Slow release feeders

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beerecco

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Hello everyone, would love to hear your views on slow release hay/haylage feeders.

Our mare is being treated for ulcers, currently we just use normal haynets but I'm wondering about slow release feeders so she's not left without hay, but at the same time so she doesn't become like a barrel on legs as her most recent condition score was 3.25 (before the ulcers were diagnosed) and she's not been doing any work for the last month or so.

Are the small mesh haynets better, or would we be better to look at something like the easigrazer? Don't want to have to spend more than we need to!

Thanks
 
As you know she has ulcers the best "treatment" would be to get her out 24/7 so she is moving about and has free access to grass, obviously not in a lush field, otherwise she needs to have something to eat all the time so rather than making her work too hard for hay I would soak it to remove most of the goodness and give her unlimited access using a combination of some on the floor and some in a small holed net.
I find the greedy ones are best if they can pig out for a while, feel content they are then happy to pick for the rest of the time, if they have a hard time from the start they get frustrated and it winds them up which will be no good for ulcers, the other option would be to feed some straw for when the hay runs low, I have got weight off using this method and had content, relaxed horses and it doesn't cost anything other than the time messing about soaking.
 
Thanks for the advice :-) 24 hour turnout isn't possible unfortunately, but have never soaked the hay so far. If you're feeding from the floor do you literally just put it on the floor or put it in some kind of trough? Thanks.
 
I just put a portion on the floor and leave the rest in nets, soaking for at least 1 hour will remove a fair amount of nutrients and makes a huge difference, if you can soak it all day/ night then rinse it will be not much more than a filler and will keep them happy without putting on weight.
 
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