How much hay for horse stabled overnight...

[Sussexbythesea]

No and hell will freeze over before I EVER do it again! When I was doing my instructor training we had to do nets for 60 horses. 3 nets a day of varying weights and all had to be weighed. It was haylage and it smelt of vomit. Some days just 2 of us would be left to do them. Just thinking about it gives me the judders!

I hate doing them too so I get my sharer to do a weeks worth at the weekend and top up in between. ?

 

[Landcruiser]

Mine get more overnight, they are not in as such but on hardstanding and a track so no grazing available. They get a smaller net each at about 7am and then a big net about 4pm (because it's got to last 15 hours and it's colder), plus a token feed of sugar free chaff/supplements. I think it's worth dividing up daily allowance according to how long it's got to last.

 

[Shilasdair]

I weigh my nets - and I start off by giving them more than I think they will eat, and whittle it down to the amount they seem to want. So it's kind of ad lib without the waste.
My 600kg horse eats between 8 -10 kg (4 to 5 sections) of hay overnight when stabled. I tend to give her 8 kg of hay/meadow haylage mixed, and then 2 kg of timothy haylage (lower nutrient) which she might eat or might not.

 

[BOWS28]

The only tie i have ever had to weigh hay is when i was at college. Never again. Mine are adlib and like someone above said, if the have empty haynets in the morning, i add a section the next day. Neither of mine are overweight and have healthy tummies as a result

 

[Translationsneeded]

Pony gets ad lib because she has an off switch. Other gets 8kg. 2 when she comes in and 6 late at night in a small hole net. She has no off switch at all. I wish she could have ad lib but I tried it for a couple of months (hoping she would self regulate) but sadly it never happened!

 

[Sprat]

Ad-lib for my mare, but she is fit and worked daily, along with daily turnout (as long as the weather isn’t dire and the yard staff decide not to turn out – part livery). I often find myself giving her more hay than the yard has provided mind you, I’m not a fan of leaving them without anything to eat, though I am in a good position in that she doesn’t tend to gorge herself. If it was left to the yard staff she would be standing without for a few hours a night which isn’t ideal.

I don’t weigh with scales, I usually go by eye and feel of the weight of the nets.

 

[chocolategirl]

Just after people’s opinions...

So horse is circa 600kg, in good condition and very light work. Gets a token feed of chaff x 2 per day. Circa 6-8 hours a day turnout with a quantity of hay plus there will be some grass coming through, currently on individual turnout, in circa 0.75 acres.

what sort of quantity (weight) would you expect this horse to be given in a hay net? (I know this is a “how long is a piece of string” answer!)

At this time of year, I tend to feed mine ad lib. They’ve always got some left in the morning, none are overweight (weigh in by top spec confirmed this) I don’t mind if they do put a bit of weight on in winter though tbh, they spend all summer on a diet paddock to control their weight. I work on the premise that they are never longer than 4 hours without some form of fibre going through their gut. Im very conscious of EGUS and colic so try to avoid both at all costs!?

 

[sport horse]

If you are feeding regaularly you will soon develop a feel for the weight without needing to weigh. I am a net free zone - apart from the danger the correct place for a horse to feed from is the ground as nature intended.

 

[fredflop]

My horse is on full livery so I wanted to check what sort of weight that should be fed overnight so I can gauge if enough Is being provided

 

[OldNag]

I am feeding ad lib in a Haycube at the moment. I do weigh hay from time to time to get a feel for what sort of weight he is getting through, but at the moment he gets as much as he wants.

 

[bouncing_ball]

My horse is on full livery so I wanted to check what sort of weight that should be fed overnight so I can gauge if enough Is being provided

Turn up before they feed in the morning. If there is still some left, a handful or more, they are feeding enough. If there is none left they arent feeding enough.

The actual weight isnt that relevant, IMO as the horse not running out. (Unless you are deliberately trying to control weight and encourage weight loss / stop weight gain).

I always ask for some left in the morning, as an amount. And let yard know if there ever isnt any in the morning, and they up the amount.

 

[bouncing_ball]

IME enough hay is a real yard issue. I always ask if I can have true adlib hay, as in some left 6am in the morning, before commit to any yard. I am not looking for waste, and happy to pay more, if my horse is eating more (they generally dont), but not running out over night (with ulcer history) is vital for me.

I accept sometimes he eats more / less and occasionally he does run out, but it is a few times a year and not regular.

 

[fredflop]

I generally can’t go before work, and the hay will have all gone by morning.

 

[ycbm]

More than it will eat.


.

 

[NinjaPony]

Depends on the type of horse IMO. My 450kg connemara is on adlib timothy haylage at the moment. Both he and my little one (they share a field) get a few sections of haylage in the field, then my connie comes in to a small net of haylage. Overnight, he gets a big net stuffed full, with the aim to have a little bit left over. The 11.2hh welsh a gets a section soaked when he comes in, and 2 sections soaked overnight.

For a horse in normal condition, I'd be looking to feed hay adlib as far as is practical. Some of them will just eat and eat, in which case I'd want a nice big net with small holes to try and slow them down a bit. Alternatively, soaking the hay means I can give my welsh more hay than if it wasn't soaked.

 

[OdinsMum]

My Fell gets ad-lib soaked hay with 4kg of hayladge and my youngster Gypsy Cob gets ad-lib mixed nets of hay and hayladge. They are out every other day and grass is poor

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I have two huge Shires nets and pack them both full. He never eats it all, but I just top up as and when they look a little low, and then on a weekend I collect the pile of hay he's dropped from the corner I have swept it in and fill a haynet with it and he then gets that to start of the next week.

 

[milliepops]

I agree it will depend hugely on the horse.
Both of mine have ad lib so they have leftovers each morning.
The welsh eats 1.5 times as much as the ex racer though!

 

[bouncing_ball]

I generally can’t go before work, and the hay will have all gone by morning.

Ask yard to provide true adlib that lasts until at least morning feed time. Check at least once a week until yard get used to providing enough.

I’d also check late at night.

 

[meleeka]

Three of mine get ad lib, one gets a huge Shires net and eats the lot and the cob gets about 8kg overnight, some in a normal haylage net and some in a teeny holed net.

 

[doodle]

I have never weighed but basically give ad-lib. He gets 2 of the biggest shires haynets full, from big round bales not tightly packed sections. I restrict ever so slightly as it is small holes nets but want him to have some left the next morning. I don’t want him standing with nothing. They are not allowed hay in the field and there is very little grass so what hay he eats overnight is needed. Interestingly that if he is in for the day (which has only been 3 days) he still eats the same in that extra time as he would eat if just in overnight rather than more.

 

[sherry90]

I generally can’t go before work, and the hay will have all gone by morning.

I’d ask them to give some more so that there is a little handful atleast left of a morning. My yard has a set price livery that includes 8kg of hay as a general rule but my boy is fairly big and whilst I like him to have constant access to forage he needs to be monitored or he’d happily hoover his entire body weight in hay over night!
I asked for him to have slightly more than 8kg as was finding he’d have completely empty nets first thing and I’m happy to pay more so that he has some left of a morning. The little bleeder is so clever now though that he leaves some of his overnight hay first thing and instead waits until the morning hay is chucked over the door before turnout ? clearly the hay that he’s been eating happily overnight comes second to fresh hay delivered in a morning. But I’m happy with this as if he was hungry he’d eat every last whisp!

 

[9tails]

I generally can’t go before work, and the hay will have all gone by morning.

Then they're not feeding enough. It's really difficult to tell you how much a horse will eat overnight. My 16.1 eats less than the 14.1 next door. But as a rule, I would suggest that hay nets are approximately 8kg and haylage around 10kg. If he eats all that up, then he needs another kg.

 

[AFB]

Ad-lib for mine unless they were dieting

 

[holeymoley]

If he's looking a good weight and getting plenty from the grass then he needs around 2% of his bodyweight in fibre per day. So you need to work out the length of time at grass and how much he's eating and gauge from there. If he's needing a diet then I work off of 1.5% of bodyweight.

 

[JennBags]

If you are feeding regaularly you will soon develop a feel for the weight without needing to weigh. I am a net free zone - apart from the danger the correct place for a horse to feed from is the ground as nature intended.

Me too - nets are really bad for them.

Mine rarely have anything left in the morning, but if I give them extra I will find it all over the stable, so they sort-of have ad-lib.