Hay cube grid size

[ecb89]

My ID needs to lose some weight so will be going on soaked hay and I would prefer to feed from the floor for his back and mine!

The grids appear to come in three sizes but I am unsure what size hole I need. I’m sure I read previously the smallest is only for extreme lami cases etc but I can’t find anything online.

 

[Catbird]

I got a med sized one (they said small was for small ponies) and unfortunately my cob managed to grab hay through it and then lifted the cube off the bracket so I stopped using it. Haycube were great and gave me a refund. Now I just soak it and he eats as much as he wants, which weirdly seems to be less than when it was in a teeny holed haynet. Go figure

My friend has large sized hole one and her much more civilised tb gets on with it really well.

 

[AdorableAlice]

I used the medium size grid, it lasted a nano second before being removed and lobbed over the pen railings, by my frighteningly intelligent cob mare.

The only way I can get enough long forage into her to maintain a healthy gut and keep her picking 24/7 which she needs to prevent colon displacement, is to mix quality barley straw with the hay, that and copious amounts of exercise keeps her somewhere near slim.

Ive just made her a new enrichment toy. Tried it with the others and they took forever to empty it, she took 15 minutes and sussed out how to hold it between her front feet, flip it up and hey presto, the nuts fell out super quick.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I have always wondered whether horses, if they're able to be allowed enough time without risk of lami, would eventually self regulate if given free access in a hay bar. Dex has his in a hay bar and there is always some left over in the morning, he is given a slice of a big bale a night depending on how thick the slice that comes off is, and it does help with the worry of having to somehow try and trickle feed but from the floor.

ETA: if you're tempted by one of those hay cushions don't be, I tried that initially and he ripped it open in 2 seconds flat! I also tried tying a haynet by threading it through the bottom of a large half barrel plant pot type thing, and that was just more of a pain than it was worth, although did work slightly better, but it has to be a HEAVY one.

 

[awelshandawarmblood]

Both my boys did the same as above with the largest grid size, pulled it up and off the brackets, the lobbed the cube around in anger! Needless to say I don't use the grids now!

 

[Red-1]

Rigs has one of these now, restricts hay and keeps it dry when used outdoors. He initially did his best to push, kick etc but now just gets on with eating. It has a hopper inside to keep the hay falling down to the bottom. I thought about having it indoors (it is actually a stable grazer) but he has free access to stable and patio and, when it's outdoors, he poos less in the stable LOL.

I would not have tried him with a grid type as I just know he would have climbed in it and probably cracked something and got stuck! This one has been solid.

 

[ecb89]

Thanks for the replies. Given free access to ad lib he would just eat and eat and eat so unfortunately I can’t do that.
I don’t think he is one to be climbing into things, but I guess there is always the risk.

 

[teacups]

Given free access to food is how mine got laminitis with his previous owner. He had a lot of weight to lose when he got to me.
I got the small hole grid. There was a thread on the hay cube recently

Leaking Hay Cube

Any thoughts on type of sealant that might seal leaking hay cubes please. The feet have given up on mine. So far I have tried duct tape, gorilla tape and gorilla glue and bath sealant, none of which have worked. Has anyone successfully mended a cube ? Thanks

forums.horseandhound.co.uk

and this is what I wrote (in italics is about the grid, but you may want to consider other pros and cons)

***
This is exactly what I’ve worried about ever since we got a haycube, a few months ago.

It came with two bits of rubber stuck to the two hollow feet. These fell off within one hour.

Moving the cube inevitably means wear on the feet, and someone at hay cube didn’t want to spend the pennies it would cost to make them solid.

My OH also works with industrial tanks, albeit mostly stainless steel, and confirms what Red-1’s OH said: not much will stick to it. Not many people (or companies) have access to a plastic welder. I’ve asked him to check Milliput out..

Ours isn’t leaking…but in time it will! I’d like to work out how something can be stuck to the feet to stop future leakage.

I have been very unimpressed at the quality v price of the hay cube. We have had to make so many adaptations to make it work that we may as well have started with a wheeliebin, and adapted that.

The bung is poor quality and a non-standard thread, and the wall holder has not once held the cube in place -not that it looked as though it would.

The (small-hole) grid means a lot of strong upwards tugging and I worry that the benefit to the horse’s back of eating in the correct position is lost with all this upwards pulling and lifting of what is a very heavy item. It must be quite a strain on the neck. However, it was the physio who recommended I get the cube for him.

In the morning I tend to find the cube in a different position in the stable, or on its side. The grid is not usually taken out but it is also in very strange positions, upwards, diagonal, etc, within the cube (I have the hay cube version with the slot at the back).

The main positive is for my back: I no longer have to heave ultra heavy soaked nets over a fence and hang them. I am not prone to back issues but it was beginning to get quite sore. Now that we have adapted the bung (thanks to OH’s experience with tanks) drainage is easy too.

***

Since then my OH has thought of a way to keep the cube in its place - essentially two upright posts attached to the wall, with another post as a hinged ‘lid’, kept in place by a shoot bolt (so that horse doesn’t get caught on it/undoes it, which he does with normal bolts). So far it has worked well.

I meant to post photos and update the other thread but the ‘photo size too large’ thing stopped me. I’ll have another go at resizing.

ETA still not worked out how anything could be attached to the feet to reduce the wear and tear.

 

[teacups]

I used the medium size grid, it lasted a nano second before being removed and lobbed over the pen railings, by my frighteningly intelligent cob mare.

Ive just made her a new enrichment toy. Tried it with the others and they took forever to empty it, she took 15 minutes and sussed out how to hold it between her front feet, flip it up and hey presto, the nuts fell out super quick.

Mine gets the grid out occasionally. Mostly I find it pushed up vertically against the side. Since the grid can’t go right to the bottom of the cube (thanks to wheel arches) I try to avoid frustration and desperation (on his part) to get to the bottom by putting a good layer of pure straw there.

Mine was similar with the Hay Playball. It took 15 mins for him to work out how to hold it still, and it was empty within another 5 or 10 mins.