feeding hay in the field...

[georgiegirl]

Has anyone got any ingenious ideas on how to feed hay in the field without wrecking your grass ground etc?

I've got two out together so not tonnes of hay needed although I haven't got anywhere to put haynets or anything like that so atm I'm just feeding it off the floor.

Have seen the hay hutches which look a good idea but are very ££! I've also seen the wheelie bin home made version but again it wouldn't be any good for me as I've nothing I could really secure it too (field is fenced with electric tape and hedgelines)

Looking forward to your inventive ideas!

 

[Merlin11]

You can buy hay baskets at agricultural merchants which can clip over fence posts if you have them. My OH also made something from wood which haynets could be hung from. Unfortunately not got pics but it has triangular base to keep it stable. I also have the hay hutches.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I would get a couple of posts knocked in so you could secure the home-made version - it cost me £10 or £15 to get the container and this is what we ended up with. Secured with cable ties (we get biiiig gales!). It will be worth it as the hay is fed from the bottom so oldest first and better for the horses neck etc. And you dont have to do any hole cutting, the bottom section is just not slotted in when you put it together!

 

[guido16]

Why don't you just bang a fence post in to attach the wheelie bin to?

 

[YasandCrystal]

I made 5 of these - work brilliantly and hold a bale of hay and so easy to fill and wheel into place. Just bang in a post - that will cost you all of £4 to but a 3" round post - where's the problem? How does your horse have a scratch in the field if there is shelter tree or post? We have a scratch post in every paddock.

Around £30 to buy a 240l wheelie bin. Just use a jigsaw to cut the hole and buy a latch and hasp to secure the lid and an eye hook at the front to hold the rope, so it can be securely tied to the fence/tree/post

 

[MrsElle]

I've used tractor tyres in the past.

 

[georgiegirl]

Great ideas guys! They really do look good! Sadly I don't think the wheelie bin will work for me - all fencing sides which I could attach it to are surrounded by other fields/horses so I don't really want kicking/fighting right next to the fence - too dangerous.

So I'm left with the middle of the field to work with - a fence post stuck in the ground in the middle of the field and a hooning horse again sounds a recipe for disaster to me.

So I'm left with the middle of the field to work with....I might look into maybe making a wooden box out of pallets that would be substantial/heavy enough.

 

[HBM1]

I put mine right by the electric fencing so the dont lay on it..or poop on it just eat it. Though the foal has worked out if he drags it in with his feet he can still have a nice day time bed. I like some of these ideas for when the weather gets really poor.

 

[Brightbay]

I have three who live out 24/7. They get some hay each day when the grass runs out (hopefully January this year as we have loads of grass just now!).

I use a builder's bag - the sort you get sand and gravel delivered in, a big square. polypropelene woven bag. I fill it with hay or haylage, and then drag it to a different place each day so no one area gets poached or worn.

If haylage, which is heavier, the big hoss helps and tows it for me using a breast collar

I have left the hay in the bag on windy days, but usually I just tip it out and make a sort of long sausage shape. This facilitates sharing... there are no individual piles to guard, and if big hoss moves someone off the hay, they just walk around to the other end and start eating again.

 

[Tinypony]

How about slow hay feeders? If you Google you can see some ideas for home-made ones. This is mine. The most difficult thing to obtain would probably be the giant, heavy, plant pots. Landscaping companies throw them away though once the trees are planted.
This winter I'm going to add a couple more bungee cords with clips, so that it isn't so easy for my fat pony to force her way down the sides of the lids!
These photos are of my small feeders, which are going to be fixed inside and around the outside of my field shelter. I now have some larger ones for in the field, into which I can cram two bales of hay. They are still portable enough for me to drag about to prevent too much damage to the land though. (Posed photos, they don't normally have them when there's this much grass!).

Some of the bungee cords have safety clips from old rug straps attached, that hook into the baling twine outside the bucket. This makes it easy to flip the lid open for filling.

 

[Tinypony]

You need:
Big heavy tubs
Some old haynets to massacre
Blue water pipe to make a hoop (ideally with a short piece of copper pipe in the ends to help them to hold together).
Gaffer tape to bind the ends together
Twine to "sew" the haynet over the hoops
Bungee cord (B+Q)
Clips from old leadropes, unwanted leg straps etc
Baling twine or similar to make a cord from the bottom of the tub, up the outside, with a loop to attach clips of bungee to.
The refinement this year will be to use heated shrink wrap to meld the ends of the knotted cord back onto itself to prevent knots coming undone. Also more cords, probably 5 or 6 per tub, with half of them at least having clips.

 

[MagicMelon]

If you can afford it, hardcore a small circle then you could put a feeder on it and they can stand on it - good for their hooves too not standing about in mud all day.

 

[tabithakat64]

You could always use hay pillows if they are not shod

 

[katherine1975]

I have two horses that are fed hay in the field in winter. I just feed from the ground in a different place each day, it can make a bit of the field churned up when really wet. The ground recovers well in the spring and you wouldn't notice it.

 

[Tinypony]

I used to put hay out on the field as well. After using controlled feeding methods (hay pillows earlier in the winter when the ground was quite dry, slow feeders for the rest of the winter) I reckon I saved at least 30 bales of hay. There was just no waste, no pissed on and poo'd on hay to scrape up and chuck, no hay blown away in gale force winds. Owning 3 horses that was a very useful saving.

 

[Slightly Foxed]

Another vote for tractor tyres.

 

[indie999]

I love the wheelie bin idea but I know mine would have rubbed his bum and trashed it but what a brill idea.

Mine lived out 24/7 and stale hay getting staled as well is a problem. I found feeding in one place only was the best and not to overfeed. If they left it they were having too much.So less is more. My OH was very good at scattering method and use to get severley told off! As it wastes and ruins grass.Once they walk over it becomes a mash.

I agree probably a couple of posts put in and tie hay nets. You could put post and rail type up and string along.

The round cattle feeder in the picture you can pick those up quite cheaply on ebay too.

 

[dollyanna]

My dad built me a couple of hay feeder out of pallets - just using the wood from them, not keeping the pallets whole. Each is made to fit about a bale in so they are easy to load, each has a wire grid in a wooden frame that covers the hay and stops them from pulling it all out - this year I have new grids as the babies are older and I want a slow feeder rather than just keep the hay in. Works really well, mine didn't eat hay once it got wet on the ground but in this although the hay on top gets wet, it get eaten before it is too sodden, and the stuff underneath is always dry as the top layer acts like a thatch. The base is a whole pallet so keeps it off the ground and dry.

The top of the feeder and the lid were designed so that the lid slots in under the frame and is a very close fit so they have never managed to pull it out of the box yet. I have them on the highest points and move them if necessary, but with just the two I don't mind sacrificing the small area around it a little, but my ground is pretty good and doesn't churn up too deep.