How much hay do you go through?

Jessey

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2004
28,300
18,001
113
43
Suffolk, UK
How much hay do you go through in a month? How many horses and what do they weigh?

I've had a bit of a shock since Indie arrived, my hay usage has more than doubled :eek: in January I did the equivalent to 70/80 small bales of hay (I had the tb mare for a week too), in Feb 60/70 small bales, and I'm on target to do 70/80 again this month.

Previously, for Jess, Hank and Dan I was doing about 30 a month. I'd expected it to go up to 45/50 as Indie is a bit smaller than Jess. I expect to do more than most as they get adlib hay 24/7 and very little grass but jeepers!
 
We go through fifty bales a month but ours aren't out 24/7 even in summer. Turnout for the girls is sporadic and they are in all night. I don't put hay in the fields though and Zi free ranges. He wanders all night long if he pleases but does get a net too.
The girls are 625 and 600 and Zi 720 ( I think - he's just over 17hh)
I could be talking out of my bum with those weights cos it's a looooooong time ago since the weigh tape came out! I think from memory Chloe's was on her passport when she arrived. She's not really gained but she did lose some with her age and at one time stress.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bodshi and Jessey
Roughly 70 to 80 a month at the moment - Dolly middle weight 16h' ish Miller a bulky 17.2+ and two donkeys. They are out 24/7 and do have access most of the time to 13 acres and if you peep through the hedges at them they are usually grazing between hay delivery ;) This is immediately denied and all nibbling stops of course when they catch sight of me approaching in case I feel they obviously have enough grass to not warrant yet another damn hay feed lol! Roll on spring!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Trewsers and Jessey
That makes me feel a bit better :p Jess is about 600kg, the boys about 150kg each and I'd guess Indie about 520kg but it makes me realise I haven't actually had a tape on him yet, tomorrows job!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Trewsers
For my two i am currently using one bale a day. Well i was, its just starting to drop off with the grass coming through and me moving them onto a new grass paddock weekly.
So 30 bales a month for 2. Mine are out 24/7 and i just put out the bale once a day, so comparable to what your regime of adlib hay. Except mine are free grazing more ground than yours, and yours are track/free graze. Proportionately yours arent getting the grass like mine are. If it snowed my two could get through 11/2 on snow covered days. But as soon as it melts they find grass and i go back to one a day.
Yours are slightly bigger than mine too. I think given your ground, work on 11/2 a day for the two biggies. So 45 a month.
Just trying to compare shetland to a dexter in my head now. I reckon 1/4 to 1/3 of a bale each. So 1/2 to 2/3 for both. 15 to 22 a month.
So i reckon about 60 to 70 a month for all. But being we are on the back end of winter its been quite chilly and wet. You could be getting through a bit more. I wouldnt worry if they are eating it and nothings going to waste. I expect you will see it drop off during april/may.
 
I'm not feeding much hay at all. The boys get a fresh patch of grass twice a day, and Mattie has one colossal feed of Veteran Vitality and Agrobs Alpengruhn mash, and I only give them hay if it's lashing with rain or very cold. Then they get a couple of slices each. I get through a bale a week in good weather, more than that in bad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jessey
The little boys will normally eat a bale in 3-4 days if it's just them on it, they spend a lot of time foraging other things. The 3 don't generally drop off on consumption in summer, but they are normally on a bit of grazing during winter but it never stopped growing this year so Jess had to come off it for her feet and the boys for their waist lines, so perhaps I'll see it this year.
 
Yeah i was thinking more of my yearlings for food comparison. Your 3 to 4 a week is about right. Maybe indie wasnt getting enough hay before he came to you and now thinks whoopi with the endless supply.
 
Yeah i was thinking more of my yearlings for food comparison. Your 3 to 4 a week is about right. Maybe indie wasnt getting enough hay before he came to you and now thinks whoopi with the endless supply.
Not 3-4 a week, a bale takes them 3-4 days, so thats 2 a week for the little guys.

I am very sure Indie hadn't been well fed before he arrived, maybe it is just a settling period.
 
14.2 welsh cob, quite light boned for his breed (often mistaken for welsh cob x arab) although big through the barrel and a bum the Kardashians would envy. Currently weigh taping at around 390kg, but will be lighter in the summer. Stabled at night in the winter and out on poor grazing, in the summer out 24/7 on poor grazing.

In the winter he'll have about half a small bale a night, and it's soaked the night before and then drained all day, so say 15/16 bales a month. In the summer he'll have a couple of soaked slices a day, so say a quarter of a bale which would be 8 bales a month.

I don't feed much hard feed to him and he's in regular but light work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jessey
I feel better after reading some of these replies. I did wonder if my three were living like kings a bit too much hay wise!!!! But it seems not. I would rather give them enough to pick about in and know in the morning there is some left.
 
Roughly 70 to 80 a month at the moment - Dolly middle weight 16h' ish Miller a bulky 17.2+ and two donkeys. They are out 24/7 and do have access most of the time to 13 acres and if you peep through the hedges at them they are usually grazing between hay delivery ;) This is immediately denied and all nibbling stops of course when they catch sight of me approaching in case I feel they obviously have enough grass to not warrant yet another damn hay feed lol! Roll on spring!

Oh what a magnificent sized beast Miller is! He's bigger than Zi lol (and to me Zi is a giant !!!). I've never asked but I am sure people have asked you before - does he feel very high up?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cortrasna
Well we thought he was only about 17.1 'ish with high withers but we measured him properly a few weeks back bare foot on hard ground and he just tipped 17.2 lol! I reckon if you took away the high wither he would be about 17. Yes he did the first few times I rode him and my main concern was if I ever had to get off out on a hack I wouldn't find anywhere high enough to get back on him - problem solved I make damn sure I stay on no matter what :eek: :D I actually love riding a big horse again I feel more safe on him than I ever did on Dolly (frantically touches wood ;) - she had quite a nifty spin and a very sharp pair of brakes sometimes......he is a typical rather thick big friendly giant, by the time he realises something is scary we have slowly lumbered past and he has forgotten what it was that frightened him!:rolleyes::D
 
Well we thought he was only about 17.1 'ish with high withers but we measured him properly a few weeks back bare foot on hard ground and he just tipped 17.2 lol! I reckon if you took away the high wither he would be about 17. Yes he did the first few times I rode him and my main concern was if I ever had to get off out on a hack I wouldn't find anywhere high enough to get back on him - problem solved I make damn sure I stay on no matter what :eek: :D I actually love riding a big horse again I feel more safe on him than I ever did on Dolly (frantically touches wood ;) - she had quite a nifty spin and a very sharp pair of brakes sometimes......he is a typical rather thick big friendly giant, by the time he realises something is scary we have slowly lumbered past and he has forgotten what it was that frightened him!:rolleyes::D

Hehehe yes I would have no chance getting back on Zi from the ground - we had to buy the biggest mounting block our tack shop had - they ordered it in for us, prior to that I took a chair out of the kitchen to get on! Miller sounds great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cortrasna
My men folk had one custom made for my birthday last year just after i got Miller...I literally walk up the steps and just step over onto him! :D I was 5' 4.5" - I have shrunk now to 5'3" according to the hospital so the best present they could have got me! :oops::)
 
@Cortrasna I hate to burst your bubble but possibly the fastest reacting horse I ever rode was Jim, my 16.3 (ok he was bigger but I'm not admitting it!) ID. He could and did spin so fast that on more than one occasion he left his hind shoes behind!!!! But I know what you mean about feeling safer, even if I wasn't, and the bigger slower stride certainly makes for easier riding - I used to find it hard swapping between Jim and Little Un, particularly rising trot :eek:
 
newrider.com