How long does it take yours to get through a large round?

kellybee

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My neds all live out... They're 15hh, 14.2 and 9.2hh!! and I had a large round delivered yesterday, equivalent to 12 smalls because of the forecast snow. I went up there this morning and they'd demolished it! There's probably at least half left, but seriously, do yours get through hay that fast??
 
Is it in a feeder or just sitting loose in the field? If it is in a feeder it lasts longer as they don't dig it down, poo on it and use it as a cosy bed.
 
My neds all live out... They're 15hh, 14.2 and 9.2hh!! and I had a large round delivered yesterday, equivalent to 12 smalls because of the forecast snow. I went up there this morning and they'd demolished it! There's probably at least half left, but seriously, do yours get through hay that fast??

She doesn't live out, but a large round lasts me almost exactly two weeks. Last night she had 14kg of hay overnight (she usually gets 8 but she'd done some extra work) and the whole lot had disappeared by morning so I'm starting to think if I dumped a large round bale in her stable she'd polish it off overnight!
 
Well that's the last time I put one loose in the field then, lol. We have a barn full of smalls but I thought rather than lug it through the snow I'd just drop a round in the field as the forecast is bad and I'm working 1-9's all week. They have a hard feed twice a day but I just figured it would save me a hassle in the snow.
 
One warmblood, one tb and a little cob are going through a round bale in 7-8 days. it is ad-lib, and fed inside and outside.
 
I have a 16.2, 15.1, 14.2 and 13.2, they go out for the day and they eat a round bale in a week in the field and then their hay in the stable at night which would be around the same amount but i use small bales for that, no wonder i'm always skint.
 
Well that's the last time I put one loose in the field then, lol. We have a barn full of smalls but I thought rather than lug it through the snow I'd just drop a round in the field as the forecast is bad and I'm working 1-9's all week. They have a hard feed twice a day but I just figured it would save me a hassle in the snow.

Sorry they will just waste it :(

If you left it on the other side of the fence out of reach you could just heave some over on a pitch fork each day. I do this too and I don't bother covering the hay as its used up well before there is a problem with it getting wet.
 
Yes, I think maybe that's the trick thanks! I don't mind this once, it's the circumstances but next time I'll chuck it over the fence :)
 
I feed 1200lbs large round bales in feeders and for example one of my fields has just 4 horses in it (all around 16hh) who live out 24/7 and they go through a round bale every 4-5 days. A bale not in a feeder would last them about 2 days as they'd wreck it.
 
Hopefully in the next week or two I'll be bringing them in at night anyways, just as soon as I've cleared the junk out of the stables!
 
A feeder is the trick.

I have a 17.2 HH, 16HH and small ponio borrowed from neighbour who eats like a Clydesdale!
Thankfully the 16.2hh TB is competing elsewhere!!!!
No grass in winter field, 2 feeds a day and they get through a bale of haylage in just over a week.
Although, for the 17.2 HH it has to be ad lib otherwise he loses weight drastically. I pay £22 per bale, delivered so am lucky. They do throw a bit on the ground but the 12hh Clydesdale is a very good Hoover.

If it wasn't in the feed ring, they would waste at least 1/4 of it by joyfully pooing and lying down on it.
 
My three of 12h and 2x 15h cobs get through a large square of haylage in 7 days. That's eating every last scrap! Much easier for me
 
2 x mares and 'foals' (now 7-10 months) 1 big every 4 days

3 x youngsters (15.2 - 16.2) and one full grown mare 16.2 one big every 5 days.

Both lots in 10 acres each of grass/mud though
 
Just read undertheweathers article :60% waste without a feeder sounds about right!

With a feeder a bale of haylege lasts 2 big horses about a week and a half.
 
Ive learned the same hard lesson - round bale went on saturday.. its almost gone and its only thursday! And that is 1 welsh sec d and an 8hh mini!!! :eek:
 
Haha! I think if I gave my 17.2hh free access to his large round, he would eat until he was the same size and shape as a large round....

He gets 12kg a day at the moment and it last a good 3 weeks, if not longer...
 
215.3-16hh tbs and a 13.3 sec 12 going through 1 a week (not in a feeder) maybe as its only just been put in they are gorging on it and once they realise it is not going to go anywhere and access to food will be constant they may slow down a bit?
 
3-5 bales a week for fifteen horses. Always have scraps left when next lot goes down. Are on good grass with lots of area to roam and only pop back over for food though, so aren't stood next to it all day.
 
When mine was in 24/7 with injury he was going through one in 3 weeks. He's not gutsy so if I give him too much he leaves it. Sounds like yours will just eat and eat, although if there was snow there wasn't much else they could do
 
I use a "waste not want not" net. A round bale now lasts my 2 usually 10 days to 2 weeks (15.1hh cobby and a 13hh titch).

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I used to put large round bales out and I could cry when I saw how they were wasting it. It lasted about 4 days for 2 x 16hands 1x 15.1 1x14.2 and 1x13.2 I have this year bought extra large haylage (approx 600kg) I have scrounged about 10 old water tanks, the bigger the better, and I put the haylage in them . Before the snow it lasted over 2 weeks. Hardly any wastage at all.
 
My 16hh Warmblood would demolish a 5ft round bale in 5-6 days even with careful management. I bought a bale buddy and has now had a bale in for 12 days, simply because she can't trash it as much.
 
I have 3 out 24.7, they go through a round on average around a week. It's Hayledge and wrapped I cut the top out to turn it into a big feeder they love it and I don't worry so much in this bad weather about them bring cold or hungry :)
 
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