How long does a small hay bale last you?

lottiepony

lottiepony

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I usually have big round bales but ran out early so used small bales just to tie me over. One bale lasts me 2 days! That does include hay for the field and I like to see that she hasn't eaten out but def works out better for me to use big bales!
 
I use small bale haylage for my 6 shetlands...2 standards and 4 miniatures. They are in the field with poor grazing overnight and come in during the day for about 6 hours. They have 4 loose haynets tied up around their single huge stable. Currently, a small bale lasts me an unbelievable 5 or 6 days but I expect it to start dropping as the winter progresses.
 
2 days sounds about right. Horses should have minimum 1.5% but ideally 2% of bodyweight in forage per day. Obviously some of this will come from grass but as grass isn't very good quality at this time of year most will come from hay. So say 1.5% of bodyweight is being fed as hay. For a 500kg horse that is 7.5kg of hay per day. A small bale of hay weighs roughly 15kg (although this is extremly variable) so that works out as 2 days supply for a 500kg horse
 
It would be lovely to use just one ;)

I put out 5 in 1 pasture every day.

My bales weigh 55 - 60lbs

My horses weigh on average 1000lbs

I work on 1/2 bale per 15h (average size) horse and that is whilst there is still a bit of grass to browse, they also have a round bale of straw out too.
 
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I've just done the maths and a round bale last me at the worst 3 weeks and I pay £25 for one of those. Small bales cost me £4.50 last year and for 3 weeks would end up costing me just over £47!! That has actually made me feel a bit better about my hay costs :)
 
Mine usually last 2-3 days depending how tightly packed it is. I generally get 5 x 12lb haynets out of one bale and my big girl has 2 of these at night.
 
my mare choffs her way through 3/4 of a small bale a day....
plus 4 feeds of conditioning cubes, conditioing chaff, sugarbeet and linseed.

but we have had no grass since about september due to the bad summer so that is all she is getting although she lives out.

she is also still in quite hard work - we did 10.5 miles yesterday at a fair pace

lots of peeps up here struggling with horses weights this year as they've not naturally put on a bit over summer
 
I use 1 small bale a day for two horses one 15.1 and one 16.3, I sometimes buy the large round bales of haylege they last me nearly 3 weeks some are £25 or sometimes £30, but can get small bales for £3.50 a bale nice hay too they love it, and prefer hay as one of mine can get too fat on haylege and not worth buying it for one.
 
My horse has 1 and a half wedges per night and still has a little left in the morning, so i guess i get throught 1 small bale every 5/6 days. However he is turned out in a 3acre field with lots of grass during the day and and has a straw bed.
 
I have a 15hh Welsh who is stabled at night. He has a third of a bale per night and nothing in the field during the day as I strip graze him each day. So a small bale lasts me 3 days.
 
I have two ISH, middleweights and 16/17h. They eat 3/4 bale each too - they are on hardcore turnout with nets during the day, and in at night, so all their food is haylage (they get balancer and hifi lite too). In summer they come in during the day and I use half a bale a day between them. In winter we change onto dry haylage to keep the costs down.

We paid £5 for a small haybale, delivered and stacked, which isn't cheap, but the suppliers are always reliable and the hay is always wonderful quality. There is cheaper costing hay around but its cheaper quality too..
 
Last winter I was getting through 20 bales a month at £5 a bale - so one bale would do me under two days (he's a big lad). This year I am on big round bales at £25 a bale and they are lasting me 3 weeks each so thats only £50 every 6 weeks as opposed to £150 last year!!
 
Around 6 days for a 14.2 but he's only in on a night and gets two medium sized nets. They are slightly bigger than a normal small bale though, maybe equivalent of a bale and a half up to as much as 2 normal bales as some are bigger than others.

Only cost £3.75 each as well, where as at old yard was paying £3.50 per normal small bale and going through 3-4 a week at times. As they were in at night all year and we weren't allowed to turn out a lot because of weather.
 
My 16.3 shire x eats 3/4 of a bale a night,11hh dartmoor/shetland gets 1-2 slices - so roughly 1 bale a day. Both are out on grass during day,and in at night. :)

When grass is poor,i shall put my big boy back on haylage - 1 small bale of that lasts 2-4 days for him,and then the pony shall have all the hay to herself...greedy little mite! :p

Have had large bales of haylage before,but went off before we could eat away half of it. I suppose this wouldnt be an issue for hay? I may have a peak at how much a big'un would be!
 
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