How much would you pay a livery yard for ad lib hay?

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Roanioponio

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I've always ordered in round bales cheap at my old yard, at my new yard you have to pay a set price of £15 per week per horse, I have a 16.3hh and a 11.1hh and it's the same regardless of size. It seems so much more than I'd usually pay but it's a lovely little yard. Is this the average? I suppose it's nice to have it there in front of you without ordering it in!!
 
Ours is the same - although we get straw in that, too. But it's part of the stable fees - and that goes on the size of the stable. So I pay £200/month incl. hay and straw. If I chose to turn her out 24/7, I'd still be paying that amount. Don't know if that's of any use?
 
One of mine eats hay like it's going out of fashion, through winter Id imagine she would get though £15-20 a week, in summer maybe £10 a week based on big bale prices.

The yard she is going to after weaning charges £6 per week adlib, I did question this, and apparently yes she can have as much as she can eat! They obviously haven't met her yet so I'm prepared to actually offer to pay more!

I think £15pw averaged across the year is on the high side of reasonable for a horse.
Id possibly struggle with that for a small pony though but if the yard was otherwise great might need to just suck it up
 
I used to be on a livery yard which had straw and haylage (more like wrapped hay) included and could use as much as you'd like. I was paying £120 per month. I think that yard now charges £130 per month, but for as much hay and straw as you can use, I think that's pretty good :)

My current yard, I buy hay in, and I get round bales for £20 and they last just over a month in winter for my 15hh mare.
 
A yard near me charges £17 pw which is delivered to the field for the grass liveries in winter. I would expect my large horses to eat 3.5 bales per week, probably at a cost of £5 per bale, so it seems about right for a large horse.

They do have to handle the admin of ordering, storage and so on, so if it's slightly more than you would pay yourself this might account for it.
 
I think £15 per week is a bit steep even for a horse and i'm basing that on paying £30 for a round bale. At our place hay is payed for according to usage and even in winter the horse who gets a 24lb net does not pay anything near 15 a week (probs £8) so i would say they are making a canny penny out of those prices. ponies here pay betweeen £2 and £4 a week summer/winter. I don't make any money on hay though
 
my horses eat 340 on average small bales a year.I have 2 horses. at £3.00 a bale thats £1020. Thats 19.61 a week. Approx £10 per week per horse. thats just the hay at £3 a bale though , nothing for storage and handling or if the hay is dearer. I think £15 per week per horse is quite acceptable.
 
I pay £60.67 per month for ad lib haylage year round. I think I'm on a good deal in winter as BP is a big 18.1hh heavyweight and is fed 95% or more on grazing or haylage so it works well for me. I always felt sorry for his 14hh stable buddies who pay the same and put their horses on restricted so are using less than half what we do.
 
£15 is a bit too much imo. It depends on how many liveries are using the bale and how much it costs yo to buy in - on yards where we have shared a bale it is the cost of the bales split equally between who's using it.

I think £10 would be reasonable ( for my area anyway ) especially for hay. I do know a yard near me that charges £30 per week DIY that includes haylage year round and the option if unlimited straw for £15 per week extra. But again its also the convenience factor - it may be much more convenient to have hay on site than having to source your own.
 
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I pay £25pcm :o

Choice of hay or hayledge in winter, however my mare can only go on hay. No real restriction as long as you aren't wasting loads of it.

ETA: I do pay for it year round even though mare is out 24/7 in summer so swings and roundabouts really.
 
I wouldn't cos I'm massively allergic to hay and can't breath if I use it on a regular basis so my horse has to have haylage (and he has erm rather specific needs that mean it's just easier for me to order it in) however from when I had a normal horse I think that amount is quite acceptable tbh. When I was at a yard where we used to order bales in and split the costs that's about what it worked out at per horse per week. Your 11.1 will obv be using a bit less than that but I'd suspect unless a good doer your bigger one will probably be eating a little more so it balances.
 
I don't think that is a bad price. My 14.2 eats £12.50 worth of hay per week and that is not including me having to go and get it and put it out etc. I use a giant net on a round bale so there is virtually no waste either.
 
I had 7 horses last winter on ad lib round bale hay. One bale @£35 lasted them 5 days. That's £1/day/horse - £7/week - and mine are big horses - 17hh+
 
I'm on DIY and buy hay from yard at £3 a bale for good quality hay. YO tops up my pallet as needed. I average between about 20 to 30 bales a month depending on time of year. That's for 3 horses. They get ad lib and always have some left over in net.
 
I don't think that's unreasonable. I pay that for very good quality hay and two bags of wood pellets a week in winter but pay same rate all year round, even though they are generally out 24/7 from April to November so you could look at it as £30 per week when they are in (and subtract the pellets at c £3.50 per bag).

However, it is ad lib and when, as happened last week, my horse has to be on box rest during the summer for any reason, I am not expected to pay extra, although I would offer if it was for a long period.

I have also paid for my own hay and bedding in the past and it might work out a bit cheaper but this way I don't have to worry about ordering, quality or storage so am happy with the arrangement, which was by choice and agreed when we moved to the yard.
 
Sounds fine by me. firstly, I think that's about right for the cost, but secondly, considering the not having to order, the not having x £100s tied up in the barn, and the not worrying about a source, I'd say that as good value.
 
A round bale used to cost me £30 and last 6weeks for 2 horses. Now I pay around £10 per week each horse, which works out a lot more expensive. But it's worth it to be on the right yard and to not have the hassle of ordering one round bale at a time and waiting around endlessly for the farmer to be bothered to deliver it, because they never come on the time/day they say they will. Also don't have to have the bale stored outside my stable, like I would if everyone had individual round bales, meaning I can tie up outside if I want to. As the YO has the hassle of making the hay/ordering it in and storing it, I don't mind them making a profit off it with the price they charge liveries, otherwise where's the incentive for them to provide the service in the first place.
 
I think £15pw for as lib hay is actually pretty good value.

We used to pay £15pw all year round at a dodgy yard, and that was for one x 5kg haynet and one x 3kg haynet per day in winter, and next to none in summer. And it often got nicked from the stable, so great value (not!)
 
well last winter I was using almost a 6 bales a week for 1 horse, just under a bale a day at £4 a bale, so I would be more than happy to pay £15 a week as that's only 3.75 bales I'd be paying for!

I assume though that you are paying for it all year round? and obviously wouldn't be using that much for an 11hh pony
 
Mongoose11 said:
I think £15 is a decent price for as lib for a horse but I'd be uncomfortable having to pay it for the pony.
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yes I'd agree with this, a 14.2 pony maybe but not a dinky one. My 11.2 probably wouldn't eat more than a bale a week evened out over the year
 
For the nine large horses at home I go through about £80 per week in winter and about £20 - £30 per week in summer. That is buying large rectangular bales from my local feed merchant. On that basis the amount the OP has asked about seems a little on the high side, especially for the small pony although I do appreciate that the yard needs to turn a profit.
 
I've been on 2 different yards that offered ad lib haylage over winter, one was £37 a month extra, and the other was between £5-7 a week depending on how much time they spent in

ETA - I would expect to pay for adlib hay would be significantly more expensive, as it is more expensive to buy in than haylage
 
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