Eazigrazer/haybar with haynet tied in?

[emfen1305]

I want to try and give my horse a more natural way of eating whilst he is in the stable over winter. I can't give him loose in a haybar as he will guzzle it down so wondered if people still tied haynets into haybars or whether an Eazigrazer would be a better option. Haybar is much cheaper but not sure it will be any better for him tying the haynet in there.. or cheap Eazigrazer alternatives welcome!

 

[Red-1]

I have a hayer with a net tied in. The net can be a bit lower than if it were not protected. hay does not fall onto the floor. The horse eats up from the hay bar too, so no wastage really. The only 2 disadvantages are hay in her ears as she eats scraps as soon as they fall so dives under the net, and nets are harder to tie up as you have to lean over the hay bar.

 

[emfen1305]

I have a hayer with a net tied in. The net can be a bit lower than if it were not protected. hay does not fall onto the floor. The horse eats up from the hay bar too, so no wastage really. The only 2 disadvantages are hay in her ears as she eats scraps as soon as they fall so dives under the net, and nets are harder to tie up as you have to lean over the hay bar.

Do you tie it to the bottom so the net is upside down or do you have the tie ring so it's level with the top of the bar? I am just sick of getting hay in my bed and watching him tug at it!

 

[Red-1]

It is tied above the edge of the bar, but the net drops partially into the bar.

 

[monkeymad]

i use a large haynet with my haybar and have the tie ring just below the edge of the hay bar.

 

[Jeni the dragon]

I used to use a hay rack with a net in it. Tied the net upside down to a small loop and the tied the bottom corner of the net to either side of the rack. It certainly slowed them down a bit! The only reason I don't use it any more is we've got 3 ponies now so they have a couple of hay hutches instead.

 

[emfen1305]

Thanks all, luckily YM has a spare haybar so she's given it to me for free so going to try it at the weekend!

 

[JillA]

I have my own cheap and cheerful version of a floor mounted haybar, and I tie haynets round the bars that make it up . This photo is of loose hay in one but the only way I find that doesn't get dragged out is if you put a heavy weight such as a log on top and even then some do manage it. I'm sure you have all seen this photo numerous times but just in case anyone missed it lol

It works fine as long as there is enough space underneath to sweep out the seeds etc, and if you forget after roughing off the cats find it a cosy bed!

 

[emfen1305]

Ok so it was working well, there was much less waste and I was able to tie the haynet lower but he has totally trashed the hay bar beyond repair so looking for a new idea! I like @JillA idea, I just need to find someone handy enough to build me something! My alternative is to screw a giant trug tub to the wall so it catches the loose and the net as it starts to drop.

 

[JillA]

Find a local handy man - the materials wouldn't come to £10, if you can find someone that works for less than £20/hour you are still saving on a haybar - the chap that mows my lawns for does that sort of job, I'm sure you could find someone local to you.
How did he trash it - rubbing his bum?

 

[Leo Walker]

If he trashed the haybar he will trash something like JillA made. I never had an issue with using haybars until I started trying to tie haynets in them. They got wrecked very quickly. I've got a hay feeder, a hay hutch, that you can put a net inside. It seems pretty much indestructible so far! I also have a hayball. I love it. It keeps them eating from a natural position and gives them a bit of interest as well as slowing them down

 

[JillA]

If he trashed the haybar he will trash something like JillA made. I never had an issue with using haybars until I started trying to tie haynets in them.

It's about the height - haybars tend to be bum height, mine come up to about knee height to a big horse. Too high to get damaged by feet striking out and too low to be sat on.
I have used mine with nets tied in them for 6 or 7 years now and no damage to any of the eight I had installed in various boxes

 

[emfen1305]

Either rubbing or leaning over, he’s managed to pop out the pipe that goes under the lip and the whole thing has crumpled, i imagine he’s probably sat on it!

I wanted something that would a) catch loose hay and b) let me tie a Haynet lower so that when it starts to hang it would hang in something so he wouldn’t catch in his shoes, number 2 is more important than saving the hay.

He would take great joy in trying to launch the hay ball out of the stable as he does with anything that is loose in there (he traumatised his neighbour by launching the jolly ball over the back wall that separated their stables). I can’t feed loose hay either as he will dig it out and into the bed (I experimented with the hay bar and he had turfed the whole lot out in less than 10 mins) So seems that I need some thing sturdier and lower!

 

[Leo Walker]

It's about the height - haybars tend to be bum height, mine come up to about knee height to a big horse. Too high to get damaged by feet striking out and too low to be sat on.
I have used mine with nets tied in them for 6 or 7 years now and no damage to any of the eight I had installed in various boxes

I did the same design as you but used rubber matting instead of wood, and it still got trashed with a haynet in. It probably depends what sort of horse you have though. Thuggy cobs dont tend to respect anything that restricts their food!