Show me your homemade hay bars

Roasted Chestnuts

Roasted Chestnuts

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I am toying with the idea of a hay bar for my veteran, I may be about to change jobs and return to full time work and also my veteran sometimes coughs. It is easier for me to grab three big leafs and shake it into a hay bar than to make up Haynets daily. At present I make up seven big Haynets every Saturday but space is tight in the barn so storing them can be tough as the yard is full.

Haynets are great for making sure he isn't wasting hay as he likes to drag it into his bed and ruin it if it's fed from the floor :rolleyes: but I'm conscious as he ages the advantages of feeding from a haybar for his breathing and also it being more natural.

The space I have in the stable (rectangular stable) means a conventional branded haybar won't fit, it will be too big so my dad is a joiner by trade and is going to make me one.

So pictures please of your homemade ones would be appreciated. Also those of you with veterans prone to coughing who use one if you could let me know if you noticed a difference please.

Thanks :)
 
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No pictures, but we just used a piece of stirling board across a corner, with a piece of planed timber across the top to prevent splinters.
Dont forget a gap at the bottom to allow seeds / dust to fall through.
 
I work at a shop and whenever we get a big delivery on a pallet we nick them and either burn them (we have an open fire! We're not pyromaniacs :P ) or I make fantastic hay bars out of them (well, more a manger.)

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Thanks for the replies. Id have thought more people in here would have experience with their own designs and their experiences with haybars for oldies.

The pics ive found on Google haven't been great and also interested in the height people have fixed them at for different heights of equines.
 
The best one I've seen on here was one that had strips of wood down each side but where the main part was a bit of rubber mat bent in to a curve, i thought it was a great idea
 
Somebody on here did a wheelie bin with a hole in the bottom for the hay to be pulled out, would that be any good? You could drill holes in the back of the bin so it could fasten to the wall?
 
I have wheelie bins for my paddocks. You could use a smaller one for a stable I did think of doing that. It just needs to be anchored with a clip to the wall.

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No experience of oldies, but have made my own hay bar. I used thick ply that was still thin enough to bend, and cut it into a triangle shape with the top angle cut off, so that when this was turned upside down and fixed to the wall it would leave a gap, now at the bottom of the upside down triangle, for access to clear out the seeds and dust. The upside down triangle was fixed to the wall with batons, approx 5cm X 3cm X the long side lengths of your triangle screwed to the walls in a variety shape slightly narrower than the upside down triangle held up against the corner of the stable. And the triangle slid in behind them, causing it to bow a bit. I actually still use a tied up Haynet inside it, otherwise all the hay gets rifled through, with the unwanted hay dropped on the floor anyway and trampled through the bed. This happens a lot less with the hay net inside the hay bar. You can put a tie ring quite low down in the hay bar so that it is more of a natural feeding position. As far as the height of the hay bar, I measured the height from th ground to where the neck joined the chest when he was eating and added a bit (technical term!) As I still wanted him to be able to reach the bottom but not get his foot in there. Sorry no photos as too much faff with photo bucket at this time of the morning. I will later if you need me to!
 
I made one using a grass mat attached to the wall (in a corner) by 2 pieces of 2 x 2 (I think) - means you can have them at the most suitable angle/height for your horse. Finished off with a rubber doormat in the bottom that could be lifted out and shaken. I'll see if I can dig out a photo.

Alternatively, there are these guys - http://www.equisensedesigns.co.uk/products - I have one for my other stable and it's fab. Because it's attached to the brackets with velcro you can remove it to give it a good shake/hosedown or just to sweep out properly underneath.
 
SpottyMare said:
I made one using a grass mat attached to the wall (in a corner) by 2 pieces of 2 x 2 (I think) - means you can have them at the most suitable angle/height for your horse. Finished off with a rubber doormat in the bottom that could be lifted out and shaken. I'll see if I can dig out a photo.

Alternatively, there are these guys - http://www.equisensedesigns.co.uk/products - I have one for my other stable and it's fab. Because it's attached to the brackets with velcro you can remove it to give it a good shake/hosedown or just to sweep out properly underneath.
Click to expand...

That looks interesting. Anyone used one long term? How much do they hold?
 
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