£29 last week for field hay, anyone else??

swampdonkey

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My horse is in a field with 8 other horses and they went through 6 large round bales last week!! This cost over £29 each!

Our yard owner decides how much goes out and when so have no choice but to go with her decisions.

Anyone else going through this much hay.

Seems to be double to last year and the weather doesn't even seem too bad, yet.
 
wow, I seem to be using one every 10 days, for 2, the big circle bales and they are either in 24/7 (sadly) as the weather is poor, or out in the day for 6 hours or so...that's with them having a lot...you seem to be using loads, given that they are out!
 
Our current herd of eight on grass livery is getting through 2, 5' round bales every week.
So we're paying £15 per horse. We have to pay a neighbouring farmer to put the bales out on top of the price of hay otherwise it would be £10 p/w each.

We have no say over when and how much hay goes out either. Its frustrating when none of them need it, but otherwise its a good yard and livery is very fairly priced.
 
I think it depends how much you are being charged for grass livery overall and the size of your horse compared to the others.
 
I am getting through one large rectangular bale of hay every 7-9 days at a cost of 30 pounds a bale for my two horses. They are stabled at night with haynets and have hay in the field when turned out during the day.
 
Knobberpony hasn't even managed to eat her way through 2 small bales since October.She lives out and has a haynet plus a small hard feed each night,but she seems fonder of stuffing down the grass at the minute than her hay.Total cost of hay this winter so far,is £4.80.As soon as it gets frosty,she'll want more,but I can't complain at the minute - it is there but she's just not eating it.
 
if the horse was eating 1 conventional [small] bale a day @£4 each that would be £28 a week. If theres no grass much then this is perfectly possible.
 
The quantity sounds about right, I am feeding 8 (but 4 are foals) not adlib, but very generous if you understand me and there is not much wasted. A large round bale is lasting me 8 days.
 
i've gone through half a round bale in 5 weeks for 2 14.2hh horses. - they get adlib but I keep it in a barn and put some out every day. Averages out about £10 a week for my 2. If yours are constantly eating the hay, then that's not far off the £29, considering mine are eating next to nothing just now.

I was on a yard where the hay was £40 a month for the field for about 10 horses. I really resented this as my horse was never at the hay. I worked there and went up and down the field several times and she would go and hunt for grass.
 
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