How Much Hay Do You Give Yours?

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Cheshire Chestnut

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Apologies if this has been done to death but how much hay do you give your horse?

What do you have and how much hay does he/she get a day if they live in a night during the winter and turned out on not much grass during the day?

I've been giving my 14:1hh Welsh D two medium sized nets a night after he's been turned out on next to no grass all day. He only has a handful of Happy Hoof as a token feed (so he doesn't feel left out when all the others have tea!) so his hay is all he has really. He has maintained a good weight but it's not been really cold yet (he does have rugs on though).

Just wanted to compare. Thanks.
 
Most of mine have a bale in front of them at all times over night and go out in the day into swamp land with no hay available.

One has hay and haylage available 24/7 as he has access to a barn attached to his paddock.
 
Mine is a Welsh D, 15.1 - he gets about 3 to 4 slices of really good hay in his haybar and then a net of quite poor hay that he only picks at so that he isnt left without anything overnight.. if the poor hay was on the floor he would just trash it all over in disgust! Has about 5 minutes chomping worth of good hay on a morning before he goes out all day on next to no grass.
 
tase1965 said:
Mine is a Welsh D, 15.1 - he gets about 3 to 4 slices of really good hay in his haybar and then a net of quite poor hay that he only picks at so that he isnt left without anything overnight.. if the poor hay was on the floor he would just trash it all over in disgust! Has about 5 minutes chomping worth of good hay on a morning before he goes out all day on next to no grass.
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Maybe I'm over feeding mine and he will balloon in the next few weeks :( eeek!!

We had one bale of damp hay that had half turned into hayledge and he had his own protest, pulled his haynet down and wee'd on it! Didn't do it again though when he realised he was hungry that night until I got there the next morning... He was feeling sorry for himself.
 
Cheshire Chestnut said:
Maybe I'm over feeding mine and he will balloon in the next few weeks :( eeek!!

We had one bale of damp hay that had half turned into hayledge and he had his own protest, pulled his haynet down and wee'd on it! Didn't do it again though when he realised he was hungry that night until I got there the next morning... He was feeling sorry for himself.
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Ha thats funny! This is my first Welsh and their characters are really something else :) Mine is a very good doer and he does get a balancer and foot supplement at night - and then there is my husband who keeps sneaking him malt loaf!
 
tase1965 said:
Ha thats funny! This is my first Welsh and their characters are really something else :) Mine is a very good doer and he does get a balancer and foot supplement at night - and then there is my husband who keeps sneaking him malt loaf!
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Hehe malt loaf - will try that! My first Welsh too, had horses all my life and honestly I have never known something as crazy as him - he keeps me on my toes with his little Welshy brain :D
 
Billy 16.2 ID type gets;

Hay; 3 to 4 sections from a small square bale at night. If i give him more he wastes it.

If in through the day (which is rare) then 2 sections for the day.

he gets hard feed too thought. a combination of allen and page feeds; power and performance and fast fibre. 2 feeds aday.

Im a terrible person and dont weigh my hay, just go by feel and looking at the horse, if he looks fat i cut it down or if loosing condition, give him more.
 
15hh cobby/connie sort of pony/horse thing... gets 4-5 slices from a small bale overnight. If they come in early (late morning), he gets 2 slices. On those days, he gets 3-4 overnight as if I give his normal amount, he wastes it. For a native pony sort of type, he isn't a particularly good doer and not at all greedy. He eats as much hay as he wants to, always has adlib, but he never finishes it, which means I've had to feed hard feed all winter too. Can't give haylage, would end up with a nutty psycho pony on my hands!!
 
My girl is rising 4, approx 14.3hh she has a net of 2 large slices of hay off a small bale hay with a large slice of haylage from a Marksway High Fibre Horsehage bale, this weighs around 9-10kgs, she goes out in to the bog/swamp/mire during the day with two slices of damp hay. Also she has a complete feed of 1kg with a scoop of sugar beet split between two feeds daily, at the moment she is looking very well, and i may need to cut the hard feed down coming into spring.
 
My two welsh ds get about 1 large net per night (about 1 slice from a big 4 string bale). I say about as sometimes they get it in the net and sometimes on the floor. They are bedded on straw so can eat as much of that as they like once they finish the hay. If they stay in they get one small net of hay. They go out from 10-4.30 ish depending on if I ride and for how long. The field is green at the top but it is pretty poor pickings. I don't feed them either, just a token gesture of an apple etc for coming in and being caught. One needs a bit more hay than the other (ironically the one in less work) to keep condition. I adjust it as we go along so they are getting what they need.

I had another Welsh several years ago and I had to really stuff her full of feed to keep condition on her through the winter. They are all different so as long as yours is healthy and happy I wouldn't worry.
 
SuperH said:
My two welsh ds get about 1 large net per night (about 1 slice from a big 4 string bale). I say about as sometimes they get it in the net and sometimes on the floor. They are bedded on straw so can eat as much of that as they like once they finish the hay. If they stay in they get one small net of hay. They go out from 10-4.30 ish depending on if I ride and for how long. The field is green at the top but it is pretty poor pickings. I don't feed them either, just a token gesture of an apple etc for coming in and being caught. One needs a bit more hay than the other (ironically the one in less work) to keep condition. I adjust it as we go along so they are getting what they need.

I had another Welsh several years ago and I had to really stuff her full of feed to keep condition on her through the winter. They are all different so as long as yours is healthy and happy I wouldn't worry.
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Thanks, this has helped. I've never had a 'good-doer' before (always had TBX's) so was cautious to not under feed knowing that they don't need as much as a TBX, but then I worry I now over feed. He seems happy on what he has and all these answers have helped too. Thnaks everyone :)
 
Mine 3 all live out (all 15.2hh to 15.3hh, 2 half tbs plus a cob). I was strip grazing them up to last week, but now I that have run out of fresh grass, they are on about 2 acres of bare field.

I have increased the hay over the last few days from 2 sections each at night, to 3 sections each at night at and 2 each in the day.
 
Good God

my 15hh mare gets

at least 2-3 sections (at the very least 18lb probably more like 24lb-must start wieghing it) of a large 4 string bale per night, she has grass in the field too, I do soak her hay though as I would rather she was eating when she wants when stabled, it also reduces the risk of compacted colic when they are stabled and more restricted, she has only been in at night for 2 weeks (due to being unable to find someone who wants to join her out at night and in for a couple of hours per day).

she gets 1.5 stubbs scoop of speedi beet, a scoop of chaff, a large mug of micronised linseed,salt and pro hoof each evening- she eats it during the course of the night so is not fed in one go.

last winter she was getting 2/3rds a small bale of hay and the same in straw each night

she is really greedy for forage and is working hard again, she is looking good for this time of year trim but not lean. lean is round the corner and then she will bulk back up a bit.
 
I struggle with one of mine for what to do for the best.
She is out for 6-7 hours a day and does still have grass.
She probably has the equivalent of half a small bale of hay a day in addition.
She gets no hard feed other than a handful off chaff when the others are fed.

She is as fat as butter. Partly because she is that way inclined anyway, and partly because she has been off work for 3 months.

What she does get is not ad lib, she hoovers it all up!!

I'm rugging her minimally, and hoping desperately that now she is started working and due a clip that we can start to shift some pounds before spring. TBH could do with less grass in her field!
 
My connie gets a huge net overnight with an extra net if he's being brought in early and a net in the field. Not sure on the weight of it or cake sizes because it's from a large round bale.

ETS he's basically on ab lib really as there's always a bit left in the morning.
 
My 3 get as much hay as they want during the night. They are turned out every day from 6 - 4 in wet fields with not much grass. They get 2 feeds a day of Alfa A, nuts and oats and the stressy one gets no oats but conditioning mix instead. They all hunt.
 
17.2h gets ad lib, which is helping himself to big bale overnight in field, and 4 slices small in day in stable but id be happy if he ate the whole 1/2 bale!
mares get same adlib overnight plus 2 to 3 slices in day when in.
in from about 7am to 7pm.
 
Cheshire Chestnut said:
Apologies if this has been done to death but how much hay do you give your horse?

What do you have and how much hay does he/she get a day if they live in a night during the winter and turned out on not much grass during the day?

I've been giving my 14:1hh Welsh D two medium sized nets a night after he's been turned out on next to no grass all day. He only has a handful of Happy Hoof as a token feed (so he doesn't feel left out when all the others have tea!) so his hay is all he has really. He has maintained a good weight but it's not been really cold yet (he does have rugs on though).

Just wanted to compare. Thanks.
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Two sections a night at moment going to 3 when grass gets too short
 
14.1 native cob cross, very good doer, gets probably 2 decent flaps of hay from a small bale in a small holed haynet and then about another flap in his hay bar. And a feed of Happy Hoof mixed with Top Spec Top Chop Lite (effectively 2 chaffs). He's in at night from about 5pm to 8.30am. Fields still have a bit of grass, we kept a section of our field back until 2 weeks ago and they've just hoovered that all down already. So at the moment seems to be getting enough as survives on fresh air but we do have another 12 weeks to go on the winter fields before they will change grazing so may have to increase his hay when the grass has really gone.
 
He live dout all last winter with no rug and has ab-lib hayledge but stuffed his face - he tends to be very greedy if you let him.

Find him worse if he feels he's underfed so make sure he has enough. The have to stay in today and tomorrow so just splitting his two night nets during the day - one for morning until 5pm and then one for night after 5pm. If he finishes it he seems to eat his bed and then gets bored and sleeps. Fat bloater.
 
My good doer/ems 14.2h cob gets 8kgs of hay a night, soaked and served up in a Trickle Net.

He's out on non-fertlized moorland type undulating grazing for around 11 hours or so, a day in winter.

(Also has 400gms of FF and all his bespoke vits/mins from Forage Plus, 50gms of Mag Oxide and 100gms of Linseed in the evening).

Hope that helps.
 
Good lord! That's a lot of hay; I don't feed nearly as much as that, but mine are all very good doers (PRE's and a Friesian cross), ranging from 14.2 - 15.1hh, weighing approx 450kgs - 530kgs and in light work. They are all on from 7 - 8kgs of hay a day split into 4 feeds of 2kg each, and no hard feed at all. If I fed them the amounts listed above they would be enormous! Every horse and his workload are different, so it is the eye of the master that maketh the horse fat, as the saying goes.
 
OK so my two are out during the day (plenty of grass) and come in about 5ish at the mo. They have a hard feed, consisting of Dengie Hi Fi (double handful - sorry not very scientific!), cupful of Fast Fibre with some water, and a single handful of coarse mix. Plus a haylage net with 8lbs of haylage in mixed in with some ordinary.

Later on, 10pm, they have another feed and another haynet with the same amount in.

Usually by the morning, they'll have a bit of haylage/hay in the bottom of their nets.

This seems to suit them both. They're both cobs/good doers, but if Trad-Lad doesn't have enough to do in the stable (i.e. eat!!!) he'll just start finding somewhere to rub his bum on.

Re. haynets. I use double, sometimes triple, haylage nets (small holes), so as to slow them down and give them something to do.
 
I don't feed hay I feed haylage they have it all the time they are stabled .
I feed too types lite and recreation .
Three horses will eat over a small bale a day , one about half ( he eats much less when he's fit .
Now they are not being turned out I will have to keep an eye on them and might use hay bloks and more chopped straw to make sure they don't gain wieght .
I am working all my horses I could not feed haylage at those levels if they where not .
 
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Ours are on ad lib haylage. Except fatty Bruce!!!

At the moment the 2 TB's come in to 2.5 slices, and then topped up for the night to total 3.5 for CS and 3 for Fig. They always have some left and that's the way we prefer it.

Bruce bless him, gets 2 v small holed haynets a day (tied up into a ball and into a trug so very limited access, takes him an age to eat) which are filled with the stuff the bay boys pull onto the floor. He gets 1 slice for afternoon and 1.5 for overnight. Still fat as a pig and still muzzled during the day!

Currently getting through 1 small bale every 2 days approx.
 
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