Round bale nets

meleeka

meleeka

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Does anyone use round bale nets? How do you get them on? I use round hay and I don’t like the thought of leaving the mesh on, but can’t think of another way? I’m just trying to think of some time saving ideas for the winter. (I left a bale loose last year and it was gone in two days for 3 ponies😱)
 
We used one last year. It is essentially a giant hay net with a draw string/rope. We put it over the top and pulled the string tight at the bottom. if you have some one with you to wiggle the bale as you pull it makes it a bit easier as the rope can then go right underneath. I think they are probably safer in a feeding ring or with a fence of some sort round them. We had ours on the corner of a shelter. But my shod cob would get his feet/shoe's caught in it and drag the whole lot across the field in a panic. Once the bale isn't new they get a bit baggy.
 
dorsetladette said:
We used one last year. It is essentially a giant hay net with a draw string/rope. We put it over the top and pulled the string tight at the bottom. if you have some one with you to wiggle the bale as you pull it makes it a bit easier as the rope can then go right underneath. I think they are probably safer in a feeding ring or with a fence of some sort round them. We had ours on the corner of a shelter. But my shod cob would get his feet/shoe's caught in it and drag the whole lot across the field in a panic. Once the bale isn't new they get a bit baggy.
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Did you just leave the mesh on the bale? That’s the bit I’m not sure of. I worry about them eating it or getting teeth stuck.

None of mine are shod and are used to Hay pillows.
 
dorsetladette said:
We took the mesh off. The bale nets are good for keeping everything in one place. The holes in our one were quite big - sort of nose/hoof size of a welsh cob.
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Sorry to sound stupid but did you take the mesh off before you put the net over? Didn’t the hay just expand and collapse everywhere? A friend had one and this is what happened when we tried it. It might have been because the net wasn’t much bigger than the bale though.
 
Our bales are quite tightly rolled/packed so they hold there own shape without the mesh when they are new. So yes we would take the mesh off and then put the net on as soon as the bale was delivered so ponies didn't have time to trash/poo in the hay.
 
I start the wrapping net unwinding until I get to where it is only a single turn left in place. I then put the bale net over the bale and pulled down. The bale is then overturned onto the other end and the wrap net is removed and the bale net pulled right to the top and tied securely. The bale is then pushed back onto the tied end and the ring feeder placed round it.

The trick is to make sure that you buy a net for larger bales than you use otherwise it is like trying to put on mini skirts in a wind. The last nets bought last year were meant to be the same size as the previous ones but are so small that I have to use both and stitch them together round the middle of the bale with band. Now that is a two person job, one to pull the wrap out and the other to stitch as it goes.
 
I used one - with a bit of practice it was easy to get on. The horses made holes in it so I was always using baler twine to darn it. When the bale got low it became a problem. It would collapse and part of the net were underneath. Horses would walk on bits of the bale and it all got trampled into the ground. That made getting the net back to use next time really quite hard. In the end I invested in a tombstone style ring feeder. Best thing I ever did. Much less work. Much less wastage than with a net. My advice is to save your money and buy a good quality tombstone ring feeder. Tombstone style is suitable for horses as it stops their neck and heads from getting caught.
 
Hack4fun said:
I used one - with a bit of practice it was easy to get on. The horses made holes in it so I was always using baler twine to darn it. When the bale got low it became a problem. It would collapse and part of the net were underneath. Horses would walk on bits of the bale and it all got trampled into the ground. That made getting the net back to use next time really quite hard. In the end I invested in a tombstone style ring feeder. Best thing I ever did. Much less work. Much less wastage than with a net. My advice is to save your money and buy a good quality tombstone ring feeder. Tombstone style is suitable for horses as it stops their neck and heads from getting caught.
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Thankyou. I’m slightly concerned at how quickly they’ll eat it if there’s no net. Honestly my cob looks like a cow when he eats with big lumps hanging out of his mouth. He really does not need an all you can eat buffet, but I’ve always fed pretty much ad-lib in nets. A combination of the two might work better.
 
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