hay bales per week?

[asl731]

My current livery yard is going DIY only, so I'm just running some costs for if I went DIY- it's been *YEARS* since I had any involvement in ordering hay/shavings. Everywhere I've been before, he's been on "ad lib" included in the livery using big bales so I don't know how much he'd get through realistically.

My question is- for a rather chunky 16.3hh gelding, who I know would need roughly round 2 large nets a day to keep him fed and occupied whilst stabled during the winter, how many small bales of hay am I likely to get through in a week?

 

[dalidaydream]

It depends how tightly the hay is baled but I normally reckon on a small bale weighing about 20kg so if you know how much you're feeding you can work it out from there. Hope that helps.

 

[Nugget La Poneh]

Approx 1/2 bale a day, but this would depend on how well baled the hay is, how well you pack the nets and whether you weigh it out and how much time he is in. Also, how greedy he is

Also, there will be a transition time - what you were accepting while he was being done by the yard, will probably be different now you are doing him.

 

[Farcical1]

In the depths of winter, when it's cold and they're only out about 4-6 hours a day, mine get through half to a full bale a day each. I like them to always have hay, but I have to say they rarely waste any!
With 3 horses I get through about 350 bales over the winter. Looks horrible when you write it down!

 

[Mike007]

Lets say your horse weighs 620 kg ,he needs 2.5% of his body weight as dry matter forage. This equates to 15.5 kg per day ,DRY MATTER. Hard feed needs to be deducted from this total (remembering that it contains about 12% water ,as does hay)Also they will find some forage whilst grazing. A good half a bale per day ,possibly a little more. Only ever feed dust free hay,anything that is musty , send back and refuse .