…150lbs divided by two horses divided by 14 days…5.35 per horse per day divided by 2 feedings…my scoops weigh approx 2.6 lbs a piece

[berrykevin]

@merrygoround

At thrift shops, and second hand stores you can frequently find old kitchen scales. They may be battered but are usually sturdy and accurate. sorta like this but homelier

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LA-Weight-Loss-Centers-Diet-Meauring-Management-Food-Kitchen-Tray-Scale-/120976741598?pt=Small_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item1c2ac694de

Thanks for your kitchen scales link here,i need buy scale recently.

[Bluey]

Possible spam reported.

[gumtree]

I have been using a digital postal for years. Simple to use and accurate, Most if not all have a “tare” button which takes out the weight of the bucket.Wide stable platform. Basic models can be had for $20-$30+. Like this one

https://www.amazon.com/American-Weig…/dp/B004W7IOV4

All feeds, be it grain based or pelleted do not weight the same in same volume. Especially pelleted. A 2 qt “scoop” of the grain based feed we use weights 3 lbs. The same “scoop” of a pelleted feed does not weigh the same. Nor do other brands of grain based feed.

We feed a LOT of horses the all get basically the same feed just different amounts. It would be very time consuming to weight each horses bucket. I made 3 lb scoops, 1 lb scoops etc that are dedicated for the type/brand of feed, supplements being used.

Being the business of horses one has to watch the $ numbers closely. If we feed 1/2 lb more than needed to 40 horses each day, 20 lbs per day, That comes to 146 “extra” 50 lbs bags of feed a year. At say $20 per bag, close to $3,000 in wasted income. Profit margins are slim enough. Also our horses are getting what they need and not being shorted or over fed.

[MysticOakRanch]

I just bought a cheap kitchen scale on Amazon, weighed my feed bucket empty, then with grain. I use 1 pound cups to scoop grain, and have marked exactly where that pound is on the cup for each grain bucket.

For hay, I weighed a bale, then divided it by the number of flakes, using a human scale (I did this a few times and found the flakes varied a bit, but not by much, and since I buy a full year’s worth of hay at once, it is all coming off the same baling machine). I also cross checked by weighing some individual flakes on the kitchen scale.

Something I found interesting - my individual flakes this past year weigh about 7 pounds each. I got a bale of hay from a boarding stables when I got a new horse, and the flakes were under 3 pounds each! I’ve never seen such small flakes - but it made me realize why you can’t feed “by the flake”. I feed 2 to 3 flakes daily - which is about 14 to 21 pounds. If I used that hay, 3 flakes would be less then 9 pounds daily, which is enough for a small pony. Maybe.

[sisu27]

A nose pale on an $8 Bass Pro fish scale on my bridle cleaning hook. So simple. So satisfying lol. I love it.

I also got an inexpensive food scale off of Amazon that I use for feeding my dogs (raw) that would work equally as well.

I am still always having this conversation with people…Q “What does it eat?” A “2 scoops of this and 1 scoop of that”. Ok… I am glad I am in good company around here because I get the feeling often that I am deemed neurotic about this.