8 acres standing hay. How long will it last in winter with 6 hor

[Anna2015]

3 are 14hhs and over the other 3 are 12 hhs and under.

October last year I moved 2 horses on 2 acres of standing hay and didn't have to feed hay until January. (Tried putting a bale in and it went off. They never touched it)

This year I had 8 acres baled end of july and has grown from then. It's pretty tall already so planning on using that for winter. Horses will be out 24/7 mostly. Am I right it should last until Feb going by my horses last year?

 

[twiggy2]

Depends on, how long/ thick it is, what the weather is like, whether the ponies are good or bad doers, ages/ types, work load, type of grass, what the ground is like etc etc etc.
It will last as long as it lasts...

 

[ljohnsonsj]

Totally depends on the quality of the grass

 

[w1bbler]

& the weather will play a large part, I had 4 on 5 acres last winter, it wasn't particularly long when they started in september, but the grass kept growing as we were seldom below 15° it lasted til mid january. Previous years ive fed hay beginning of december on the same field

 

[LouisCat]

How long is a piece of string?
If it gets very wet the ground will churn up quicker and you start to lose some grass that way too..

 

[poiuytrewq]

It would absolutely last my horses a year, I'm very jealous!

 

[Dry Rot]

Loation, location, location.

 

[popsdosh]

To many variables ,for the only time in living memory my lot 18 in all had no hay at all last winter . However they are now on haylage as we have no grass at all due to lack of rain. Which all goes to prove there are no hard and fast rules and planning is a waste of time. All the cattle are on supplementary feeding as we have not a blade of grass on 250 acres.