Hay bags

[mydaddysjag]

How many of you use hay bags for your horses? I'm going to take my guys to a fair where they will be stabled for 5 days, and I also need to keep their stalls pretty spotless. Midas likes to throw his hay in the corner of his stall, and potty on what he doesn't eat, and I'm trying to keep him from wasting so much, so that I don't have to take a lot of extra hay with me to the fair(limited room, and they aren't sure if there will be tack stalls or not)

With out big horses we always hung hay bags at shows, It kept them occupied, and their hay off of the floor. With the minis I've always been scared that they will somehow find a way to get themselves caught up in the haynet.

Am I being ridiculous? Now that I think of it, I would just have to hang it so they can just reach it, without getting a foot in it.

Do you prefer the solid bags with the little hole in the front to eat from, or the ones that look like netting?

If you use the ones that look like netting, do you notice the horses eating slower if you "double net" it by putting one hay net inside the other?

I'm going to keep them on their normal hay schedule the first 2 days, which is the day before they show, and the day they show, but after they show I'm going to give them a bit more hay. I'd rather they have hay bellies after their show than ulcers. I'll also be giving ulcergard.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Every one I know it seems uses the hay bags in stalls at the shows. The horses seem to be quite happy to pick away at the hay inside and it does give you a way to keep it up off the floor . IMO tho, please forgo the net bags and use the solid ones. I used to have net ones here and after using them for some time I had a mare get her front feet tangled (don't ask me how she managed it but she did) I made an unscheduled visit to the barn that day just to see the horses and visit and there she was hanging limp from her front legs. It was one of my worst moments ever. The mare was OK once I cut her down and untangled her legs but every hay net I owned was tossed in the trash that day and I would never again allow there use here. The solid bags can be destroyed by a determined horse but I have not heard of any horse being hurt by the bag.

 

[Candice]

I too had a mare catch a front leg in a haynet and will never use them again for that reason. I just Thank God that we were right there in the barn when it happened. My husband always wears a leatherman and was able to free her instantly. I think the hay bags look like a great idea myself.

 

[Gizzmoe]

This is the hay net I use with my minis. Its really small openings so no hooves to get stuck, unless its a foal or something. I ordered it from Smith Brothers for $10

 

[Minimor]

We use the bags, not the nets--the bags are much safer. I also like them better because they keep the leaves in--if you're feeding alfalfa in the nets the leaves tend to fall out, and I hate to see the best part of the hay wasted on the floor! With the bags, the leaves stay in the bottem & the horses soon get on to shoving their nose into the hole to get at them. When I first hung the bags up at the show earlier this month the horses were obviously thinking 'how do you expect us to eat hay out of these things' but once they tried it they decided that wasn't so hard after all.

I do need a couple more bags but am thinking I'll just buy a big horse sized one from the local feed store, then I can hang that up in a stall when I have two horses sharing the stall. I wouldn't mind getting one of the bags that have the feed "pan" at the bottem, where you can put grain.

I also like those nylon corner feeders--those would be handy to have for showing, but I haven't put the money out for any of them yet.

 

[mydaddysjag]

Those of you who use the hay bags, do you have trouble that the horses seem to yank all of the hay out of the top of the bag instead of pulling it out of the front, because they are "starving" and cant wait to get it through the little hole?

My big horses always did this, and in wondering if the minis will too.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have always used the nest like the one Gizzmo has illustrated and I have never, ever, in fifty years of horse shows, had any trouble whatsoever with them.

The "bags" make no sense to me at all as they can still pull pretty much as much as they want out of them and dump it in the floor, as usual.

It is instinct for males to pee and poop on their food, it is a way of marking their territories.

In the stalls I use mesh mangers, at shows I use half bale nets...they are far too busy eating and being nosy to worry about trying to get their feet in the things, IME that comes when the net is empty and they paw at it in the hope of making it produce more.

If it is never empty they do not do this.

 

[~Lisa~]

At shows I got some hay nets like the one pictures above to use. They holes are very small and I do not hang it on the ground or near the ground. True a horse could rear and get caught but then again it is a horse they could get caught up in a hay bag if they tried

I like Rabbit find they just pull the hay out and onto the ground which is what I am trying to avoid in the first place at a show ground so the hay nets work for us. The only problem I have with them is they are very small my horses get quite a bit more hay then can fit in that tiny little bag so I have to fill them quite often but the plus side to that is the horses feel like they are eating all day long

 

[mydaddysjag]

I'm going to try the hay nets. I know form experience my big horses always seemed to pull the hay out of the bags, and onto the ground anyway. However, they will not have the haynets when not supervised. I am the type of person who sticks around my stalls for the most part, and when I have to leave my stalls, I will remove the haynets from their stalls until I get back.

 

[Taylor Jo]

I use the small hay bags from Star Lake and there's never a crumb left and they don't pull it out either. The hay nets to me are a pain cause they have this big ole long rope on them and you have to TRY and open it up and split it apart and get the hay in and not get the hay every where. I found them to frustrating. I was helping a friend who uses them. I just don't care for them. HOWEVER, if while were traveling I put to much hay in the bags and they're full they'll start pulling it out and it's all over the trailer floor but other wise at the show themselves they eat EVERY BITE and I feed them periodically throughout the day and space their food so it gives them something to do. Good Luck to you.

 

[Minimor]

TJ that's been my experience too--no wastage with the Mini size haybags, and I too dislike those long ropes & the "drawstring" opening on the nets! It's just way easier to open the bag, pop in a flake or two of hay & that's it, just hang it up again.