hay feeder pros and cons?

[ridexc]

Hi all -- I'm working on a magazine article about hay feeders (mostly the outdoor kind) and was hoping a few of you might want to share your experiences. Anyone use a 'tombstone' feeder, one of those 'bale buddy' covers for round bales, or one of the newer-fangled feeders like the hay 'basket' (for square bales), the Duplessis cover with the little windows (for round bales), or that big cauldron-shaped plastic feeder? What do you like or not like about your hay feeder?

Feel free to share your experiences here or PM me.

[sidepasser]

Here is a pic of my hay feeder. I have two of these built into the fence lines. Protect the hay, keeps it off the ground and cost little to build. Easy to clean out as the floor is removeable (four pallets make the floor which are overlaid on a grid of 2 x 6's), you can pull the pallets out to clean. Feeder is lined with smooth "rabbit cage wire" and everything sanded smooth with rounded corners where the horses would hang their heads.

Anyway it will hold one very large round bale or many small bales or just a flake or two as needed. I've used these for over ten years now without any injuries or problems with the horses.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Sidepasser/farm/PA110039.jpg

[Bluey]

Here is a pic of my hay feeder. I have two of these built into the fence lines. Protect the hay, keeps it off the ground and cost little to build. Easy to clean out as the floor is removeable (four pallets make the floor which are overlaid on a grid of 2 x 6's), you can pull the pallets out to clean. Feeder is lined with smooth "rabbit cage wire" and everything sanded smooth with rounded corners where the horses would hang their heads.

Anyway it will hold one very large round bale or many small bales or just a flake or two as needed. I've used these for over ten years now without any injuries or problems with the horses.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Sidepasser/farm/PA110039.jpg

Around here we would not want any kind of feeder that is low to the ground, because it would be a handy spot for rattlers to get out of the weather and eventually would get a horse bitten.:eek:
We need the feed right on the ground or way off the ground and clear, open space below.

Sorry on your question, we don't feed free choice out of feeders, just measured twice daily feeding out of rubber mats on the ground.

[ridexc]

Sidepasser -- love that design, may have to get my squeeze to build me one like that myself! Simple but versatile and (evidently) durable. I'm going to PM you a few additional questions.

Bluey -- being in an area where only harmless garter and fox snakes lurk, your point would never have occurred to me. Thank you. PM coming your way as well.

Anyone else??

[katarine]

I just have a horse-style metal ring feeder, I'm happy with it.

I can tip it up on its side and roll it to a new location by myself (squatty fat chick)

the horses can't pee in their good hay or walk through it which just pi$$es me off at the waste.

If I do feed at night and leave a hay string in there accidentally, I'm going to grab it in the AM when I can see.

I don't worry about a floor for it, I just rotate where it goes. In rainy winter, I will set a pallet down, then a round bale on top of that pallet to reduce wicked-up moisture.

I feed their daily rations out of it (sq bale flakes) and round bales in winter.

No complaints, they can't rub their manes as it's made for horses and it's been a good investment for us.

[SilverSpringFarm]

I swear by my small mesh hay nets. They drastically cut down on the amount of wasted hay and they slow down eating so the horse is preoccupied longer.

http://www.smithbrothers.com/product.asp?pn=X3-27286&bhcd2=1249580079

I have been using these nets for months now and they are virtually indestructable so far.

Before winter I intend on building a few outdoor barrel feeders, similar to what you see on this page:

http://paddockparadise.wetpaint.com/page/Cheryl%27s+Hybrid+Hay+Feeder (However I intend on keeping the barrel whole as opposed to cutting it in half.)

Rather then making my own net out of twine I will probably just attach one of the small mesh bags to the bottom of the barrel. That way I will be able to put a couple days worth of hay in each paddock.

Lots of other slow feeder ideas here:

http://paddockparadise.wetpaint.com/page/Small-Mesh+Hay+Nets

[ThirdCharm]

I have horse-style metal round bale feeders, and Bale Buddies.

The Bale Buddies are nice for pastures where I want to be able to move the round bales more often, and to which I have easy access with the bobcat. It is a little more time and labor intensive to put the wrap around the bale, flip it back over, etc. etc. but I like the fact that there are no sharp edges etc.

The hay rings are better for pastures where i have less access, and might need to just drop a round bale over the fence into the hay ring near the fenceline.

I do prefer the Bale Buddies and am working toward replacing all my hay rings with them, esp once all my paddocks/pastures have their drainage/footing issues worked out.

[Nezzy]

i love this Hay feeder. The Amish made it in PA. What i love is no hay is up high that can fall into the horses eyes. No dust, either. The hay bales are placed inside when they run out. they did update this one, and they made the area for the neck so that it is open at the top, and rounded at each other one. so no horse gets whacked in the head if he lifts up fast, and no horse will impale on the posts. hard to describe.. but the hay stays dry and the mess is swept out before they refill it. the one side completely opens so the hay can be brought in on a skid loader. ETA- the skinny red horse was a rescue that only stayed a short time.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y246/BatHealer/hayfeeder.jpg

[MaresNest]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Sidepasser/farm/PA110039.jpg

I like Sidepasser's feeder, above. Seems like you could put it on a concrete slab to deal with the snake problem that Bluey described.

As a general rule, I don't like hay feeders because of the possibility of heads and legs getting caught in them. I used to work in a horse hospital, and I have seen fatal injuries from both. That's not to say that millions of people don't use them safely. They certainly do. But I will never be able to forget the horses I cared for who died because of hay feeder accidents.

I like Sidepasser's design because it looks considerably harder for a horse to hurt itself on that the usual rings that you buy at TSC. Also, I like the roof, and I like that it doesn't contain any metal piping. One wonderful quality of wood is that a horse can break it if he gets himself in trouble. Not so with the metal feeders.

[Romany]

We use Duplessis feeders, and are very happy with them.

They're easy to move with a bale spike.

No sharp edges, so safe.

Very long-lasting.

Very little wastage.

FANTASTIC customer-service.

The only person who ever said she didn't like them is a rep for the opposition. ;)

[Bluey]

I wonder what happened to the OP?
We have not heard any more.

I find interesting that about the injuries.
That is also one reason we don't like to feed out of any feeder contraption, because horses are always more apt to get injured, no matter how safe it seems, that if there is nothing there for them to get into.
Also, if feeding free choice, it is harder to control quality as when you hand fed smaller amounts a few times a day.

For those two reasons, adding one more for the horses to get into and that most self feeders are not for portion feeding, but feeding larger amounts, I wonder sometimes if we use feeders because of our convenience, not in the best interest of the horses.

Yes, if we are going to be feeding free choice, there will definitively be more waste if fed without feeders, but there is waste anyway with self feeding, even from feeders.

If we had a pasture full of mares again, maybe we would today also fed large bales in feeders, take those chances.
When we had that situation, we didn't have big bales and of course not big bale feeders, we fed them around the water tank, on the ground, twice a day, with more flakes than horses.
That worked fine, they finished it, there was no waste and little fussing.
It is labor intensive, big bales and feeders would definitively help there.

I like those Duplessi feeders, they seem as safe as one can be made.
I wonder, tho, if one horse with the head in there may get chewed up by another wanting it's place and can't see it coming, if that causes some stress?
Or are horses feeding like that less apt to fight over resources?

[MayDayTiger]

I worked for a breeding farm in West Virginia that used the Duplessis hay covers on round bales in the winter for our weanlings and mares. I loved those covers! I thought they were especially good for the babies because they learned not to be quirky about having things besides people touch their ears.

The cover kept way down on wasted hay, and kept it from getting wet and molding.

[Bluey]

I worked for a breeding farm in West Virginia that used the Duplessis hay covers on round bales in the winter for our weanlings and mares. I loved those covers! I thought they were especially good for the babies because they learned not to be quirky about having things besides people touch their ears.

The cover kept way down on wasted hay, and kept it from getting wet and molding.

Any link or picture to that cover?
I thought those feeders were the ones made of one piece, that look like a plastic kid's play house, a cover already built in them?:confused:

[mht]

I am on my third season with two of the Duplessis 'hay domes' and think they are the greatest. There is very little waste, and the horses clean every bit of hay right up because it is kept covered and doesn't get spoiled by the weather.

They are easy to flip over and back up again over the large rounds, and can be easliy moved by hand, or tractor-my husband just put a long rope onto the metal cable that comes out the top of the dome.

Our only complaint was that the holes didn't match up when we were bolting them together, but that was easily remedied with a drill. :)

[092556]

Bluey - but feeding larger amounts, I wonder sometimes if we use feeders because of our convenience, not in the best interest of the horses.


I thought horses by nature were continuous feeders, I stand corrected. Feed a horse a couple flakes of hay with grain, make them stand around twiddling their hoof for 10 - 12 hours waiting for the next meal is in the best interest of a horse. Really ? :eek:

[Bluey]

I thought horses by nature were continuous feeders, I stand corrected. Feed a horse a couple flakes of hay with grain, make them stand around twiddling their hoof for 10 - 12 hours waiting for the next meal is in the best interest of a horse. Really ? :eek:

Not really, horses graze so long and then move around or sleep it off.
If they are on grazed over country, then they would have to spend longer to get full, but otherwise, they can get all they want every so often with short grazing times.

I think the time a horse spends grazing in a natural setting has been grossly exagerated in the literature I have read.

Horses over larger pastures spend much time coming and going here and there and standing around water, at least as long as grazing if not more.

Our horses have 24/7 pasture, but they need supplementation when the pasture is dormant.
They are still getting grass, but it has dropped to 5-6% protein and little else, that is why we feed twice a day alfalfa flakes.
In the summer they get just enough so they keep coming twice a day, so we can check them regularly.

Horses are not "standing there twiddling their hooves" waiting for anything.;)

[Twiliath]

I'm rather intrigued by the "Swedish hay feeder boxes." - http://www.swedishhoofschool.com/feeders.htm.

[ridexc]

The OP was off covering the Wits' End CIC*** this weekend actually. ;-}

Thanks to everyone for their input. PMs coming to several of you in the next day or so!

[Bluey]

The OP was off covering the Wits' End CIC*** this weekend actually. ;-}

Thanks to everyone for their input. PMs coming to several of you in the next day or so!

Some people get to have all the fun in life, don't they.;)

I would say that we need more serious research, that we are still winging it, it meaning horse feeding, on tradition and hearsay.

We have very extensive research in all kinds of feeding and feedstuff for livestock, but it seems that horses have been living off some of that research in other species when formulating rations and feeding recommendations.

Many years ago, a nutritionist told me that they spent all that time formulating horse feeds and then the owners would add this and that and unbalance them.
At that time, many used to feed half some kind of oats, whole or rolled and half a commercial sweet feed and ad all kinds of supplements to that.:winkgrin:

[Badger]

Very happy with the hay basket I bought earlier this year for feeding square bales. I keep hay in front of the horses 24/7 without it getting spoiled/wasted/trampled into the ground. I use one basket for feeding three TBs who are on 24/7 turnout. The easy-keeper dry-lotted draft crosses are fed via slow-feed Hay Nets that are holding up very well.

[Romany]

I'm rather intrigued by the "Swedish hay feeder boxes." - http://www.swedishhoofschool.com/feeders.htm.


Those look neat (is this what happens when fishermen get together with horsemen? :confused: ;) )

Are they available in N America?