How much Hay?

Persephone

Persephone

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Am I right in thinbking that forage should be equivalent to 2 1/2% of my horses weight?

ie she is 550 kg therefore should be eating 13/14 KG per day?

At the moment she is eating 12KG hay over night and turned out on reasonable grass all day.

Her feed also contains Alfa A lite and Speedibeet being more forage?

I have got myself confused!
 
Bob is about the same weight, and has roughly 20kg of hay per night
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Little horror eats every last bit too
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I dont use haynets, I put it on the floor
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Although when I did use them, I only ever used one
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I reckon to feed him 5 sections of hay a night, I used my new spring balance to weigh my haynet and 4 sections were 16kg so I added another one and he gets that every night now
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Hmnn...I weighed mine today. I wonder if I have read the wrong side lol.

I'll have another look tomorrow. She certainly has over half a bale a night so I reckon I have confused myself lol!

x
 
I would be weighing it again if I were you
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I think I feed about 1/2 a bale or slightly less per night (one bale lasts 2 nights then I always seem to have one section left over
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)

ETA - although now you are making me think whether I have got it wrong
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I will weigh mine tomorrow again too
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My God your hay bill must be huge!! My old lad only gets 6lbs a night at the mo. I would love him to have more but he won't eat it, just throws it around his stable.
The fat ginger one is getting 10lbs at night and he gets a 6lb net when he comes in at lunchtime. He would eat a LOT more given the chance but trying to keep his weight down.
 
Lol, yep I get through 200 bales a year.

I am glad she stuffs her face though. She had Gastric Ulcers at the beginning of the year but since treatment she eats like a Horse!

Hahah!
 
It will of course depend on how tightly the hay is baled as to how much a section weighs.
My hay this year is soooo tightly packed that 2 sections are equivalent to four of my friends in weight
 
Forage is 2 - 3% of your horses diet. So that's about 11 - 16.5kg for your mare. If she is eating grass all day too, probably 14-15kg is ok.

Mine get about 20kg hay a day, split day and night but they have no grazing. It's usually all gone in the morning - probably by 1am as they are fed at 10pm.
 
I split all mine out, give it a good fork up in the air lol, net it then steam it.

I weighed it after shaking and netting. Although I split the slices I pack it back into the net pretty firmly.

I just like to give it a throw around and shake up to get rid of as many unattached particles as I can.

That's probably why I use 3 nets and Splotchy uses one though!

ETS I also think if I am going to go to the effort of steaming it, full slices is not going to be as easy fro the steam to penetrate. Am I nuts?

 
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Really surprised that 20kg is 5 sections.... would have thought that would be 20lb. Mine has 16lb which is about 4 sections of a small bale....

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D'ya know Coffee Bean, I think you are absolutely right there
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Sooooo sorry Persephone, I have been talking kg when I should have been talking lbs
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Hmmm 2.5% forage for a 550kg horse = 13.75kg = 30 lbs
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I also feed a scoop of chaff and 1/2 a scoop of Speedibeat twice a day - so I am hoping Bob eats about 8lbs of grass a day
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My two mares get 2 short feeds a day plus a square of hay when they are out grazing, but 4 squares in the evening in two haynets with the very small holes and when I bring my youngster in on sunday he will get the same. 200 bales for one horse you must be one rich person.
 
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Really surprised that 20kg is 5 sections.... would have thought that would be 20lb. Mine has 16lb which is about 4 sections of a small bale....

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D'ya know Coffee Bean, I think you are absolutely right there
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Sooooo sorry Persephone, I have been talking kg when I should have been talking lbs
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Hmmm 2.5% forage for a 550kg horse = 13.75kg = 30 lbs
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I also feed a scoop of chaff and 1/2 a scoop of Speedibeat twice a day - so I am hoping Bob eats about 8lbs of grass a day
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I thought that 20kg a night was a lot for Bob!!
 
QR I have, in the past worked out how much my mare should eat (using the 2.5% rule) and found that when fed ad lib she actually eats much, more than that. I'm just pleased she holds her weight on hay alone so keep feeding it.
 
QR Splotchy- haha well you see, there is one horse at our yard who does have 20kg odd (a whole bale) per night
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and those soaked haynets are an absoloute nightmare to try and put up
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Think it's the worst part about working at the yard
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One expensive lad too
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If your horse has gastric ulcers and is not overweight, then I would literally give as much hay as she can eat. If you want to be able to weigh it out, then increase the amount by a kg a night, until there is a little left in the morning. You will need to be prepared to reassess this every so often, as the nutrition in the grass falls, you might find she eats more hay overnight.
 
I'm not sure, as I feed ad-lib - I fill my hay bar full and there's always some left.

It certainly works out expensive, the last time I worked it out, I figured he ate ovabout £70 of hay a month. I've never bothered working it out again since - far too painful!
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It certainly works out expensive, the last time I worked it out, I figured he ate ovabout £70 of hay a month. I've never bothered working it out again since - far too painful!
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[/ QUOTE ] But you have to set that against what you save in terms of bucket feed - unless you are paying extortionate amounts for hay/haylage it is usually a much more cost-effective source of calories than most bucket feeds.
 
That is true - he gets a scoop of Dengie & own brand hi-fibre nuts AM & PM, largely because he needs to get his supplements and everything else is feed at that time.

To be fair, it would be even cheaper, but I give him a snack-ball at night, so I use more Dengie & nuts to keep him occupied.

Thanks, you've made me feel so much better!
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my 2y/o gets a good 4 sections a night which equates to about 16lb. He could eat more but I'm waiting for the harsher weather. I get through about 4 bales a a week but I'd rather that than have a bored horse.
 
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