Hay 20/7

[Champ]

I noticed in Florida (I was on vacation) they feed the big round hay bales to the large horses, does anyone feed mini's the same way?

 

[CLC Stables]

I do believe Erica and quite a few others do. Believe it or not folks, horses do get full and quit eating..............but their intestinal system is meant to be foraging 14-16 hours out of the day, so it really doesn't hurt them to graze on grass hay all day.

You wouldn't want to free feed alfalfa.

 

[js1arab]

Just my personal opinion here for what it's worth, but the two main reasons I avoid large round bales are number one, they can be more prone to moldiness and secondly, people have lost sheep, goats and minis to suffocation by the animals eating out the centers and having the outer portion collapse on them. Once in a while we will end up with what I call a baby bale. My husband feeds cattle as well so he does use the large bales.When the baler kicks out the last bale it is sometimes really little and he doesn't want to mess with feeding it so I will set it on end and "peel" it. It can be a major pain though, but it is one way to be sure you don't feed mold.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I feed ad lib hay- I fill the round manger and the next day I fill it up again. The most it is ever empty is half- I give enough that they cannot eat it all in one day. Cuts feed times and prevents bickering as there is always plenty. I have always fed this way since I can remember. Never had a "hay gut" which I am coming to think must have more to do with hay quality than quantity.

Rob is quite right, horses are grazers and their digestive tract has developed to take fibre 22 o/o 24 hours a day, in small quantities and fairly low grade protein. Where we go wrong is feeding small amounts of high protein and not enough fibre.

There is no denying that some horses, just like us, are better converters, but very few would eat themselves to death on hay.

So long as they are healthy, I always say.

:

 

[chandab]

Just my personal opinion here for what it's worth, but the two main reasons I avoid large round bales are number one, they can be more prone to moldiness and secondly, people have lost sheep, goats and minis to suffocation by the animals eating out the centers and having the outer portion collapse on them. Once in a while we will end up with what I call a baby bale. My husband feeds cattle as well so he does use the large bales.When the baler kicks out the last bale it is sometimes really little and he doesn't want to mess with feeding it so I will set it on end and "peel" it. It can be a major pain though, but it is one way to be sure you don't feed mold.

I'm in a similar situation, but do feed the rounds to the minis as well. We raise cattle so have round bales only. My husband sets a bale on end outside the corral for me, and I fork it into their feeders. Unfortunately, our round baled grass hay is limited, so this spring I'm going to go ahead and buy some good small squares of grass hay.

 

[FFFoxyGal]

I give Foxy,....free choice hay all day,..but,...I feed square bales,....we have round bales too,..but,...they are for Fred's milk cow,....

 

[susanne]

Here in the rain-soaked northwest, I suspect the big round bales would be a disaster...

...but we do feed virtual free choice hay, aiming to have hay out at all times. Once I started doing this AND feeding beet pulp, they developed a healthier attitude toward eating; they now graze over the course of the day, rather than pigging out at mealtime.

 

[lvponies]

I've used round bales for years and never had any problems with them. I also use sqare bales.

 

[Firefall]

I have wondered about that. But if you had a mare that had foundered, would free choice make her founder again if she is a piggy?

Hubby got me a 1/2 ton bail of grass hay, so we just left it out there in the paddock for them to nibble on as they choose.

About 3-4 days later my mare that had foundered almost a year exaclty to the day, did it again. :no: I wondered if it was from the free choice, but could it affect her that quickly? It had also turned very, very cold, and I'm wondering if that could have affected her too?

:

 

[Relic]

We use the big round bales in round bale holders and there's no way they can fall on a mini when contained. There are 30 or so mares on them 24/7 with no problem and saves a lot of work no pigging out colic or founder from what l see over the years. Our rounds come from the same field that the squares come from so the hay is no different if any round is dusty/moldy then for sure the squares are to. Drying time is a big factor and a lot of farmers are in to much of a hurry to bale whats down to fast. We seldom ever have moldy round bales maybe 3 in the last 5 years. Wouldn't hand feed the mares again for any reason they now seem to stay much slimmer on free choice then they did on hand feeding twice a day. A big round lasts us a week depending on the weather for around 30 head at less then 50 bucks much cheaper then squares at 4/4.50 a bale for us anyway. We tried 1 stallion on a round bale in a feeder and he's just getting to the bottom now from last Oct. so we plan to get 10 more holders for the other guys for next winter instead of hand feeding twice a day. Round bales don't mean second class good hay is good hay and only as good as the guy that puts it up.

 

[shane]

: I FEED HAY 24/7 MINE LOVE THERE HAY,AND ARE NEVER WITHOUT, I HAD TO FEED HAYLAGE LAST YEAR FOR A MONTH, AND I REALLY DIDNT LIKE IT,AND NEITHER DID THE HORSE :no: I DIDNT LIKE THE SMELL LOL

 

[Margaret]

When free feeding durring the months where the pasture has died back, I am carful to get good quality soft burmuda hay, and usually try a test batch on them, to make sure they like it- before buying a load of the same batch.. On burmuda grass hay, they seem to eat til satisfied, and then walk away. However Im sure my horses would prefer that I fed timothy hay insted,.. in which they might eat too much if fed in free style. So when free feeding, I make sure it is good quality grass hay, but not too overly exciting in flavor..

 

[Champ]

Thanks everyone for your input, I was thinking of feeding my mini a square bale 24/7 where it would be in a lean too so that the weather wouldn't get at it. :saludando:

 

[capall beag]

I feed enough hay that my horses are busy chomping for most of the day but they still get all excited about am and pm feeding when the grain comes!!!!!

I feed good quality square bales and I notice that my horses will graze then go lie down or hang out and come back to it!! There is no bickering over the hay now the grain is another story!!!

There is often hay left over when I bring out the evening pile. I stopped feeding huge amounts of hay though because mine thought it was great fun and would lay in it, play with it and pee on it! At $4 a bale I didn't want that

:

 

[Leeana]

All my horses have Hay from 9am-7pm available. There Cecum is made to be digesting Fiber all the time almost, so i try to keep mine with hay all day long. They stop when there full and get bord munching. We feed blocks, which is a mix. I dont know anyone around here with the round bales. Normally one block will keep them munching a couple hours, so i go through about 3 blocks per horse per day. The mini's get smaller blocks and the shetlands get larger blocks, then lexus (qh weanling) goes through 3 1/2 lrg blocks daily almost.

Way i see it, from what i know, the Cecum was made to digest there fiber. Horses use to pick grass all day in the wild. So in the winter since we have no grass untill around April, i try to keep them on hay all day.

I've had no problems with it yet.

 

[CyndiM]

I feed large round(1400-1800 lbs) or large square bales (700-800 lbs) 24/7 in hay rings and have never had any problems except when there was clover in the field. I've since sprayed the field and the clover is gone. I feel the biggest danger comes from feeding these bales free standing insted of in a hay ring.

I cover the top of the bale with a tarp to keep the rain and snow out therefore no mold.

 

[nootka]

Yep, unless the hay is overly rich, a good average quality grass hay that is free of dust and mold is a great way to keep horses occupied and healthy in every way.

As has been mentioned, horses are designed to eat all the time and nibble often to keep their digestive systems moving and evolution has made them the way they are.

To go against this is when you would have the risk of problems, IMHO.

I like to keep hay in front of my horses at least 80% of their day. They are also on sparse pasture along w/the hay, and I suspect they probably have a couple hours in the middle of the night that they have eaten up all their hay and have very little left when I go out to feed in the a.m.

I have only ever had two instances of colic in a horse that I had just newly purchased when they weather suddenly turned very hot and I didn't notice that he had not been drinking like he should have, and got dehydrated. I consider myself very lucky, but part of that luck I attribute to keeping my horses as close to "horses" as I can such as frequent forage access and turnout time w/other horses, etc.

If you're uncertain about the quality of your hay, you can have it analyzed, I believe.... Not sure who does this, but I've heard that there are places that will do that.

Liz M.

 

[kaykay]

my horses must be odd. we tried round bales last year and they literally never stopped eating. everyone told me after the newness wore off theyd stop but mine didnt!!! I think maybe we didnt have enough horses as I think this works best for large herds. we also had trouble with them molding (we did it in the spring) we ended up losing a ton of money on moldy hay so that was it for me. Went back to square bales

kay

 

[jlh]

here is how we feed round bales.

We usually get a tractor load delivered from the field to the barn where they are stored, and roll a bale downhill to the main barn where it remains covered, and the different pens have access to the four sides of the feeder. In a couple of other pastures, we have free standing covered hay feeders, using the same smooth sided 1x6 boards on the sides, and covered with leftover tin roofing.

we have no grass on our tree-covered sandy lot, so hay 24-7 is a necessity, and works out well.