Ways of feeding hay off floor in stable

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NikNak1

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I would like to start feeding my horse hay/haylege off the floor or lower down as when she recently had physio she was tight in her neck which may have been due to/exacerbated by yanking at the haynet. She is a good do-er and is also a pig so eats her haynet very quickly so it is double or sometimes triple netted to try and slow her down. I have started giving her a kg when she comes in in a tug bucket but a lot of it has also ended up in her bed! Has anyone managed to find anything to contain the hay that also slow eating whilst eating from ground level as sadly adlib hay is not really an option. I'm also not sure whether the yard owner would allow a haybar or anything that has to be drilled into the stable. I found something on google which sounded ideal but about $500 and would need to ship from the US! http://www.slowdownhayfeeder.com/content/view/12/26/ It looks fairly simple so I wonder if anyone has a homemade version or anything??
Have people found that the haycube slow eating down at all?
Any ideas or suggetions much appreciated!
 
Re: Straw bedding dilemma!
A friend at my yard came up with this idea of feeding hay, and I actually think it's brill-saves mess and waste, slows them down eating it, enables them to still eat from ground level, and you can fill it much more than a haynet so she shouldn't run out over night-
Get a clean wheelie bin, cut a 'window' out on the front side at the bottom making sure it's got no sharp bits, place a slant of wood plank on an angle at the bottom on the bin to encourage hay to fall towards hole, use good tie straps attached to stable wall to hold it secure when in situ.

It actually works so well I am in the process of making one for mine.
 
Ooh I like the wheelie bin idea! Will have a look into that thanks!
She's shod in front so sadly hay pillows are probably a non stater
 
Being a tiny bit radical . . . can you not just feed from the floor? Our physio/chiro recommended the same . . . so I started feeding Pops from the floor. The first morning after I had to chuck a boatload away . . . but now I've hit on exactly how much he needs and I just tip it onto his floor (in front of his straw bed) and it's pretty much gone by morning barring a few strands.

P
 
We use a giant tubtrug thing that the 19.2hh on the yard used as a feed bucket, that holds a very full haynet and us flexible. Duct tape weights to the bottom or just big flat rocks and rthey get bored of trying to move it:-) hope this helps!
 
Just stick it on the floor. My filly went to school and this is how they fed hay. No nets allowed. Shavings bed, hay on floor. If it goes in bed, clean it out or are you too lazy!!!!

Or get a manger that goes from your head height with an opening on the floor. Make one yourself with some wood and wire mesh in a corner.
 
There is something called a "hay cube"
www.haycube.co.uk
It can also be used for soaking hay as it has a bung on the bottom to drain water out... I am thinking of one after dublins tieback op as he will always need to be fed off the floor and if the hay gets dusty it will need to be soaked for him.
 
Thanks for the ideas everyone! I would love to just put it on the floor but I suspect it would all be gone in about 5minutes as she is quite greedy and would then be left without any food for a long time. So something that would slow her down as well would be ideal!
The tubtrug idea sounds worth a try and v straightforward!
 
NikNak1 said:
Thanks for the ideas everyone! I would love to just put it on the floor but I suspect it would all be gone in about 5minutes as she is quite greedy and would then be left without any food for a long time. So something that would slow her down as well would be ideal!
The tubtrug idea sounds worth a try and v straightforward!
Click to expand...

I sympathise with you RE not wanting to put it on the floor because they'll eat it too quickly, it has nothing to do with being too lazy to clean it out of the bed :/ So I am interested to hear replies :D
 
I use the wheelie bin, hole cut in, padding and duct tape round the edges and it works brilliantly. I stick a whole bale in at a time and it lasts for ages. Much longer than chucking it on the floor :)
 
ROMANY 1959 said:
There is something called a "hay cube"
www.haycube.co.uk
It can also be used for soaking hay as it has a bung on the bottom to drain water out... I am thinking of one after dublins tieback op as he will always need to be fed off the floor and if the hay gets dusty it will need to be soaked for him.
Click to expand...

They are very expensive ! £100, that is 3 bales of round haylage. I would stick the hay on the floor and let a greedy horse clear the mess up. For a wasteful horse I would just give less and less until they clear up and then gradually increase until a balance is achieved.
 
I used to use a Hay Hutch for my youngster as I didn't want him having a hay net when he was a baby. Not sure it slows them down all that much, but is a bit harder to get to than stuff on the floor (unless, like him, they get the lid off!)
 
ROMANY 1959 said:
There is something called a "hay cube"
www.haycube.co.uk
It can also be used for soaking hay as it has a bung on the bottom to drain water out... I am thinking of one after dublins tieback op as he will always need to be fed off the floor and if the hay gets dusty it will need to be soaked for him.
Click to expand...

I use a hay cube and love it, it is expensive but is great when soaking really good for my back, for winter I just use it as a hayholder, pack it and there us no waste,perfect.
 
I just put it on the floor for my greedy one, he does drag it in his shavings bed but spends the night cleaning it up, I don't feed ad lib as he is a good doer so needs his intake restricted. there are products though.

-Haybar's found them good but currently in a breeze block stable so I can't mount it.
-Hay hutches, similar to the wheely bin idea.
-There is a product that is a large trough with a haynet round it but if shod probably not the best idea.
-what about a large trough with heavy rocks in it so they can't pull it all out.
-Or a tub with a metal grid on top?
-There is also the Stubb munch station.

Also is there someone later at the yard than you who could put in her hay when they leave so she can't gobble it all in one sitting. That way you could split it some when you leave some when they leave.
 
NikNak1 said:
Thanks for the ideas everyone! I would love to just put it on the floor but I suspect it would all be gone in about 5minutes as she is quite greedy and would then be left without any food for a long time. So something that would slow her down as well would be ideal!
The tubtrug idea sounds worth a try and v straightforward!
Click to expand...

I feed from the floor - you will probably find that she will take her time with it rather than bolt it down, as she doesn't have to 'fight' with a haynet. My horse is quite a greedy welsh cob but he takes his time with it, and there is often hay left in the morning (doesn't drag it through his bed either). Why don't you give it a go for a few nights and see what happens rather than spending money on something straight away?
 
Last winter I fed mine from a giant tub trug on the floor, I was able to secure it to the wall with old leadrope & quick release clip. Worked perfectly as horse liked to eat near the door,nosey ******, so I could just fix it next to door & he then didn't traipse about making a mess.
 
NikNak1 said:
I would like to start feeding my horse hay/haylege off the floor or lower down as when she recently had physio she was tight in her neck which may have been due to/exacerbated by yanking at the haynet. She is a good do-er and is also a pig so eats her haynet very quickly so it is double or sometimes triple netted to try and slow her down. I have started giving her a kg when she comes in in a tug bucket but a lot of it has also ended up in her bed! Has anyone managed to find anything to contain the hay that also slow eating whilst eating from ground level as sadly adlib hay is not really an option. I'm also not sure whether the yard owner would allow a haybar or anything that has to be drilled into the stable. I found something on google which sounded ideal but about $500 and would need to ship from the US! http://www.slowdownhayfeeder.com/content/view/12/26/ It looks fairly simple so I wonder if anyone has a homemade version or anything??
Have people found that the haycube slow eating down at all?
Any ideas or suggetions much appreciated!
Click to expand...

I use plastic baths put the hay in it
 
I just use a blue 45g drum with the top chopped off and fill it with hay - the first couple of days it was dragged round the stable but now the horse is quite happy with the barrel in the corner. I put about 3 or 4 slices of hay in it and it works great.
 
I've got a very greedy Welsh D who I previously fed with double netting and trickle nets to slow him down as but he used to really attack them and shake them in the air and physio was concerned it was contributing to a shoulder problem. Started feeding on the floor a few months ago and amazingly he isn't eating an entire bale a night like I thought he might (I do end up feeding him slightly more than when I was netting it but his weight isn't a huge issue luckily and it's low sugar meadow haylage he gets anyway).
 
I have a haycube which I love. I got mine second hand for £50, but I would happily pay full price for one. But then again I do actually need to soak the hay as she has mild COPD. If she didn't need it soaked though, I would go for a cheaper alternative as there's loads of the market that do the same thing, for far less money. But I would highly recommend a haycube if you need to soak it.
 
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