The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Hay Nets. Whats your opinion?

6K views 39 replies 22 participants last post by  Blue Smoke 
#1 ·
I just went out and bought some large hay nets, with ! inch holes in them. I like hay nets because they keep the horse busy, it saves hay, and it prevents a lot of health problems. But I was just wondering, what is your opinion on hay nets? What are your experiences with them? Good, or Bad?
 
#4 ·
I had one for my old gelding and it was great. Kept him busy and saved tremendously on hay (he was notorious for creating a pile with loose hay and then peeing on it).
Posted via Mobile Device
 
  • Like
Reactions: MAG1723
#8 ·
I had one for my old gelding and it was great. Kept him busy and saved tremendously on hay (he was notorious for creating a pile with loose hay and then peeing on it).
Posted via Mobile Device
My gelding LOVES to waste hay. He makes such a mess of his stall it was unbelievable. He would only eat about half his hay then make a mess out of the rest. Since I got my hay nets, (Which I have only had for 3 feedings) I can already see a difference.:D
 
#5 ·
Love slow feeder nets. I have one for my girls stall and one for her paddock and they keep her going throughout the day with a very small amount of wastage while the horses on either side grind about 1/4 of their hay into the mud.

One thing to consider, my coach was feeding her horses out of nets for a little while until a couple of them started ingesting strands of the rope. They were a little overly enthusiastic about getting that hay out. I personally have not had this problem at all.
 
#6 ·
I use a hay net, not a slowfeeder net, just your average hay net, and I really like it! I bet I would like it even more if it were a slow-feed one! haha

Before I started using a net, I was placing my mare's hay (about 20lbs, I like to free-choice hay during the winter and she eats about 15lbs/day) on the ground in her stall which worked but she would pick through it, find her favorite parts, then soil the rest. A LOT of hay was being wasted. Since I got the hay net, she still wastes a bit of hay every night but the waste is very minimal.

My least favorite thing about the hay net is that she always ends up leaving her "least favorite" hay in it, in the bottom of the net, so over time, it sort of builds up. I end up using that "least favorite" hay as bedding for my goats so it all works out but I still wish she would eat it all at some point! haha


And, along with the $$ benefits for me, she LOVES slinging that net around! :lol:
 
#9 ·
I also have hay wasters and I love (LOVE) my slow feeder hay nets and after discovering how great they were, made a large one for round bales.
But between rounds, I use the smaller ones stuffed full and it keeps them busy all day.

My thing with hay nets is I'm a freak about making sure the gathering strings/tying strings are are tied securely with the ends tied back into the net or other side of whatever the net is tied to.
I'm always afraid someone will get caught and hung up. I also do not use them with halters.

Yeah, guess who hooked his halter snap within an hour of my first using them. :oops:
Thankfully it only took me a few minutes to figure out why he was standing sooo still. :wink:
 
#10 ·
I had one once. I like it a lot. It also made the hay easier to haul when moving the horses haha! But my parents and barn owner don't want them because they say that it is a fire hazard..well, hay alone is also a fire hazard.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MAG1723
#17 ·
I always didn't like hay nets for the same reason as Clava, I think. If put down low where a horse should be eating from, then there was a risk of getting entangled in the net. To eliminate that risk, the nets would be placed high and then the horse would be eating at shoulder height which is not good for them.

However, having looked at the link provided, I like some of the ideas! Especially the pillow -- closed on one side and netted on the other. I might roll that one around in my head to see about how to make one myself for 1/2 square bale size -- put two out and let my girl work a bit. She's turning into a bit of a tub :) Plus, it sure would be nice for travelling.
 
#19 ·
I had one. My boy used one and played with it (good thing i hung it a bit higher) and ripped it off the loop it hung on, then dropped it over his stall door. But until then I loved it! haha
 
#20 ·
I love using hay nets/hay bags.

We use them to keep the horses calm in the trailer or at a show.

But you need to be careful with hay nets. I was at the fair this year and I had filled my hay net up, put it in my stall, and went on some fair rides. As I was walking back to check on her before I left one of the advisors came up to me and said they went into her stall and tied her hay net higher because it got low and she could have got her feet in it. (She knew Te Lady was a calm gentle horse). It was a huge hay net and I always filled it plump full so it was pretty heavy and extremely tough to get high.

I prefer hay bags because its harder for them to get their feet in it and it is WAYYY easier to fill.
 
#21 ·
PunksTank on here had a pretty neat solution. She took a water trough or muck bucket, small hole in the bottom, haynet in, string through hole in bottom, fasten, so it can't be pulled out, stood on etc. Now, to make it even safer, tub needs to be above knee height of horse, so it can't step in.
Benefits of slowfeeder net without hanging high or danger of getting tangled. And...serves as filling help, just fold edge of net over edge of tub, fill, close net, turn it around, fasten through hole in bottom, voila:)

Note: you all just witnessed a serious brain storm.....:)
 
#24 ·
I have to fill 18 hay nets every time I work and like said above, the easiest way is to stick it in a trash can and fold the edges over, then stuff! We use a metal feed bin for ours. Works wonderfully. But make sure when you stick it in you pull up all of the excess edges. That should keep it from falling in.
 
#25 ·
IDK I had no luck lol, I made sure the cord was all the way around the edges and then pulled it tight and the slightest bit of weight and it caved in, so I went one step further and wrapped the loose end around the handle and it still caved in, maybe if I wrap it around the handle on each side it will work better lol, the little "trailer sized" hay net won't fit around the can tho, I'll try again tomorrow night(my mom lives on the property and does the AM feedings) and report back. I also have to find something easy so my mom will do it, right now she just throws the hay on the ground because the nets are too much work. I'm almost thinking of buying extra nets to keep them filled in the barn so she just has to put it out at feeding time lol.
 
#26 ·
For what it's worth, I had an almost fatal experience with a hay net. The 14 hand QH that I use to own somehow got both his front hoofs in the net. I feed him at 7 pm & when I went out at 6am he was on the ground, both front feet hanging up in the net. I don't know how long he was like that. I personally will not ever use them again.
 
#28 ·
Make yourself a slow feed haynet on the cheap. Get hockey/goal netting.

I kinda lucked out last week. The store I work at lets one of the off campus houses use our dumpster for a fee. This year the college hockey team is in the house. They must have just replaced the nets at the arena. I scored enough netting to probably make a hay net big enough to cover a round bale. I know I certainly have enough to make a bunch of square bale sized ones.
 
#30 ·
Yeah, quite possible. But, the slowfeeder net has much smaller openings, 2" diameter max, so, unless you have a tiny mini foal, horse can't get stuck. Shod horse can get hung up, tho. That's why I mentioned the more than knee height container for the net.

I was totally against nets, seen horrible things happen and hated seeing horses eat so unnatural. But the slowfeeder net is an entirely different story :)
 
#32 ·
I love slowfeeder nets- my horse will vacuum up a flake of hay in about 15 minutes, so even though he gets hay 3x a day, he goes long stretches without actively eating. When I trailer him to lessons, I put 3 flakes into his slowfeeder net and it lasts him all day. We're usually gone for about 12 hours, and he has access to the net the whole time except the hour that I'm actually riding.

I fill up his net every time I ride, but boy do I wish I could get the barn staff to fill the hay net, too!
 
  • Like
Reactions: MAG1723
#33 ·
I love slowfeeder nets- my horse will vacuum up a flake of hay in about 15 minutes, so even though he gets hay 3x a day, he goes long stretches without actively eating. When I trailer him to lessons, I put 3 flakes into his slowfeeder net and it lasts him all day. We're usually gone for about 12 hours, and he has access to the net the whole time except the hour that I'm actually riding.

I fill up his net every time I ride, but boy do I wish I could get the barn staff to fill the hay net, too!
I can pack about a half a square bale into Walter's NAG Bag. Usually have it filled around 730/8, and he has it emptied by morning. He hoovers through his. He loves it.
 
#36 ·
Another slow feeder hay net fan here. I started using them during our drought in 2011 when hay was hard to come by. I too use a muck bucket to fill them. Actually I bought the walmart version of a muck bucket. They have the same thing except they consider them toy tubs or laundry buckets. The plastic is a little thinner than the TSC muck buckets but they only cost about $5 and I only use it for filling hay bags so they work just fine. The only thing I fight with is that the rope handles get caught in the net so I have to unwrap that sometimes when I'm ready to pull the net out. I guess I could cut the handles off. Just haven't made the effort. I also replaced the thin drawstring with heavy duty nylon rope because I hang them up pretty high and they toss those bags around pretty good and have broken several of the thin drawstrings they come with originally. I love mine and will replace them as needed with new ones.
 
#38 ·
I like to put out more nets than horses and toss them in the snow like pillows. I space them as far apart as what works for me as it gets the horses moving as they check each one out. Even if the horse is in a box stall, hanging in opposite corners will get it moving. A horse will eat from one then it just has to check out the other, then back to the first.
 
#39 ·
I use the "Freedom Feeder" brand of slow feeder hay net. I fill it by putting it empty into a laundry basket, folding the edges over and loading up the basket with about 5 or 6 flakes of hay. Then I use metal clips to hold the edges together having multiple sections of the feeder into the clip so it all stays together. I have a low solid loop in her barn about chest high. I clip a seperate clip onto that and clip it to the clip at the top of the slow feeder. The feeder will still reach the ground. I then put a huge high rimmed bucket underneath it so if she does manage to break one of the clips and it falls down it goes into the high sided tub and won't get caught on her at all. I have a regular hay bag outside in her corral for her as well. It only holds about 2 flakes and I also have a tub under that one as well.

The latest thing I got for her is the "Amazing Grace" toy. It is a huge tough plastic toy thing that gets a cup or so of hay bites in it and she has to roll it around the ground to get the bites out.

Just some of the things I do to keep my horse with ulcers happy.
 
#40 ·
I use a cinch chix net on my roundbales and have a couple 1inch mini nets from them that I will fill up in the summer and throw out for them to eat on if they choose. There is no way they can get stuck in there, and having a big round small hole net filled with hay is entertainment for them if nothing else. I also use the nets from chicks saddlery, but I hang those up on the barn on tying rings. I fill 3 up for my 2 horses, around 10lbs a piece, and they'll last all night and still usually have some left over in the morning.

I did learn the hard way to use a ring feeder in addition to the big bale net on a round. Once the bale collapses it starts to go flat and the horses are able to step on the hay and soil it. I also now put the round on a pallet to allow some airflow, otherwise the bottom gets wet and moldy and is just a big pain in the butt to get out of the net. Other than that, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my cinch chix nets, my air fern is at a healthy weight, even though he has hay in front of him at all times, and my filly is also at a healthy weight. Both are eating more naturally and my gelding isn't showing feed time anxiety anymore. You know, "FOOOOOOOOODDDD I WANT MY FOOOD NOW!" Type behavior. They are both calm and happy.

As far as nets injuring teeth, I feel the benefits of feeding this way FAR outweigh the risks of NOT feeding with a slow feeder, net or otherwise. Lower incidence of colic from gorging on hay (hoover) or sand colic from feeding on the ground, less chance of founder/laminitis because of being overweight, is absolutely critical for an ulcer prone horse who needs hay in front of them at all times and to be eating at natural rate, constant small quantities. It also helps with boredom and other destructive and/or dangerous behaviors that are almost eliminated when using a slow feeding system such as feed aggression and possessiveness, because they eat all their hay and have to wait hours and hours for their next meal. Horses are accident prone creatures and will find ways to injure themselves doing almost anything.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top