Round hay bale net feeders - Yay or Neigh?

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Tonimarie

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Hi. I have recently bought a massive small holed net that holds a full 5 foot bale.
My plan is to sit this on a pallet on field matting in the paddock for my horse so he has free access to his hay but isnt able to pull it all over the field, lie on it and poo and wee all over it and then refuse to eat it...which he has done previously when I trailed putting a bale in his field.
He is unshod so there is no fear of him catching a shoe in it and when it starts to empty and sag, I plan to empty whatever is left into a large wooden crate so I dont have a loose net in the field for him to get caught up on.
I have heard mixed feelings about these. What are everyone's experiences of them??. Thanks. X
 
Hmmm.. good point!.....Was that because it got rained on etc??. How big is your horse? Is he a good eater...mine is..but a poor doer. A round bale which is normally covered over and fed twice daily would last me 3 and a bit...maybe 4 weeks so I reckon, ad lib in a net I'll get 3 weeks tops from a bale. X
 
scruffyponies said:
I think it's a great plan, but I'd want a little shelter over it if possible, to keep the rain off.
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That would be ideal.. unfortunately I dont think the yard owner would be that obliging.....and we are on top of a cliff so it would have to be pretty sturdy. Our field shelters are made of pretty strong stuff. X
 
we had one a couple of winters ago. My shod horse kept getting caught in it so we stopped. But I have to say they sag pretty quickly. We had ours in a shelter, but it could really have done with something round it to stop greedy ponies standing on it and getting feet/legs caught in it once the bale was no longer brand new.

We had 4 greedy ponies go through about a bale a week.
 
Tonimarie said:
Hmmm.. good point!.....Was that because it got rained on etc??. How big is your horse? Is he a good eater...mine is..but a poor doer. A round bale which is normally covered over and fed twice daily would last me 3 and a bit...maybe 4 weeks so I reckon, ad lib in a net I'll get 3 weeks tops from a bale. X
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It was a 16hh horse and I made it to two weeks before I threw the rest away. It did get rained on which I think was the problem.
 
I feed round bales and have done for 5 years. I have one 16hh connie cross and a little 14.2 connie type. They are both fatties and come out of winter like bulls. We managed to purchase a ring feeder and a trickle net and this helped slow them down. However I wouldn't use it without the ring feeder they do sag very quickly. We have never had a problem with hay going mouldy but it lasts for 2 weeks, I would consider with one horse maybe buying a create and topping it up as I think you may have a problem with hay going off. We also buy 3 at a time and store in our field, we cover them up with covers from Staffordshire bale covers which allow the hay to breathe. I couldn't go back to feeding hay now any other way as go down once to yard only. Horses are never at the gate and are very happy as have adequate forage in all weathers. Just have to accept that they do get fat but it seems to come off easily enough for eventing in March so maybe more of a hay belly!
 
I had one - it worked fine for the first 50% of the bale. Then it would flop over onto the net and and generally a nuisance. When it got low they would walk/wee/etc over the haylage. It was not easy to separate from the wastage when there was nothing edible left. I then got a ring feeder. That was so much better - expensive though. I got a tombstone one which is designed for horses. Somehow they still throw some haylage out of it so I am thinking of resurrecting the net to see what happens - it has a lot of holes in it now; they do not last. I have never worried about a cover - rain has not been a problem and I get through it in about a week.
 
You really need a ring feeder, or you will waste at least half of the big bale , sorry.

I have ring feeders and nets over too, just to try and slow them down a bit
 
I use one...bale on top of a pallet. I use it next to the fence line and tie it to a post. As it gets eaten down I pull it taught and tie the excess to the fence post. I use a piece of tarpaulin as a top cover and use baler twine to 'sew' it on
 
I used a big bale net when the horses were young but always in a feeder. Another point to consider regarding safety is the front clips of rugs getting caught up in the net. Happened several times with both buckles, clips and the rambo 'T' design. I wrapped a velcro sleeve over the front of all the rugs to prevent it.

I didn't have waste at all, but I was feeding 3 horses, 2 of which are massive. One round bale lasted one week fed in a net within a feeder which was in a barn so no rain on it. Personally I would not put one in a field, shod or not horses. The draw string would present an instant problem unless you could secure it to something and check it twice daily at least. I was impressed with the quality of the net, it did 5 winters and is still as good as new without a single hole in it. I will never use it again as the horses get fat too quickly now they are mature and ad lib haylage is a distant dream for them.
 
Its fine if there are a few horses using it but otherwise I would provide shelter for it or the rain will soon make it unedible and difficult to get the hay out.One thing I have found with small holed nets is chaffing against the horses muzzle can occur in an attempt to pull wet hay out.Also its surprising how easily they can get their feet caught up in nets and they will pull and toss them about to select the bits they want. In the bad winter of 2010 I slung a huge haynet at head height that would take a bale between two big evergreen conifers. It was very dry and sheltered for three horses. They munched 24/7 when snow lay from Nov.to March. I put down shavings for any poaching. They lived out and with the heat and energy the hay was providing all my horse needed was a 1200 denier rainsheet most days. If its only for one horse a large crate in a sheltered spot may work better although it would need attention daily .
 
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We used to have a big bale in a ring feeder in winter but they got fat as pigs so changed to having the bale delivered outside the fence and barrowing their ration in twice a day. We fortunately have an area of concrete in the field that is used for feeding on.
 
Mister Ted said:
Its fine if there are a few horses using it but otherwise I would provide shelter for it or the rain will soon make it unedible and difficult to get the hay out.One thing I have found with small holed nets is chaffing against the horses muzzle can occur in an attempt to pull wet hay out.Also its surprising how easily they can get their feet caught up in nets and they will pull and toss them about to select the bits they want. In the bad winter of 2010 I slung a huge haynet at head height that would take a bale between two big evergreen conifers. It was very dry and sheltered for three horses. They munched 24/7 when snow lay from Nov.to March. I put down shavings for any poaching. They lived out and with the heat and energy the hay was providing all my horse needed was a 1200 denier rainsheet most days. If its only for one horse a large crate in a sheltered spot may work better although it would need attention daily .
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I go daily sometimes twice daily so that's not a problem. Unfortunately we have no trees as we are on a cliff edge and it's very exposed so I wanted him to have plenty of access to forage and I also prefer to feed from the ground. He does have a crate but he tends to toss it about and then it blows around the field. 🙄 He has hay in his shelter too but as he likes to be out of his shelter unless it's raining, I was trying to think of options for him to have free access to hay outside without it being tied up and without it blowing around all over the place.
 
Gloi said:
We used to have a big bale in a ring feeder in winter but they got fat as pigs so changed to having the bale delivered outside the fence and barrowing their ration in twice a day. We fortunately have an area of concrete in the field that is used for feeding on.
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Not overugging can be the answer in Winter.If they are eating ad lib all they will need is a no fill rain sheet.Eating hay generates a huge amount of warmth and they need to be trickle feeding constantly and not standing with empty bellies when their ration has run out although you may have given sufficient to last..I have not found a problem with a big bale in the field as long as they are not heavily rugged except for an older T/B which needed extra rugging.
 
Mister Ted said:
Not overugging can be the answer in Winter.If they are eating ad lib all they will need is a no fill rain sheet.Eating hay generates a huge amount of warmth and they need to be trickle feeding constantly and not standing with empty bellies when their ration has run out although you may have given sufficient to last..I have not found a problem with a big bale in the field as long as they are not heavily rugged except for an older T/B which needed extra rugging.
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I have unrugged, bib-clipped natives and having a round bale one year was a disaster for their weight management -it was a tough winter too. natives are not designed to be troughing good fibre 24/7 without working for it. Personally for my ponies I'd not contemplate it at all.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
I have unrugged, bib-clipped natives and having a round bale one year was a disaster for their weight management -it was a tough winter too. natives are not designed to be troughing good fibre 24/7 without working for it. Personally for my ponies I'd not contemplate it at all.
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Agreed - if mine had 24/7 access to hay, they'd explode. And mine tend to work fairly hard all winter too.

Small daily ground nets? That's what I do, although in my case it's because the idiots can't be trusted with a big bale.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
I have unrugged, bib-clipped natives and having a round bale one year was a disaster for their weight management -it was a tough winter too. natives are not designed to be troughing good fibre 24/7 without working for it. Personally for my ponies I'd not contemplate it at all.
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He is an Appaloosa who tends to run off quite a bit over winter. He is unclipped as I'm not able to ride as much as I'd like at the moment and only in a very light fill rain sheet to protect against the wind chill coming off the sea. I know this breed are SUPPOSED to be hardy, but I think someone forgot to tell my boy this!!! Lol.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
I have unrugged, bib-clipped natives and having a round bale one year was a disaster for their weight management -it was a tough winter too. natives are not designed to be troughing good fibre 24/7 without working for it. Personally for my ponies I'd not contemplate it at all.
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I agree it would not suit small natives unless mixed in with larger horses who were getting the main share.Much depends on the quality and amount of grazing space in winter available to them also and of course type and age.I had a 14yr Welsh 12.2 and two Shelties living out eating ad lib hay all winter not big bale just well stocked hay nets.Their paddock was sparse.Their weight was spot on come the Spring . I have had horses mixed in with natives on big bale no problem with weight issues. I realise Shelties for eg.are able to survive on very little but that is in their natural wild state where they have accsess to roam many miles getting the best nutrition to survive. Cooping them up in small fields means they do need hay in winter and its trial and error with the amount for many to find which suits them best.
 
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JFTD-WS said:
Agreed - if mine had 24/7 access to hay, they'd explode. And mine tend to work fairly hard all winter too.

Small daily ground nets? That's what I do, although in my case it's because the idiots can't be trusted with a big bale.
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Same here, and one of mine is an elderly Arab! I have always fed off the ground. Mine don't seem to waste any of it! In the depths of winter I bag up all their hay at the weekend using old shavings bags then leave it weighted down near the field gate so the YO can give them a bag each am and pm. A lot of the winter I don't feed any hay as have good grass. Looking at the land I've got (YO has taken over a new place and mine are the only ones there) I reckon I'll only need to feed hay once we get into February.
 
Mister Ted said:
Not overugging can be the answer in Winter.If they are eating ad lib all they will need is a no fill rain sheet.Eating hay generates a huge amount of warmth and they need to be trickle feeding constantly and not standing with empty bellies when their ration has run out although you may have given sufficient to last..I have not found a problem with a big bale in the field as long as they are not heavily rugged except for an older T/B which needed extra rugging.
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These were native types, none of them rugged at all and the ones being ridden with bib clips.
 
Tonimarie said:
He is an Appaloosa who tends to run off quite a bit over winter. He is unclipped as I'm not able to ride as much as I'd like at the moment and only in a very light fill rain sheet to protect against the wind chill coming off the sea. I know this breed are SUPPOSED to be hardy, but I think someone forgot to tell my boy this!!! Lol.
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well it sounds like it might work for you then :) it was the rather blanket statement that almost anything will be alright eating ad lib as long as not rugged-its simply not true (Exmoors, Fell and Lusitanos).The whole 'my horse must have access to good hay/haylage 24/7' is imo why we have such issues with equine obesity (along with overrugging). It take s bit more work to ration out hay but then they aren't and shouldn't be easy animals to keep.
 
Large bale on hard standing. With a Trickle Net over it. With a Hay Bell over the top. On the last day I take the net off and leave them to tidy up.

It lasts 4 horses 6 days.

The "normal" three live with the bale, self-regulate and don't get fat. The fat native pony whilst fine last year when in full work is off games this year and was getting porky. He now has a grazing muzzle on during the day, which makes it harder work and then gets brought into a trickle net with hay and straw to reduce his intake overnight.

They do not move the feeder at all, and I'm not sure they'd manage to if they wanted to. The only time I got a rubbed mane was when I had the native pony eating small bales out of it in summer. He was picking the net up and shaking it about, and because there were flies about he was having a good old scratch.
 
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