Grass Grazing vs. Bailed Hay Feeding Question

Kitten_Val,

I fully understand what you are saying. My appy was the easiest keeper when he was dry lotted with nothing to do all day BUT eat.. Still was an easy keeper out on 20 acres of rough pasture(not rich grass, just pasture).. But at least he had to move around to eat then. LOL

In winter I feed twice a day. I put enough hay out that I think they will clean up and not waste it. They are still on the 20 acres tho and they like to browse.. Bad weather, more hay.

Everybody has to adjust to their needs. All the tips we give will help the OP figure out what to do in her/his case..

:) I love forums...

Yeh, good point, Appyt. In fact it depends a lot on hay. Last year the loss was ~10 % (they toss it all around and pee on it even sometime). This year they eat all of it. Other people in my area said the same thing - horses clean up all hay. And it looks different from last year hay too (came from same supplier). I'm thinking about getting one round bale for Feb though when it's cold around. But don't know yet - they were fat even in winter time last winter having hay all the time. I'm not sure about when they sleep, but my younger one looks like never stopped to chew on hay even in rain and snow (besides time I brought her out to work). :)

in fact it depends a lot on hay

True. Stemmy hay isn't as palatable or as nutritious. And it causes that Hay Gut..

I've heard of people using round bales but limiting the time the horses can access it. I know one put it inside a round pen? Or something like that. Depends on the number of horses and their ability to get along as to the size. ;) Always "it depends" lol[/i]

i limit access to my round bales. At first I was letting them go for it whenever they wanted but that was when I first got them and they were severely undernourished and skinny. Now we have made up a device that is kinda like a huuuuge hay net made from steel lol they still have 24/7 access but they can eat much less and much slower than when they have easy access. And this way they don't stand in it, pee on it or waste any as this was a big problem for a while. While some horses might not leave any waste, mine wont eat the last bits that are in the dirt or whatever so I was constantly throwing out a lot of hay.

Another thing I have contemplated doing as the huuge hay net thingy works great but is a pain, is just putting out a bale or two worth a day. The main reason for the round bales though is that they are so much cheaper than buying bales. We get ours for $75 and a single bale is $20-25 here so it just isnt worth doing it any other way.

Jazzy do they have round bale feeders in Australia ? That's what I use, but I do have to go out every day with a pitch fork and pick up hay that has fallen out and put it back in. It looks like this.




Old picture Shiloh was still a baby, but you get the idea. This is my favorite feeder made out of plastic pvc type pipe. Very light weight and easy for me to move around.

I just wanted to add to the above posts that what KIND of grass the horses are getting is important to consider. Even if you can't have it nutritionally anaylized, certain types of grasses are richer than others.

Pasture that is lush green and full of aflafa, clover and fescue are a founder case waiting to happen. Horse thrive on mixed grasses of variying nutritional quality. They need lots of bulk available, yes, but be sure it's the right kind. A mix is much more satisfying than a single type plant in the whole pasture. Same with hay. Timothy is a great hay,but if that's all the horse eats, there is an imbalance. So try to get mixed grass hays and just remember to watch when the grass is in a lush stage.

Also, in lush pastures, the horse not only is packing in extra rich food per bite, he's not traveling very far to get it, so a "rough" pasture often times is better than what we consider a good one. The harder they have to work to find their food, the better. It's good exercise and good for their mental health.

You should be careful about over supplementing as well. Supplements are concentrates and feeding too much of something can block their absorption of something else that even if it's in the diet, the body may not get to use it, and you know where it goes..and that's wasted money. Just something to keep in mind.

they do have something like that here but they cost an absolute fortune :) we are constantly trying to think of new ways to do it :) at the moment, im thinking of buying a whole bunch of hay nets and hanging them all around the place. Still not perfectly ideal but it would be easier than how we are doing it at the moment :)

3 hours of grazing a day isn't a lot of grazing. I have mine on grass but keep a close eye on the grass and their weight. I am also fairly generous with hay because it is good for a horses digestion-- they need the roughage and the chewing to be happy. Like it was mentioned before horses digestion systems are not designed to take in rich food in larger quantities so the hay pread out over 24 hours is much easier on their digestive system than 2 feedings of grain a day and limited grazing. If anything in your situation I would cut back on pellets and give hay. Then when the grass is gone I would graduallya dd in pellets.