Water troughs as hay feeders? Anyone tried it?

[maya2008]

As in title. Need a heavy duty solution that is safe for youngsters and won’t get blown down the hill.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Not actually but have certainly thought about it, I am sick of putting hay out in the mud and watching them trample on it.

 

[AdorableAlice]

If you are thinking of the metal self filling trough type, my thought would be the possibility of knees being bashed if they argue around the trough and the trough is on the ground. If you can lift it up it would lessen the risk.

 

[Imogen Rose]

I use metal IBC water cube crates. Just take the plastic cube out and you have a perfect feeder. I bought a pair 3 years ago and they are the best horsey purchase I have made!

 

[rabatsa]

I have used wooden potato boxes.

 

[conkers]

Get a couple of old tractor tyres. Put them one on top of the other. Bolt them together. Voila - a hay feeder with no hard edges that won't blow away.

 

[Mrs Jingle]

not so sure about some of these ideas - thought I would try the tractor tyre one myself but saw this and thought I would rather let them trample some hay into the ground!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Please no tractor tyres. In addition to the pic posted by Sparklyballs above, there are many other examples to be found on t’internet of horses stuck in tractor tyres, some of which had a tragic outcome. I used to have a selection of such pics which I used to post on similar threads to act as a warning, but tbh it churned my stomach looking at them, so I have deleted them.

Before we had the field shelters and could feed hay in those, I fed hay on the ground in the field. To hell with the wastage, I’d rather that than an injured horse.

 

[cauda equina]

Yes, I use a big plastic one and it works well
It's rectangular, 200 litres I think, and I took out the ballcock/fill pipe so there are no loose bits

 

[yhanni]

I used to use secondhand fish boxes. They are big, heavy, waterproof but have drain holes & are Percheron proof ?. Never had a problem with them. Can be manhandled to drier ground too if needs be.

 

[PeterNatt]

Do not use metal water troughs as if they kick them they can fracture a leg. Always use plastic water troughs such as the Paxton ones.
https://paxtonagri.com/product-category/agricultural/rectangular-drinking-troughs/

 

[Rosie Round The Hills]

Yes. Last winter in Alberta I used an old water trough to put the free-feed oat straw in each day. This was in addition to the netted round bale. It worked perfectly because four horses could stand around it eating, without getting in each other’s space. I won’t be doing that now I’m back in the UK though, because I don’t want to create a poached area by using just one space for feeding. When I have my turnout space that’s off the mud all sorted, I might go back to using an old trough for forage in the winter.

 

[Bangagin]

I use metal IBC water cube crates. Just take the plastic cube out and you have a perfect feeder. I bought a pair 3 years ago and they are the best horsey purchase I have made!

I use a metal IBC crate, but I tie haynets to the sides as the crate is pretty deep and difficult for the horses to reach over and eat the hay from the base - do you have big horses or do you find a lot of hay at the bottom gets wasted?