What do people use to feed hay in the field and does anyone use a hay cube outside?

[PurBee]

Gosh these are sophisticated solutions - ours get their hay in an old tractor tyre sat on a mud mat! Heavy enough that they can't move it and it keeps the hay in one place. Yes it gets wet but that's never seemed to be a problem.

Great solution!… though i have images of my gelding getting inside a large one and curling up in it for a snooze!

 

[PurBee]

Err, please don't do this . Horses can and do get trapped in the tractor tyre, and not all of them survive. There are some very graphic photos of this to be found on t'internet, which I won't post on here.

Theyd have to be the smaller tractor tyres to serve as feed bins, the large back wheel ones would definitely fit a horse inside, theyre massive wheels.

 

[Tiddlypom]

They'd have to be the smaller tractor tyres to serve as feed bins, the large back wheel ones would definitely fit a horse inside, they're massive wheels.

To be clear, people have indeed used the large tractor tyres to act as ring feeders, and horses have got caught inside the tyres, and some horses have died as a result.

ETA This pony survived, but it shows what can happen.

 

[PurBee]

I use large tractor tyres as raised veg beds, and i cut the top facing side-wall of the tyre off, to allow for a greater width of soil. That really should be how tyre feeders are used, not with the tyre walls left on.

That pony was likely trying to reach in to get the bits of hidden hay settled into the tyre wall, which would have been easier to get at, if the top wall had been cut off, leaving all hay easily accessible.

 

[DizzyDoughnut]

I'd really like to get a hay hutch, but I'd need 3 of them and I don't really want to spend almost £1000 to stop my hay blowing away! Why are all these kind of hay feeders so expensive?
I'd like to try and make my own but I have a playful youngster who loves to drag things about and stamp on them, most of the wooden boxes I've seen that people have made would be tipped over or climbed in.

My plan now is to put 3 fence posts in the field and tie haynets to them but I would ideally like something easier to move around to stop them poaching the ground up.

 

[Widgeon]

Err, please don't do this . Horses can and do get trapped in the tractor tyre, and not all of them survive. There are some very graphic photos of this to be found on t'internet, which I won't post on here.

I've had this discussion before on here but at the end of the day, everything with horses is a risk. Obviously I haven't shared details of the exact size of the tyre and the exact size of my horse, but personally I am happy with the level of risk associated with the setup I have.

ETA

Theyd have to be the smaller tractor tyres to serve as feed bins, the large back wheel ones would definitely fit a horse inside, theyre massive wheels.

That's right PB, we use the smaller ones (which are still tractor tyres, so big enough!). There's no way my 15hh horse could fit inside one, greedy though he is.

 

[Birker2020]

I've had this discussion before on here but at the end of the day, everything with horses is a risk. Obviously I haven't shared details of the exact size of the tyre and the exact size of my horse, but personally I am happy with the level of risk associated with the setup I have.

ETA


That's right PB, we use the smaller ones (which are still tractor tyres, so big enough!). There's no way my 15hh horse could fit inside one, greedy though he is.

Can you not just make a cut across the tyre wall so in the event something gets caught it can free itself easier?

 

[AdorableAlice]

If you do use a cube in the field, make sure you use the bar screwed to a secure fence/wall to drop it on to.

I used an unattached cube with my oldest and most sensible horse (so I thought) in a barn and he got a front stuck in it. Thankfully he was sensible enough to await rescue, which took three of us.

 

[marmalade76]

my horse is very wasteful if you just put hay on the ground, doesnt eat anything he has trodden on or has got wet or muddy. I'd end up with lots of waste hay (and mud) if I fed it on the floor. I have a rectangle of mud control mats and feed in a lidded, netted container on the mats.

I've never had that problem, if they start leaving it I cut it down or cut it out but usually every scrap is eaten.

 

[Widgeon]

I've never had that problem, if they start leaving it I cut it down or cut it out but usually every scrap is eaten.

Same here.

 

[Birker2020]

If you do use a cube in the field, make sure you use the bar screwed to a secure fence/wall to drop it on to.

I used an unattached cube with my oldest and most sensible horse (so I thought) in a barn and he got a front stuck in it. Thankfully he was sensible enough to await rescue, which took three of us.

Oh gosh, thanks for the warning. I hadn't even thought about that possibility to be honest, although I did cut the handles off the tubs I had left out and any that I left in my stable.
Hmmm maybe I will end up just using it in my stable instead of the hay bar then and secure it to the wall.

 

[cauda equina]

To stop hay blowing away or ground nets going under fences I use one of these - filled with water so it's very heavy, lie it on its back and tie haynets to it.
All mine are unshod

 

[Bellaboo18]

I'm thinking of using a couple of dustbins this year (not my picture)

 

[palterwell]

I thought my cube was great until the morning that I found my horse with both front legs stuck in it ! I don’t know how he managed it but once he was in there wasn’t enough space to bend his knees to lift him out . Luckily my horses live at home and OH could saw a section out of the cube to release him. If you look at hay cube reviews you will see a picture of what was left of the cube. There was no reply from hay cube .

 

[rextherobber]

I thought my cube was great until the morning that I found my horse with both front legs stuck in it ! I don’t know how he managed it but once he was in there wasn’t enough space to bend his knees to lift him out . Luckily my horses live at home and OH could saw a section out of the cube to release him. If you look at hay cube reviews you will see a picture of what was left of the cube. There was no reply from hay cube .

Well that's certainly put me off getting one.

 

[HollyWoozle]

We have wooden hay feeders, one for each horse. One was bought but my stepdad made the others at minimal cost. They are very simple and bottomless but enough to stop the hay getting blown around or trodden in. It’s does get muddy around them but we just move them from time to time and that part of our field doesn’t grow grass anyway.

 

[AdorableAlice]

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Expensive !

 

[Widgeon]

Expensive !

My thoughts too....I could buy another pony for that