[justjumpit278]

I'm curious - how many flakes of hay does your horse get, total?

[AppJumpr08]

My out door horses are on round bales, and my stalled horses are free choice... probably at least 8 flakes a day for most.

[coloredcowhorse]

Can't answer as it depends on bale size and flake thickness. My "small" bales in this area are 3 strand twine tied bales weighing 125 lbs and with about 15 flakes to the bale...so each flake is about 8 pounds. With 22 horses here I feed 3 of the "small" bales a day or an average of about 17 pounds per horse (most of them are under 1000 pounds with a couple in the 800 pound range so this is well within the maintenance levels for horses this size). If I use the "big" bales (6 strands of twine on a 3' x 4' x 8' bale...96 cubic feet... and weighing an average 1250 lbs each) then a single flake is roughly equivalent to 6-8 flakes from a "small" bale (depending on thickness).

[caballus]

Depends on the weight of the flakes. Each horse here eats about 1/2 - 2/3rds of a 50# bale of hay. So, about 25# - 33# a day.

[Seal Harbor]

Flakes are not a good measurement. Pounds are the only way to know they are getting an adequate amount of roughage and it has to be good quality hay.

Mine eats only cubes, because of the consistency of the quality and only alfalfa because he has issues with any grass hay. He gets them in a one of those Amazing Graze toys to make him move around while he eats them, keep him occupied and keep him from just Hoovering them all up in 5 minutes. When the thing is empty he kicks it out in the aisle and someone puts more in.

He weighs about 1100 lbs, perhaps more, and gets approximately 11 -15 lbs of cubes a day. That is about 1% to 1.5% of his body weight and that is for alfalfa, easy keepers need less, grass hay would be more like 2% of his body weight. Alfalfa has more calories than grass hay. The cubes have very little, if any, stemmy stuff, so he is able to eat all of what he is fed. If I were feeding alfalfa hay it would probably be more pounds.

Grass hay flakes typically weigh less than alfalfa hay flakes. Are they big flakes? Little flakes?

[justjumpit278]

I forgot how many different types of hay bales there are.
I'm thinking just the smaller bales, like these:
http://www.redroosterfarm.com/assets/images/haybale.jpg
And speaking in terms of regular, medium sized flakes - not the itty bitty ones where there are 15 of them in a bale, but not the ones that 5 make up the entire bale!

[sid]

My horses are fed hay by the pound, not by the flake. After all, "flake" can weigh as little as 2 lbs. or as much as 15 lbs.

I feed my horses 25 -30 POUNDS of hay per day in the winter -- distributed over the course of a day/night -- so they always have forage in their stomachs.

[JB]

Ditto the others that say flakes are not a way to measure hay. 3lb flake? 6lb flake? More?

Flakes are not even a measure of volume, let alone weight. 2" flake? 5"? How big is the square?



The poll would be much better with "how many pounds of hay per day", with "fed free choice" being an option

I'm like sid - roughly 30lb/horse/day during the Winter, mine peeled off a round bale, and I don't have to feed hay at all from Spring-Fall unless stalled for some reason.

[back in the saddle]

What's the standard pounds of hay per day per weight of the horse?

My vet said 2% of the body weight a day? Sound about right?

[shakeytails]

It depends. I go by weight -feel rather than actually measuring. Some flakes are heavier/thicker than others. Most of the inside horses get 12- 20 inches of hay(about 3 flakes) twice a day. The outside gang gets round bales.

[Seal Harbor]

1% - 2% of their body weight. Grass hay is higher percentage. Alfalfa lower because it is more nutrient dense. Easy keeper lower - hard keeper higher.

[justjumpit278]

And what is a good range of a horse to be fed per day, exactly? (in lbs.)

[thatsnotme]

I wanted to pick 4-5, but went with 5-6 because 3-4 just isn't enough. I've always heard its 1.25-2.25% of the body weight depending on horses metabolism and work load.

[shea'smom]

I feed round bales while out during the day, then about three flakes in stall at night. So my ponies eat about their weight in hay all day then get two skimpy flakes at 6 and 10 pm. Skinnies get 2 flakes at 6 and 10. Mine all stand and eat the round bales more than they need to, but what cha gonna do? I hate winter. You have to feed enough to keep things moving along, but most of mine are very easy keepers/ponies and it is hard to regulate.

[justjumpit278]

I will admit, I've never weighed hay in my life...
We've always just fed what they need to keep in good weight. They look a little skinny? Bump it up a flake. Looking chunky? Back it down a flake.

For those who feed round bales - what do you look for when choosing bales to make sure they aren't moldy/cattle quality only?

[springer]

I go through about 1/2 of an 80# bale of good local grass hay per day, per horse. That's an estimation. They get hay 3 times/day + a beet pulp/senior feed mash at night. A beet pulp/ strategy mash for my two young ones. I also add some sweet feed and a bit of rice bran for all of them. They all look fat and healthy throughout the winter.

[Manes&Tails]

It depends on how much if any pasture grass I have, depends on the weather, depends on the quality of the hay, depends on how big the flakes are.

[Manes&Tails]

I go through about 1/2 of an 80# bale of good local grass hay per day, per horse. That's an estimation. They get hay 3 times/day + a beet pulp/senior feed mash at night. A beet pulp/ strategy mash for my two young ones. I also add some sweet feed and a bit of rice bran for all of them. They all look fat and healthy throughout the winter.

Your feeding program is almost like mine, except I add flax seed.

[amastrike]

Mine are fed off a roundbale during the day. They have small-hole haynets when they're stalled at night, and they never finish it over night. Plus they each get a flake of alfalfa (very skinny flakes, probably only a few pounds apiece, tops) and a pound or so (dry weight) of soaked alfalfa pellets.

[deltawave]

No voting option for "it depends".

I'm not out there weighing each flake, but I do weigh a dozen or so bales from each cutting every year to get that ballpark figure, then do some mental math and try to stick with a rough weight estimate: about 15 pounds per day, per horse in the summer (less if they're on grass all day) and about 20-25 pounds per day, per horse in the winter. I had a couple of broodmares here who were hard keepers this year, and they got a lot more.

Since mine all share their hay outside, I just throw the proper amount out there and monitor how much is left in the morning, and the horses' weight. I'm VERY fortunate that my herd dynamics are such that the fattest one is the lowest on the pecking order, so I can count on the boss mare, who works the hardest, getting her fair share and more.