How Much Hay Do You Give Yours?

Cortez said:
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.
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Yep...like you've said 'every horse and his/her workload is different' and my boy is just right on his winter feeding regime,... when we hit spring,..it's a different kettle of fish all together!! Edited to add that i do soak my hay too to eridicate some the sugars.
 
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Quick question.... i notice alot talk in leaves/slices/slabs/sizes of haynets etc,. of hay or whatever... do you know exactly how much kilo wise you are actually feeding on a daily basis?

Just wondered... not getting at anyone here,.. :)
 
One of those huge black and red nets stuffed so full of equal parts hay and haylage that I can hardly lift it . . . very scientific ;).

If I had a fatty/good doer/laminitic, I'd be weighing it (and probably soaking and also not feeding haylage), however, I have a sport horse type who doesn't do that well in winter and is in a reasonable amount of work. We suspect he has also had ulcers in the past so making sure he has ad lib forage is very important.

And, no, I have no idea how much hay/haylage (in kilos) he is getting . . . but I don't need to watch his weight, just make sure he has enough to eat.

P
P
 
Being cobs, I refuse to ad-lib mine as they would be overwieght, and I would have an even emptier bank balance! Mine have 10 kgs a day, weighed with a fish weighing hook.

Due to the ground conditions they go out on sparse grazing until lunchtime, then come in for a 3 kg net. They are also excercised in the afternoon.

At tea time they get another 7 kgs which is usually all eaten, bar maybe a handful or so.

They both recieve a small hard feed twice a day, of 1 scoop hi fi and 1 scoop pony nuts divided between the two meals.

They are in medium work, excercised most days and hunted weekly.
 
Rising two year old Connemara, no hard feed. 2.5% of his bodyweight in hay per day, as the grass is non-existent currently. So 10kg per day, fed ad-lib.

Works out at about 5 slices of a small bale, reduced down as the grass improves. In summer/autumn none, as grazing suffices. He is not a good doer, which makes life easier.
 
McCauley said:
Quick question.... i notice alot talk in leaves/slices/slabs/sizes of haynets etc,. of hay or whatever... do you know exactly how much kilo wise you are actually feeding on a daily basis?

Just wondered... not getting at anyone here,.. :)
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If I have a higher level competition horse I wiegh forage but for the others no I do it by eye I know three of the horses eat a small bale of haylage plus a bit a day each and the other eats half .
 
Ben gets round bale hay pulled off in flakes, he has it off the floor but it's the equivalent of two large haynets stuffed full, he also has fresh straw in his bed everyday so he can move onto this if he scoffs it all!
 
Mine - 15.1hh 16 yr old mare good doer, 14hh 5yr old welsh d and 14yr old 13hh welsh all get about 3 slices of hay over night now they are stabled from7pm to 7am plus Stubbs scoop of pureEasy with unmollassed sugarbeet and linseed with supplement split between am and pm feeds (15.1hh gets a scoop of grass nuts as well) They always have hay left over but I don't think they are that keen on the hay as quite stemmy. Out on 6 acres of not much grass that is mostly under water but no Hamas gets wasted. All are rugged. Only 5 yr old is in any real work. Hope that helps.
 
14.1hh fit welsh cob

4.5kg hay net

2ish kg loose on floor in opposite corner

And a Alfa A bag stuffed with hay in field.

Has lots of chaff in evening feed and takes 30-45min it finish feed.

In at night normally 1700 out at 0700.
 
15.1hh cob and Welsh a...have 5 acres of grazing still with plenty of grass. Have just had to split it in half as they are still well covered. They get a token feed each day and half a wedge of haylage every few days just to get them to come up the field for a check over.

2 Shetlands at home on an acre paddock with very little grass in have ad lib haylage and get through a small haynet each in 24 hrs.

Anything of mine on poor grazing would have ad lib...:)
 
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