How Much Hay?

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Joyous70

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I have two horses out 24/7 and wanted an idea of how much hay you think is a reasonable amount to be putting out. One is a 26 year old 13.2hh rugged, the other is a rising 3yr old unrugged.

Thanks in advance :D
 
well they both need to keep their weight well because of their ages so if they are eating it and not putting loads of weight on they probably need it! Its difficult to say as my rising 4 has three haynets in this stable at night. sometimes he eats most of it, others he has loads left. When I put him out i tend to put out as much as i would give him in the stable for that amount of time. So he will have the equivalent of one and a half nets for the daytime. There is nothing left when i go back in the evening but, to be honest I think that is as his fieldmate is put out and they dont put extra hay out some days! saying that, when he is out he can and will go and mooch around and pick at some grass and never comes in all bargy and hungry.
 
As much as they need. ie ad lib. start by putting 2 x small bales out and see whats left by morning. I would guess 1 small bale minimum per day at the moment. Probably more. place the hay in several piles well spaced to avoid bullying.
 
When its frosty like today - i go in the morning (8.45) and leave a full standard size wheel barrow amount each for them - normally they are still munching it by 4pm - then they get the same again - unless its going to be below freezing (like tonight) they will be left 2 x wheel barrows full each.
A good indication is how much they leave in the morning - if theres a fair bit left and they have finished eating i leave less. However if its all gone i leave a bit more :)
 
Thanks i'll stick a whole bale out for them this evening, around 5pm, and see what if anything is left tomorrow at 6.30am. Theyre currently getting half a bale am and the other half pm, I can't see any left, but it is also very dark.
 
Given how cold it is this week and how much energy they will be using up keeping warm (and give age/ need for energy for development) even as good doers I would have thought as much as they can eat is OK for a while.
Can you get hold of any of last years hay that will have lost some nutritional value but still digesting it will keep them nice and toasty?
If they put on lots of weight you'd have to cut it down a bit - I'd still have thought a bale a day each if that's all they have (assuming no grass to pick at)
 
Mine will also eat whatever is put out, so I have taken advice on this, and the amount in 24hrs for a horse not overweight is 2% of bodyweight. I use a weightape to check their weight, and keep a record of this to make sure they do not get over or under weight.

I deduct the weight of the hard feed I give, and then feed the rest split between morning and evening, allowing a little extra for wastage. There is still some grass around, so this is an addition.

Mine are not rugged up and are looking good on this with nice shiny coats under the mud!
 
Polos Mum - both are looking incredibly well at the moment, the old boy is a very good weight, and toasty with his rug on, he doesn't generally drop condition despite being old, the youngster has only been with me 6 weeks and gained weight off the grass alone! they do always seem to have heads down grazing when i get there, so there is still pickings of grass to be had :)

Adopter - good point re the 2% of bodyweight, i haven't as yet weighed my youngster, but would imagine around 350/400kgs, so i need to borrow my friends weigh scales. :)
 
My porky mare is getting 4 slices a day. That's spread over the day, not in one go. She doesn't seem to be loosing anything even though she's naked and living out with shelter.
 
I must seem really mean to my 2 if everyone is feeding ad lib! 20 yr old cob and 22 yr old pony are still out naked (until tonight when mw rugs are going on for the -4 temp predicted) are only getting 2 slices at night each and a big slice in the morning to share before the rest of the herd get turned out. Both are holding weight well but will be giving more this week as its getting colder. There's still 6 acres for them to roam and nibble at together so they won't waste away!
 
Fire - thats roughly what my two get at the moment, theyre looking fine atm just wondered how much others considered to be normal/right

Sophstar - your not mean, before i had my youngster this was what my old boy and his previous field friend had, neither dropped weight.
 
Well, unless we have a big bale in the field, I am putting out around 1 small bale a day (half am and half pm) which works out to about 2 slices per pile and i put 4-5 piles out twice a day, for 3 rugged as applicable horses, there is still grass for them to eat and they get a feed twice a day... all three are maintaining their weight very comfortably!
 
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