New item

[LittleRibbie]

slowdownhayfeeder.com

Would someone mind taking a look at this item and giving me your thoughts,ideas or concerns

thank you

Heidi

 

[Gini]

It slows them down ok but would frustrate the heck out of my horses! There was a post a week or so ago that shows a feeder bag that hangs. I would use that before I would buy this. IMHO

 

[Gizzmoe]

I like them but they are way to expensive for my taste

 

[Carolyn R]

I think there are many products out there that accomplish the same thing with a much smaller price tag. I made this to prevent waste in my stallions turnout. I was sick of him flipping the hay onto the ground and picking through it. I made it from cutting the bottom 1/4th off of two slightly different sized barrels. You can get two feeders out of each set of barrels.

I also think you could probably achieve the same idea by using a 5 gallon buck or muck buck, a piece of plywood cut into a circle, use a hole saw to put some holes on top, and a couple link clasps (looks like a link from a chain but has threads and a nut attatched) see picture below

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/store...Stainless-Steel Quick Links

around the rim to prevent the plywood from sliding out.

 

[PaintedMeadows]

I need an idea for a bunker that feeds multiple horses including a draft and a llama. The draft promptly shoots the hay out of it onto the ground so he can eat the leavings. Then they tromp it down or it gets pushed over or out through the fence. Has anyone built their own hayrack?

 

[Katiean]

My horses would stomp the c**p out of that feeder. They are just now getting used to the feeders that have hay racks in them (50 gallon drum size) and they toss these feeders about. I can only imagine what they would do to that feeder.

 

[LAD]

think there are many products out there that accomplish the same thing with a much smaller price tag. I made this to prevent waste in my stallions turnout. I was sick of him flipping the hay onto the ground and picking through it. I made it from cutting the bottom 1/4th off of two slightly different sized barrels. You can get two feeders out of each set of barrels.
Reduced: 50% of original size [ 799 x 638 ] - Click to view full image

That's a great idea Carolyn, cheap and EASY

 

[Sue_C.]

The price they have on that thing is criminal! A cut-down barrel with a piece of plastic full of holes set on top...can be yours for almost $400...big freaking deal!! They are crazy, but not as crazy as someone who would think of buying one.

Actually, Carolyn R, if you switched yours around, with the top telescoping into the bottom, cut the top so it wasn't so deep (it would fall to the bottom better that way, as the hay was eaten)...and cut several odd holes instead of the one larger one...it would be perfect, and pretty much the same as the $400 one.

 

[Carolyn R]

The price they have on that thing is criminal! A cut-down barrel with a piece of plastic full of holes set on top...can be yours for almost $400...big freaking deal!! They are crazy, but not as crazy as someone who would think of buying one.
Actually, Carolyn R, if you switched yours around, with the top telescoping into the bottom, cut the top so it wasn't so deep (it would fall to the bottom better that way, as the hay was eaten)...and cut several odd holes instead of the one larger one...it would be perfect, and pretty much the same as the $400 one.

I will have to try that with the next set of barrels. I would probably drill 3-4 holes around the top edge of the rim and add the link clasps or a couple of safety leadrope clasps to keep the horses from trying to flip the insert out(it will block the telescoping piece from working its way out when they play with it) Hmmmm, $5-$10 a barrel, some handy work, and approx. $15-$30 in clasps (allowance for different quality grades) and voila, 2 feeders for a max. of $50.

I'll have to post pics when I make it, sounds like a great idea for those miserable winter days they are stuck in the stalls.

 

[bellaleo]

Well made but, $400 is just crazy. I could make one in 20min for probley less the $20.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

My horses would so break that thing apart. And if they didn't, Gideon being the brains, would find a way of pulling the lid off and then gobbling all the hay up within minutes.

I currently use this to slow my horses down (I put the wire on there myself)...

However, I do hope to be building seperate stalls for the horses in the near future, and I was thinking about putting the above hay feeder in my horse trailer, then buying 2 more feeders (minus the wire) and putting Busy Horse Snackers inside.

http://www.busyhorse.com/busysnacker.html

Has anyone seen this site? I bumped into it a few weeks ago and thought it had some wonderful ideas on it. Go to the left and it has all kinds of slow feeders and demonstrations of them.

http://paddockparadise.wetpaint.com/page/Slow+Feeders

 

[Margo_C-T]

KanoasDestiny, a thousand thanks for the link to the 'paddock paradise' site!! What a wealth of ideas and information about 'slow feeding'!

Years ago...probably 13-14...I'd sold a tiny gelding to a friend, who later asked me for ideas about how to deal with his getting a hay belly. She boards the Albuquerque Police horses, as well as having quite a few of her own, so has 'hired help' to feed part of the time. They are always generous, and she hoped for a way to cut the little guy back a bit on hay w/o distressing him. I'd already given the idea of slowing down a horse's hay intake some thought, and suggested she try using a hay bag, hanging it above a flexible on-ground feeder, like Fortex, and sewing several strips of webbing across the eating opening, to create the small openings that have now been 'discovered' by the rest of the world!

Wish I'd have had the wherewithal to come up with a way to manufacture the things; maybe I'd be getting rich by now!!

Anyway, the ideas in the link of how to 'build your own' are excellent, and again, thanks for sharing!

Now, does anyone know where to find metal welded rod panel with 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" to 2" X 2" openings(sort of like cattle/hog panels, only with the smaller,uniform openings?) I've looked around, haven't yet found anything like that. I have an 8' long feeder that would work VERY well for several horses(right now, only two who eat at about the same speed can share it), IF I could add a metal mesh as described to the 'hay feeder' portion of it; would be relatively simple IF I can get the right stuff! I also could use the same stuff to turn my hanging combo feeders, that I built out of 30 gal. plastic barrels, into 'slow hay feeders', for individual horses.

Margo

 

[JanBKS]

What about the goat panels, they are strong, and I just measured the one panel I have, ( got it in a mess of used cow panels ) the holes are 4x4 and look small enough for a mini to get hay trough but not get stuck like the bigger cow panels.

Not sure what the welding panels are you are talking about but they may be to small for a mini.

Looking at that site, I have some 4x4 ft square heavy plastic tubs I use for my big and mini's that goat panel on them would sure stop the flipping out the big ones do with the hay.

Great web site.

 

[Carolyn R]

Margo your too funny. I was on that search this summer before vacation. I wanted an large grid to fit into my 4x8 hay feeder to slow them down and keep them from picking through it. What I found that would have worked wonderfully was not for sale to the public. It was the wire rack/grid used as tops to tractor supplys floor displays.(like the racks they use to display the feed/buckets and chicken supplies)It sucked, it was the perfect size, the perfect quality, the perfect everything. It taunts me everytime I go into the store and see it and screams you can't buy us (not really, I am not that much of a crazy horse lady).What I settled for was a 4x8 grid I made from pine 2x4s and some 1-1.5" pvc. It almost looks like a huge stall grid, placed it in the hay feeder on top of the balesand they had to pull the hay through it. It made it much easier for my father to safely care for our horses while we were out of town. I didn't want them binge eating and being bored an hour later.

I would still love to get my hands on one of those shelving racks, the items available to the general public just aren't made out of that heavy of a guage material.

Unless you know someone that can do metal fabrication, it will be a daunting task to find exactly what you need. nThis is what my large feeder looks like.

 

[Aristocratic Minis]

I have some friends with "biggies" who got an old hockey net and put it around a bale of hay. They use bungies to snug it up. As the hay is eaten they tighten the bungies to keep the hay inside.

It is home-made and it certainly works for them!

 

[KanoasDestiny]

KanoasDestiny, a thousand thanks for the link to the 'paddock paradise' site!! What a wealth of ideas and information about 'slow feeding'!
Years ago...probably 13-14...I'd sold a tiny gelding to a friend, who later asked me for ideas about how to deal with his getting a hay belly. She boards the Albuquerque Police horses, as well as having quite a few of her own, so has 'hired help' to feed part of the time. They are always generous, and she hoped for a way to cut the little guy back a bit on hay w/o distressing him. I'd already given the idea of slowing down a horse's hay intake some thought, and suggested she try using a hay bag, hanging it above a flexible on-ground feeder, like Fortex, and sewing several strips of webbing across the eating opening, to create the small openings that have now been 'discovered' by the rest of the world!

Wish I'd have had the wherewithal to come up with a way to manufacture the things; maybe I'd be getting rich by now!!

Anyway, the ideas in the link of how to 'build your own' are excellent, and again, thanks for sharing!

Now, does anyone know where to find metal welded rod panel with 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" to 2" X 2" openings(sort of like cattle/hog panels, only with the smaller,uniform openings?) I've looked around, haven't yet found anything like that. I have an 8' long feeder that would work VERY well for several horses(right now, only two who eat at about the same speed can share it), IF I could add a metal mesh as described to the 'hay feeder' portion of it; would be relatively simple IF I can get the right stuff! I also could use the same stuff to turn my hanging combo feeders, that I built out of 30 gal. plastic barrels, into 'slow hay feeders', for individual horses.

Margo

Awww...I'm more than happy to share that site! When I first found it, I was looking through all the different ways of making things and I was like "why didn't I think of that?" I LOVE how it shows everything in such detail, and I saved it in my Favorites folder for just this kind of occasion.

I was thinking about adding some pics of the automated feeders that I have. Surprisingly there aren't any on there already. If I'm not mistaken, I think there's some examples of the type of feeder the OP was asking about, only it shows how to make it yourself. Might be able to save some money.

 

[moriah]

Here is my homemade slow down hay feeder. It works spendidly. My horses like it and prefer to eat from it rather than eating loose hay! It is the result of various tries and has been in operation for nearly a year now.

I did make one that used metal panels but when the winter got really cold, one horse got bad sores on his mouth from touching the frozen metal with his wet lips. Ouch!! this works much better for us. I originally had one big horse and 2 minis eating off of this and it did well. Now there are only the two minis. I can fill it in the morning and if necessary, it can last 1 1/2 days. Usually I fill it every morning. If anyone wants more detailed description of how it is made, I'd be happy to share.

 

[Marty]

The less stuff out there to deal with the safer all will be.

Put the hay on the ground the old fashioned way in natural grazing position and all will be happy.

 

[minimom1]

The only problem for me feeding on the ground is

#1 - I feed loose hay and it gets very windy here so my hay blows out of the paddock

#2 - I have one filly that pee's on the hay immediatly after I put it down and another

that poops on the hay and then no one will eat that hay.

so I find that a lot of good hay gets wasted. I also like the idea of slowing them

down more than worrying about keeping the hay clean but I do agree that it is

much easier and better for the horse to eat off the ground

 

[Sue_C.]

Also, something I have done for a zillion years...is stuffing small fresh-cut fir or spruce trees with hay. This slows them down, keeps it off the gropund, and keeps tyhe hay from blowing away.

After Christmas, I gather up used Christmas trees and recycle them. I am VERY careful where they come from, and make very sure there are no icicles or decorations left on the trees before I use them. The horses also love to eat the bark and greenery, but I take them out after the needles dry out because the branches get stiff and sharp.