to use haynets or to use nothing but the floor that is the question

[Doris68]

Always on the floor - more natural. Recently, have bought a HayBar and am finding it good. It must be cleaned out every couple of days, as the short bits are inclined to lurk at the bottom. Much less waste than on the floor and she can't pee on it (without a gret deal of difficulty...!!).

 

[now_loves_mares]

XL tub trugs for me too. TBH both mine just pull the hay out, but at least it gives me something to carry it in! I stopped using a haynet on my youngster a while ago as a) she cribs when eating from a net and b) she always used to pull them down, no matter what you did. However I was still using them with my older (fatty!) horse, but then read on here about a horse getting it's haynet stuck in it's teeth and breaking it's jaw

Now no haynets in my stables! My fatty is loving it, I keep catching her with her head over the stable door with about a 3 foot length of haylage hanging from her gob, which she just slowly munches up into her mouth. I swear she is smiling!

 

[chunklovescooks]

We feed bob from 2 nets, one on the barred wall next to another horse, and one on the inner wall which is the one facing the passageway so that he is encouraged to walk around a bit, we were told that as long as they are tied at withers height they should be OK. We also always tie them up to the bars using billy-band (bailers twine) which should in theory break before the horses leg, but i wouldnt bet money on it. I have had problems when feeding bob from the floor when bob runs his hay into his bed, its a right pain to muck out!

I am looking for designs for a "manger" type thing that i can hang on the bars, like a hay-rack but i dont think the YO would like my drilling into the barn walls to put a proper rack in.

RE: Likits we have no problems with bob smearing his nets with the likit, mainly because he doesnt use it much, he gets a bit annoyed because he cant keep it still

 

[lilym]

i feed my cobs hay off the floor to encourage her to stretch down, wastage is not a problem as she eats every scrap!!

 

[tikino]

what about a hayball??
http://www.jameskeyserproducts.co.uk/hayball.html

 

[SpruceRI]

I feed from the floor

One of my ponies leaves her hay where I put it, doesn't mix it with her straw bed nor trample on it.

My Shetland has his hay tucked in the furthest corner amongst the straw, otherwise he treads on it and wees in it.
Mind you, it's all gone in the morning, so does he eat it 'wee flavoured'?? !!

And my youngster is awful. She twirles round and round the stable mixing the hay in with the bedding and then wondering where all her food has gone!!! She's a div!!

But they mainly live out so they eat out of a wooden hackrack!!

 

[natalia]

floor every time! But only if your stable is big enough to do so, i had one horse who would only eat out a net, and wouldn't touch what was put on the floor for him, and another that will eat off the floor but picks through it ten times more and then leaves more than he eats, whihc is annoying as i end up having to feed all his scraps to another who ganets down everything!