Hay and Straw cost

[TWIXY]

Hi
I'm considering moving my horses from a livery yard where my hay and straw are included in the price to one where I have to buy my own. Its been years since I've had to buy hay and straw and am completely out of touch with the cost. Is any one able to advise me how much I should be budgeting per month for a hungry 16.2 TB - hay and straw bedding?

 

[jnb]

I pay £4.50 a small bale of hay & use around 3-4 a week from Nov-March so around £80/month for hay if using small bales. Obviously if you can get big ones then probably cheaper but harder to store & handle.
I don't use straw so can't help on that front.

 

[asmp]

Small hay (but tightly packed) £5 and £40 for a huge straw bale.

 

[Julia0803]

We get ours supplied by the yard but pay for it separately to the rent.


A large round bale of straw is £25 and a big rectangular bale of hay is £35.

Depending on how much they’re in/what your grazing is like/good or poor doer… I use about 1 bale a month of each for 14.2 good doer cob on good grazing (so good that he has to be muzzled for 10 months of the year). Obviously it varies, eg when we had snow and they were only going out for a leg stretch in the morning I went through more.

 

[Julia0803]

Oh and straw I use pellets underneath so go through a lot less than if he was just on straw and taking out the wet every day

 

[MarvelVillis]

We can buy large hay bales off the farmer for £45. Haven't got room to store large straw bales annoyingly so I buy small ones in at £5 a bale. I try and just use one small bale a week to top up his bed, but it depends how messy he is during the week!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

From the farm large straw bales £30, 4 string rye grass hay bale £30. Outside hay supplier delivers large bale haylage £42, 6 string meadow hay £45.

I use a bale of straw a month for two. Hay varies whether they are in, out, having duvet days etc and I don’t count how long it lasts. If it runs out I get more.

 

[WispyBegs]

Ours are £20 a round bale for straw and £25 a round bale for hay, feel very lucky with these prices after seeing the higher costs above!

 

[Surbie]

I can't store large bales of anything - that would be one of the first things I'd check with the new yard. £5.50/bale for hay currently here though that might go up soon and 3-3.5 bales/week for a hungry 15.3hh cobbus.

Straw here is £4.50/bale but I use miscanthus so am not useful for budgeting help!

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Just looked and local feed merchant has small bale hay at £6.75 and small bale straw at £4.50 (looks like oat straw but I could be wrong). That's collection only, NW Surrey.

OP, price both up by checking with local suppliers as costs will hugely vary.
I paid £3.50 a bale of hay back last summer, delivered into my barn and stacked.

 

[Sealine]

I'm on DIY livery where we have to buy our hay from the farm. I pay £4 for small bale hay. I have a 16.1 cob cross and use approximately two bales a week at this time of year with daytime turnout. I don't use straw but farm can supply it at £1.50 a small bale.

 

[asmp]

I'm on DIY livery where we have to buy our hay from the farm. I pay £4 for small bale hay. I have a 16.1 cob cross and use approximately two bales a week at this time of year with daytime turnout. I don't use straw but farm can supply it at £1.50 a small bale.

Wow that’s cheap for straw. We haven’t bought small bales of straw for a while but I’m sure they were nearly as expensive as hay

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

I’m paying £25 for a bale equivalent to 5 small bales. I’m getting through about two per month as my grazing is very good and my WB a good doer.

 

[honetpot]

I have just ordered 5ft round straw, its £17.50 delivered, but that for twenty four. Hay, £35 for a large round. I have round because I can move them.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Hay round here is £4.50 for small bales, £35 for big rounds. Small straw is £2. We have a hay shortage our area so this maybe something for you to consider.

 

[millitiger]

We're (very) West Midlands.

Large round haylage is £30 a bale.
Small bale straw is £3 a bale.
I have 3 horses and go through 2x straw a week and 1 x haylage.

 

[Sossigpoker]

If you can store hay in large square or even round bales, they'll be better value for than small bales. This goes for hay and straw.
A large -ish horse cam eat a small bale a day if there's no grass !
A 4 string large bale consists of 21 small bales. 21 small bales wouod cost min £100. But the large bale could be as little as £40. So there's a huge saving.

 

[SantaVera]

£120 for hay and about £30 for straw

 

[criso]

I have to get my hay and straw through the yard. I pay £2.50 for straw and £5.50 for hay. I get through 1/2 bale of straw a day. I probably average 1/2 bale of hay too but this time of the year more, less in summer. That's for a 16.2 tb

 

[teacups]

small bale hay £4 delivered, straw £2. Could get hay for £3.50 but no delivery.