Feeding Extra In The Cold?

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Tried putting it up in a net, like a slow feeding variaty? ? Usually they trample it down less then.

Yes since forage is digested in the hind gut with the aid of bacteria which generates heat as a by product while digesting the fibre, it's better to feed forage and not hard feed to keep a horse warm.

great thanks, he is out 24/7 at the moment whilst I am waiting for a stable, so nowhere to hang anything in the field. He gets whatever I can squeeze in that box twice a day up thread (about a section of a 4 string bale) ?

 

[indie1282]

The problem with putting it on the floor is that he will eat some of the top and then won’t eat anything that remotely touches the ground, so I end up with probably half of it untouched.

I will crack on with trying to fashion a haynet solution for the box. He isn’t dropping weight or feeling cold, and is getting through a large rectangle bale every 2.5 weeks so I think he’s getting a good amount in that sense. Perhaps feeding him more bucket feed just makes me feel better more than anything.

Can you put a couple of batons on the top of the box so that he can still get his head in to eat but he wouldn't be able to pull the hay out?

Or put the hay in a net and clip it on to the sides of the box.