Those horses living out 24/7...hay.....

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almrc

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....and with a bit of grass left but not much, so no new grass at all - how much hay do you feed per day and do you give it in the morning or the night or doesnt it matter?

My fields done well, still some grass but I gave them hay last night and they ate it - which means there is now a lot less grass - otherwise they dont touch the hay they much prefer grass!! They are on feed, but only half a scoop of happy hoof at the mo. i have a 14.3 cob, 15hh cob x and my 2.7yr old tb x

So for 3 horses (1 is a youngster) how much hay do you feed of a 'normal' size bale and when?
 
I give mine morning and night at the moment, although Ive just bought another round bale so I think tomorrow im going to roll it in the field so they can eat as and when they like.

For 3 horses I would think a bale of hay a day would suffice?
 
Two of mine live out. They still have a fair bit of grass left so are getting 2 slices of hay each per day (one in the morning, one at night) they are leaving some so I can't be that hungry.
Both are cobs, one is a v good doer, the other is fed hard feed accordingly.
Last year in a different field they had a bale and a quarter a day between them.
 
I fed round bales last year but there was a lot of waste, so have bought in lots of small bales. I have been feeding a bale a day so far, at night and its gone by the morning. i wasnt sure if it was enough. 2 out of my 3 are good do-ers
 
My 16.2 veteran has ab lib, top quality haylage, which I only need to put out once per day as she has a hay hutch that I fill to the brim. She eats 14-16 kg of the stuff in 24 hours!
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My 16hh, good dooer, WB, is also only hayed once a day in a hay hutch, and on ab lib, but usually plain hay. She only eats about 8-10kg per day (about 3 bales a week) I have eased her onto a little haylage to mix with it for this cold spell though, as I'd rather do that then give her hard feed.
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I would expect your 3 to get through about 2 bales a day to start with and see where you go from there in terms of their condition and appetite
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Personally I'd feed 1 bale between them a day whilst there's still grass about.
My 2 live out and get through 1/2 bale a day when they are out on poorer grass (but with a big hard feed too)
 
what do you call a big hard feed?

also, how long would a big round bale last 3 of them? when i used round bales before, it worked out cheaper to buy small bales, as they are £2 a bale and the large one is £20
 
All out 24/7. No grass to speak of, temperatures permanently -5C or less now.

I reckon on a bale a day per horse for 14.2 upwards, plus grain feed. My bales weigh approximately 60lbs, so, for horses weighing upward of 1000lbs that isn't exactly starvation rations.

Three minis and a QH weanling just about clean up a bale between them.
 
2 ponies 1 NF only eats grass and is well covered (wouldn't want to be fatter), other is skinny arab type and well rugged and fed 2 x day. Plenty of grass, but as it's now covered with snow apart from round the hedges and in som long bits the tufts poke through they've been eating more hay - not quite eaten a bale between them in 24 hours.
 
[ QUOTE ]
what do you call a big hard feed?

also, how long would a big round bale last 3 of them? when i used round bales before, it worked out cheaper to buy small bales, as they are £2 a bale and the large one is £20

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow- you have very cheap small bales! Lucky!!
I have a skinny horse and she gets 2 scoops hard feed twice a day. The other gets mainly chaff just to keep her occupied whilst other eats.
Round here hay is 2.75/bale at least
 
My 2 v good doers are now on a ration of 4 slices per day, 2 in morning and 2 at night, the TB got taken to her stable last night and the ponies where left with 2 blaes of hay, they munched a bit but have since been spotted lying on it!! when i went down before there was still some left and they where standing away from it picking at the grass. There both tubby and hairy and happy!
 
2 of mine are good do-ers and slightly overweight! both on half a scoop of happy hoof, youngster is on scoop of alfa. i have been feeding a bale a day recently so think i will carry that on for a bit.
 
we have 10 living out, 5 ponies and 5 horses all 16hh+ and we are as a norm using 6 small bales a day split 3 am and 3 pm, this morning I put 6 out because it is so cold and same again tonight because they had eaten it all! The biggies are all looking ready to start hard feeds as are starting to drop a little weight and a couple not yet rugged will be in the next day or so. We also have a couple of ponies and a horse in at night and they are getting through almost 2 bales a day between nets and what goes in their paddock through the day, should have got hooked on a blurdy goldfish, I'd be rich!!
 
Normally get about 2/3 of a bale between a 12hh rescue pony and 15.2hh cob a day, split between morning and night. (Ours do seem larger for normal bales though)

Chucked a whole bale out last night so they had something to eat when it snowed and they've had adlib hay because of the snow.
 
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