How much hay are you feeding?

laceyfreckle

laceyfreckle

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2007
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Essex/Suffolk
Harvey has quite a lot of hay. He is stabled at night from around 4.30 / 5.30pm until between 6am and 9am the next day.

A few people have commented that he gets a lot of hay and must cost me a fortune, well yes it does cost me quite a lot and he does seem to get more then most but I have never thought much of it, I was always taught that unless overweight then to feed hay ad lib.

He has half a bale each evening and it is all gone in the morning. He also has two feeds of the following each feed: (am and pm)

1.5 scoops of Hi Fi Light pm, 1 scoop pm
1 scoop of speedibeet (unsoaked measure) soaked
3/4 scoop of spillers horse and pony nuts am only
1 cup of Topspec balancer am and pm

He is 13.2hh and just about the right weight with the tendancy to drop weight when cold etc. He is about 330kg atm. Fully clipped apart from half head and legs and in a m/w 200gram rug with neck.

So what do yours do in comparison?

Pic has none yet as she is still living out and is also unrugged and a but tubby
 
My two also have a lot of hay LF.............I have next to no grass at this time of year,although I have to say I do STILL have grass this year, although obviously not much goodness in it now and as it gets wetter the grass will be churned up !

They have 2 slices from a large bale of hay a day which equals a stuffed full haynet and some on the stable floor:smoke:

Bert has just a handful of Hi Fi with a few nuts and Sioned has 2 scoops Hi Fi with nuts apple and carrot.

Bert is still ROUND, but looking good, healthy and bright, and Sioned is just right but she feels the cold and tucks up quickly if everything isn't 'right'. Neither rugged yet, but think Sioned will be donning a rug soon, especially if it starts getting Wet.

The New Baby, Heathcliffe, will go on Hi Fi as well with a small amount of
Youngstock Mix and ad lib Hay. I am not planning on chucking Sugar Beet or
anything like that into mine this year unless they REALLY need it tbh.
 
Mine are both in during the day and go back out either at lunchtime or teatime depending on their inclination. They're now getting through a couple of well filled feed sacks of hay in their mangers every day, I operate on the principle that there should always be a bit left too.
 
Joe isn't going out at all of course, but Storm goes out in the morning until about 2pm then is stabled with a double-holed net (quite a big one to keep her happy!) and then at night around 8.30pm she gets another double-holed net of hay.
Joe gets as much as he needs - in double nets - he is keeping is weight down, but I think that is as much as anything due to him being older and a tb and he can be quite choosey.
It is expensive - my last feed delivery bill was well over £200 but hopefully that will keep us all going until mid December (had some straw in there too).
 
12lb for ISH in work 4-5 times a week and 5lb for shetland always working at being naughty !! We have a bit of grass but wont be putting hay down untill we have nothing or it snows/frost. Its been still in double figures here during the day and most of the night so not feeling the need to keep them warm with rugs and hay quite yet.
 
Mine get quite a bit too, Podge used to get through 2/3 bale a night with barely a strand left some nights:wub:

Mine are on 3 acres, but they have grazed it all year with donkeys and sheep. They do have grass still but I dont want them to eat the lot down so much, as I like them to pick at something during the winter, it keeps them out of trouble. So I have started a big bale of haylage, they get anywhere from 1 slice between two or a slice each. They have tractor tyres in the field, and I fill them to the top every day. (its works out about half a bale each a day)
 
June is a 4th old 11.3 and has recently had bad lami.

She gets half a small scoop of molly hoof kind with a small sprinkle of mix day & night and between 1/2 and 3/4 of a slice of hay morning and night depending on if she has been out in the field.

Havent weigh taped her in a while but last time she was about 245kgs. She has a blanked clip and is unrugged in the stable and rugged in field as it's got no natural shelter. She has never yet felt cold and has *cough* a good covering of fat *cough*

Jazz is 2 and a half, about 11.2ish resembles a mare about to foal, and god knows when he started to fill out but bloody hell he's broad! is not rugged and has been out on good grass all summer! He has come in for winter and has a slice of hay day and night. Also gets a sprinkle of Mollychop on a morning while everyone else is having brekkie so he doesn't create as it's usually about 5am and I don't want to wake YO's up!
 
Scarlet gets 1 full hay net and 1 3/4 full a day...prob equiv of half a bale, plus two med sized feeds...she seems an ok weight to me :smile:
 
Not a sausage until some ponies stop looking like pigs and start to look horse shaped again.

I think we will re-asses in January as to whether anyone needs and hay, silage or bucket feeds.
 
ok, so the amount i'm feeding is probably a bit more then most of you.

but how long is it sensible to have a pony in without feed/hay? Some of the horses with small nets are finished within a few hours of being in?
 
If you're feeding more and the weight is still just right then , apart from money, I don't see a problem.

If you want to cut back a bit then you could take steps to slow the eating by using small holed hay nets or doubling up. I don't see why they should be without hay but could take longer to eat less.
 
I don't feed Roxy any unless she's in or will be stood for a long period - both of which are unlikely. I will see how her condition goes this year & may feed a little of an evening as she tends to lose condition over winter.

Otherwise if/when she is in (if the rest of her herd is in or it snows & grass availability is limited) she has as much as she can eat. I don't like to give a haynet & prefer her to eat it off the floor. Nets can cause uneven teeth wear & difficulty processing food (I believe) due to the unnatural neck position of eating from a net. As it's forage I'd rather she eats what she needs & leaves the rest. She usually has about half a bale but that won't be all gone.
 
Could never do ad lib with Joy. She was out in -6c with neck and belly clip, no rug and ad lib hay as the grass was covered in snow. Within a week she'd gained 25kg!
 
TBs get about 1 slice of a Euro bale of haylage a day spread over four feeds (probably the equivalent of a small bale) RS horses have longer out at grass and about half that in haylage in two feeds. Ponies are still on grass only.

They are mainly on straw beds which get munched as well!!!
 
2 shetlands
13'2 good doer
14'1 average doer
15'2 new girl, not sure about yet.

Not feeding any hay at the moment, still got plenty of grass.

They all get some high fibre nuts, the shetlands about 10 each :biggrin:
The 3 bigger ones also get a bit of chaff to mix brewers yeast and linseed meal.

I feed my shetlands hay during the spring/summer though due to lami/cushings.

I have just taken on an extra 3 acres, so should have more grazing for winter next year, wont use it this winter though as previous tennant didn't poo pick very often. :banghead:

ETA Mine live out.
 
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1 16.2hh TB
1 15.2hh TBx
1 10hh Shetland

Are munching their way through half a small bale of haylage a day which pretty much has them munching all day though they run out overnight, They are all looking a good enough weight coming into winter.
 
I have always believed that horses should have some hay left in the morning. They are trickle feeders, and as we choose to keep them in, we should keep them trickle feeding.

Tobes always has hay left in the morning. He comes in around 5pm and goes out at 6.30am. I would guess I feed him a third of a bale a night - but he isn't a piggy.

Friends cob is a piggy, and she comes in at around 4.30. Friends OH is doing her at present and I would guess only gives her two slices of hay - so I top it up by another very large two slices at around 6pm when I arrive at yard:unsure: However, the way I look at it is that hay doesn't have half the energy/calorie content of grass and in the summer they are out 24/7 and I doubt she sleeps at all if there is food around!
 
Not feeding my two any hay as they are still out and i have plenty of grass. Brought them in on Saturday night because of fireworks and they barely ate 1/4 of the haynet.
 
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