how much hay?

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Loopy_laura

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how much hay should a 16.3hh med hunter type be eating a day? he goes out for 3 hours in the morning and has 3 feeds (half scoop cool mix, dengi hi fi and top spec) i am just worried i am not giving him enough as he never has a scrap left! please can we do this in sections ish as i am useless at weight!
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I would say, depending on the weight of your hay bales, if it is an average 45-60lb bale then you should be feeding him somewhere around 1 to 1 and a half bales per day.
 
the bales are standard small bale, but are quite lite, he is eating about 1 and a half bales already, do you think i would be ok to give him more?!
 
My clydie is 16.3 and eats 3/4 to one bale of hay a day - my bales are about 5 - 6' in length and 2' wide. Thank goodness I only pay £2 a bale.

My gypsy cob is about 14.3 and growing and eats 1/2 a bale on average a day. If cold, he can eat up to 3/4 of a bale.
 
Just as a point of interest I was fuming with my farrier who said I was "over haying" (as if there is such a thing ) my horses. I have 5 between 13-15hh and have been feeding between 2 and 4 bales a day - they all live out and there is naff all grass left - surely thats not overfeeding.
 
I only ever feed my animals ad-lib. My dogs, cats and horses ALWAYS have food in front of them and none of mine are overweight or piggish. In fact I'd say they eat less to be honest as they know that food will always be there.
 
i have quite a bit of grass because they are in alot of the time, if its frosty when they go out i always give them hay in the field aswell. i have a new forest yearling who lives out and i have round bales dropped in the field for him! 1 bale last him 2 weeks and they are like 22 small bales! cutie sleeps in it and everything!
 
Dont know how much in weight or small bale terms, but my two get as much as they can eat, neither of them is overweight though so I suppose they are getting the right amount. Sometimes they eat it all sometimes they leave a bit!
I was always brought up to give ad lib hay, except for the fatties on a diet!
 
My girl is a big 16.2/3 She has ad lib haylage at the moment and sometime on days in some hay aswell to give her a bit of variety, Before we had haylage she would have a bale of her per night and would leave perhaps about 2 slices of it.
 
to feed it ad-lib he should always have some left so unless you are watching his weight, make sure he has some left by perhaps using 2 nets.
 
My ID chap is out for 10 hours a day with hay in the field but he picks at it and the grass and just day-dreams for hours. At night he has a net with approx 4-5 wedges of hay (roughly 1/2 small bale) and most mornings that is nearly finished with a pile of scraps on the floor. He will eat rather than sleep!

In the way of hard feed he is on 1 scoop of basic chaff and half scoop of basic nuts and half scoop of fibre beet for breakfast and dinner. I firmly believe in the fibre, fibre, fibre diet and its doing great over the winter.
 
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