hay container for field

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Cassy

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My field is a sea of mud. Every day I put out haylage for my two horses. Every evening all I find is a sea of mud plus trampled haylage. Does anyone have any diy ideas for providing some way of keeping the haylage off the floor.
 
Not DIY but I love my Hayhutch. It wasn't cheap but I've had it for years and years and it's still going strong. It's VERY windy here so we couldn't feed hay in the field without it. Well worth the money IMO.
 
I really need to have something lifted off the ground. Unfortunately we have electric fencing so nowhere to hang a hay ball.
 
TheMule said:
Tile crates- free from a local building site. I love mine, theyre very sturdy
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My OH made something similar it's on it's 9th winter, however that is NOT with my cob, she completely demolished a tile pallet (that had been strengthened) in two days.

These are set on a pallet so the hay isn't actually on the ground.
 
Fix met posts into the ground and use to tie nets to.

https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/Product/Landscaping/Fencing/Fence-Posts/Met-Posts/c/1500105

Weight a hay net tied down inside an ordinary dustbin. Keeps bottom dry and stops Haynets being dragged about.

A stack of tractor tyres on tarpaulin.


Haylage fed on sacrificial straw bale?


Have used all of above apart from straw option as too messy for me but have a friend who does something like that.

I preferred the tyre and met post options for mine.
 
Have a look in Wickes or similar diy store giant tub trugs far cheaper than in equestrian stores I chuck hay in and move around every few days. Have seen some creative ideas with compost bins and the water tanks they stock too again very cheap compared to 'horsey' versions
 
I use a sheep ring feeder with extra wire mesh attached so that they can't get their legs through the bars. I also have hardcore and some stable mats (laid when the ground was dry) at the hay feeder area. Here's an old snowy photo, but it shows the extra mesh well.

Horseshayfeeder.jpg


I know I've mentioned it before, but do be aware if you use tractor tyres that horses do get stuck in them sometimes and sadly it isn't unknown for them to die before being rescued.

article-2024460-0D6086DB00000578-631_634x474.jpg
 
Faracat said:
I use a sheep ring feeder with extra wire mesh attached so that they can't get their legs through the bars. I also have hardcore and some stable mats (laid when the ground was dry) at the hay feeder area. Here's an old snowy photo, but it shows the extra mesh well.

Horseshayfeeder.jpg


I know I've mentioned it before, but do be aware if you use tractor tyres that horses do get stuck in them sometimes and sadly it isn't unknown for them to die before being rescued.

article-2024460-0D6086DB00000578-631_634x474.jpg
Click to expand...

We were going to use tyres like this till I saw a similar picture, we decided in the end to try it but cut the tyres so they are in two halves with some thin baling twine tying the halves together so that if a horse did fall in the pressure would break the twine, with our cob she completely trashed a reinforced feeder in two days so we had to look for something very robust.
 
After a similar problem last year I now use eazigrazers which are held firmly in tyres in the field. They have an outlet if you need to soak the hay (or if it rains) and a grid with holes to stop horse pulling the entire load of hay out!
 
I just use a big container, like a tub trug but tougher that I bought from a local DIY store with a couple of bricks in the bottom.

Then watch as my mare looks me in the eye and pulls all the hay out next to the container and eats it from there!!
 
Gsmith said:
I just use a big container, like a tub trug but tougher that I bought from a local DIY store with a couple of bricks in the bottom.

Then watch as my mare looks me in the eye and pulls all the hay out next to the container and eats it from there!!
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That's exactly what my horses do! I have a hayhutch and tractor tyres, the haylage is all over the shop. I'm obviously feeding them too much!
 
One of mine pulls all of the hay out, (then normally wees on it). I use blue barrels cut in half and put two flat stones from a stone wall on the top of the hay, waste alot less and takes them longer as they can't pull it out and also stops the barrels blowing away when empty!
 
We almost had a few horses killed by garbage left in what we thought a safe place. The thing is, when you have a huge farm, there is never a place that horses will not go. One of our best horses was left out for months recovering after she got a huge cut from a piece of metal that was not to be seen. After that, we decided to invest in a big disposal bin which we got from https://www.186needabin.com/service-areas/bin-rental-toronto/. There is some order now and they come to pick it up every week which keeps the farm super neat.
 
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