Do you give enough hay overnight?

Mid winter they will all be on ab lib hay, and the wussy gelding haylage.

At the moment the gelding has ab lib hay, and the hardy mare has her hay weighed (6-7kg for being in over night).
 
Nugz if in overnight (currently on shavings as loads left from his last lameness) has 2 large sections of straw and a large section of hay. This normally weighs between 6-7kg, is in an very small holed net and apparently is not enough to sustain him for 10 hours :( How long he isn't actually chomping I don't know. He has bits on the floor left that he is picking at when I go down in the morning.

However, he is normally on a straw bed and so would get a large slice of hay and left to pick at the bed.

He is definitely a work more, rather than a feed less horse though. I know when he is hungry by the way he acts, so up goes the straw and work.

He does get a mug of speedibeet, 1/2 mug of L mix and pro-balance supplement each day though. Oil for if we are competing or when his work warrants it.
 
Mine are all given ad-lib forage. I have actually found that this prevents horses from being greedy and believe it or not, most will stop eating when they are full - especially if they know they will always have some... eating becomes less of an obsession for them. My horses aren't fat but if they were, I would feed them less good quality forage but still provide them with plenty. Forage is a horse's main source of food and should not be limited ideally. Exceptions are Laminitics but even thy should be fed little and often to keep the Digestive System working correctly.
 
Yes, mine have there food the other way around.

They are out all day, everyday in a field with no grass, they have to work for what little they get! They come in at night to loads of hay, they also have straw beds, but they never run out of hay. This way atleast they go out to the field full.
 
Mine gets some hay and plenty of oat straw to munch! That way he always has something to eat but not enough nutrition to keep piling the weight on. There is NO WAY I would feed my good doer ad-lib quality hay.
 
Don't keep ours in at night. They may come in during the day for several hours, and I can see they can eat a trough plus a net in two hours, so I worry that in 12 hours overnight they would run out. At least in the depths of winter if the hay in the field runs out they can pick at grass or hedges.
 
Another straw feeder here, my 3 live out and I have no grazing at home at all, (though I do have a daytime grazing field) I give mine straw in a small holed net, like a trickle net (tied between 2 trees) sometimes there is some left in the morning, and I can hear the stallion munching his well into the night (his is 3 metres from my bedroom window) I also get a 'type' of hay, but its not like UK hay, they get that at lunch time in the nets too, if they are not down on the grazing field
 
JulesRules said:
I'm so glad to find so many other straw feeders on this thread, and none of the "oh my god, your horse will get colic from eating straw" brigade as yet
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My good-doer mare, who was vastly overweight when we got her, has had colic from eating long straw and has a tendency towards ulcers . Now I keep her well away from long straw and instead give her a big trug of oat straw chaff to go with her haylage which is fed from the floor because I hate haynets. She is now a much healthier weight and has enough to eat overnight.
 
I give my wb a haynet stuffed and fill the haybar up, he needs as much as possible and i'd rather have some left over in the morning. The conni gets a haybar full each night.
 
My mare gets a good mound of hay and I can guarantee she has finished by 9pm having only been in for 3 hours. She has it soaked as well but is always a little bit fat over winter so I couldn't possibly give her more. She sometimes has a treat ball to keep her occupied. Unfortunately I can't use hay nets due to an incident she had which has meant i will not use them again. I would say don't feel guilty providing your horse likes to go in and are in good condition. I know that my 4 are at the gate waiting for me and will gallop up the lane and straight into their boxes, they know they will get a bucket of feed and also hay but must know it won't last them all night. There are ways to add up the right amount of hay they need as well. I did it in college where I had to make up feeding plans and they do work and often save time and money as your not just stuffing a Haynet, you weigh it and they get the same amount each night, sometimes at 2 different times. I tried this and it wasn't practical having to go back down late at night but it did make me feel better!!

I'm quite surprised to hear so many of you fee straw! I'm one o those y
 
2 sections of hay isn't much! Mine are on straw, so when they finish their hay they can nibble on the straw.
I think if I gave them a bale it might last them till morning!

One horse I gave ad lib hay, enough so that there was some left in the morning but she didn't over-eat and wasn't overweight; she was also a weaver, so I wanted to keep her happy in the stable and put her out early, and on this regime she didn't weave.

One YO was complaining that her liveries wanted to give hay in the field in the mornings and said "after they have been eating hay all night" but I reckoned that the horses would have finished their hay within a couple of hours of being brought in.
 
Mine sometimes have a hay and straw mix up in their nets if they are a bit on the chubby side. They don't like it much though :-/ but if they are hungry they will eat it.
 
Kal, although he loves his food, doesn't gorge so I like to make sure he has plenty of hay (one of those huge black/red haynets absolutely stuffed full, plus a large skip full) . . . if he does happen to run out, he can pick at his straw bed (and does) . . . I don't like to think of him without something in his tummy as we suspect he has had ulcers in the past, but he is in full work and isn't a particularly good doer in winter. If I felt he was getting a tad porky (fat chance HA!), I'd soak his hay . . . I'd rather remove calories from the forage, than remove the forage.

And, yes, he does also get hard feed - year round - but this management suits HIM and probably wouldn't suit a native/cob that put on weight on fresh air.

P
 
I try to bear in mind that horses are trickle feeders and to keep the gut healthy, they are supposed to eat little and often. This is what I was always taught anyway and it seems it has stood me and my horses in good stead over the last 40 years!
 
Donkeys have a round bale of straw dropped in their feeder about every 2 weeks, and a tiny handful of pony nuts a day each.
The 2 vetran have a wheelie bin stuffed full with haylage, 1 also get amassive trugs full of soaked grass nuts, he always have haylage left and wheelie bin is re-filled every 2 days but it never runs out, the other other eats most of his haylage and normally few bits lefts so they are pretty much adlib haylage.
The main herd get round bale of hay which lasts 6/7 days, last day is always bit low but make them pick through left overs before clearing away to keep wastage to minimum, they also get 3 slices a day of large rectangle bale of haylage.
All are adlib within reason, if they get too fat I move down a forage so replace hay with straw, haylage with hay etc! Seems to work well
 
Does it matter what straw you use then? Currently I can't really afford to buy oat straw chopped but the straw at the yard is included in the livery. It's quite short cut so I wonder if I could mix that into her net... Not great quality though so I'd rather not.
 
couldn't possibly let the Exmoors have ad lib hay lol. they get a mix of hay and straw (and only ever get straw chop and maybe a little FF as a feed in the depths of winter-one sack lasts two years and its mostly for my benefit!) and the last net goes in at 10pm when they are in.
 
My section A comes in at night and has a big hay net and a trug of Readigrass or chaff.

I cant imagine leaving him without enough food to last all night but then he isn't particularly greedy and is a poor do-er
 
horserider said:
If I shut a horse in a stable, I never leave it without enough forage to last until I return.

If the horse needs fewer calories, I soak the hay, double net, mix with straw etc. Whatever it takes to ensure a supply of forage. Its cheaper and healthier than dealing with stress/boredom induced illnesses or behaviours.

Like Kat says, I'd also increase exercise, or I rug less/clip just to redress the balance if needed.
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This.
 
My guilt got the better of me tonight! Now giving her a scoop of chaff for dinner and a third slice of hay in her net. Will just monitor weight on the tape as there's minimal grass in the field and its practically a hill so she works herself walking up and down it. If she gains I'll reduce again
 
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