| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| angelarab |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 3:12:45 PM
As you know i am looking for a possible move of yard i have found one, but it does not include hay in rent, how many bales a week do you reckon for out day in at night has hard feed too, am i off on one to think two? this place is looking like it is going to be an extra 30quid month so i really have to do my sums |
| 23 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| littlearabians |
Posted - 15 Nov 2009 : 2:53:39 PM
gem : for what I'm aware of the 2% is without grazing.
but yes weigh your hay, if its good quality dry hay you should give around 8kg to an Arab, daily. Haylage you have to add some weight as moist weighs quite a lot, and its the weight of fibre you need. most good haylage should be about 60% dry...
my bales of dry hay contains 16-18kg, so i use one every night for 2 horses + they have one in their shelter when they're out doing the day. |
| gem@oakmeister |
Posted - 15 Nov 2009 : 11:04:23 AM
i have always understood that for maintenance a horse should have 2% (yes two%)of its body weight in fibre per day. so a 500kg horse (bigger than most arabs) in light work shouldn't need more than 10kg of hay per day a little more if haylage as some weight is made up of moisture. Maybe weigh a net to see what that looks like, i was surprised, however i am very aware of the dangers of a horse spending long spells with nothing going through the stomach so for the greedy piggies i use two small hole nets, one inside the other, takes much longer to eat.
The thing i've never got an answer to, is, does the 2% include any grazing or is it just referring to stable fed fibre. |
| Songbird |
Posted - 12 Nov 2009 : 7:27:14 PM
All our horses (my liveries and my own ) are alloted approx 1/2 bale to 3/4 bale per day each in winter according to their individual needs. This tends to be right for them taking into account that they are Arabs or likewise small horses up to 15.2hh. Although they turn out in winter there is not much grass for them in our winter paddocks so they have a slice when out during the day and the rest at night. Each horse is different and they tell you quite easily how much they require . We allow as much as they want unless they are fatties , like my Zak , and then I try to be a bit stingy but not too much. |
| mogwai |
Posted - 05 Nov 2009 : 08:12:17 AM
Yep, i reckon on 2 bales a day for 4! |
| honey |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 10:37:52 PM
when we are feeding four we got through two bales a day sometimes more with hard feed, or a big bale a week. |
| angel2002 |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 1:17:40 PM
I haven't got any good grass now, mine are in their winter paddock which is quite bare, so they have 1/2 bale each during the day (or one round bale of hay every 2 weeks per 3 horses) and 1/2 a bale at night. Mine are not in work and are fed twice a day (balance & speedibeet in the morning and the same in the evening with garlic chaff, speedibeet, salt, carrots and parsnips)
I don't hay feed by weight, never have, I put as much as I can fit in the ex-large small-holed haynets that I use 
I don't mind mine having hay left in the net in the morning, that way I know they haven't been left with nothing to eat all night
|
| marionpack |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 10:57:54 AM
My two are in at night and out during the day, I get through about 3 bales a week for both (even have some left in the morning sometimes)but they are heavy bales and we do have good grazing, they have 2 hard feeds in winter but they are also very good doer's which helps |
| birdof1977 |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 09:15:11 AM
Sorry callisto. It may well be me who is confused. LOL. It doesn't take much. I actually think that I may mean Lb's
Mine is out for about 12hrs a day too, has molichaff, beet and local twice a day. He is only in what I would class as light work atm, (schooling 4 times a weeks for 30 mins hacking once a weeks for about 2hrs and lunged twice a weeks for about 20 mins), but came to me a little on the porky side a couple of months ago, I think he is now about the right weight for going into winter:)
Sirius - TBH the 'Haylage' we get is more like wrapped hay, but has that smell about it. We have had a really bad year for haylage in Essex, too dry, so it is keeping well this year. Most of the liveries know about the chap we get it from, and use him, but he works on a reccomendation basis. Because his supplies are limited, he'd rather keep his regular customers happy, he only takes on new ones if he knows he has enough left (usually feb time he can tell by), or if someone moves away and stops using him.
 |
| Callisto |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 08:21:29 AM
No birdof1977, I mean lbs. I include alfa A and sugarbeet in my hard feeds to supplement the fibre from the hay, and my horses are out 12 hours a day. As I said in my previous post, the weight of hay you feed depends on your grazing, exercise and feeding routine, but once you have arrived at that figure it is easier to calculate how many bales you will need based on the weight of the bales available to you, since they vary so much - if they are light you will need more than 2 a week etc. |
| Sirius |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 07:53:50 AM
Do be careful about using a big haylage bale for too long:
Big bales of wrapped hay will keep for ages and still be safe after quite a long time, but watch out for it becoming dusty almost overnight.
Big bales of true haylage will tend to start going off after about 5 days, having had the air excluded by the wrap since they were first made. They suddenly become warm, and they give off warm, moist air as you pull the haylage off. These are the same conditions as are in the midden or compost heap: warm, moist,aerated and ideal for growing bacteria. This is not the same problem as dusty hay, and the problem is that you don't know what bacteria have been included in the bale.
If your big bales are lasting 3 weeks, you have got them from someone who really knows how to make good wrapped hay, and you should let people around you know who it is Birdof1977, but if they have to grab it while they can (does anyone remember any wet summers recently??) you may get caught out in the future.
Anyone in the Kendal area, I can give you a strong recommendation for my supplier, but you have to promise that I can have as much as I want before you have any!
Dom |
| birdof1977 |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 07:17:55 AM
Do you Mean KG Callisto??? LOL:)
Mine is out in day and in at night. The grazing isn't too bad as we have now had a lot of rain and the grass is growing, he shares a 2.5acre field with 2 other horses (not mine) so I can't feed hay in the field.
He has 2 small hard feeds a day in the winter plus 14KG of haylage at night. I buy the big round 4 ft bales at £25 round our way and split the cost with another livery, it usually lasts us abaout 3 weeks. Much cheaper than small bale hay which is £3 a bale and I get through 3 a week!! |
| Callisto |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 03:27:45 AM
The main problem is it depends on the weight of your bale of hay - some are much more tightly packed and heavier than others. I feed about 12-15 lbs of hay per night (unsoaked weight), this is for stabled at night only, rugged, 2 feeds a day, medium workload. I use a spring loaded balance to check the weight. Obviously you need to fine tune the amount depending on your horse's grazing, workload and hard feed routine, but a rough rule of thumb is 2lb hay per 100 lb of horse. So if you can calculate the weight of the hay bales you will be using, and then divide it by the amount you will be feeding per day you can work out the number of bales you will need. |
| pinkvboots |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 9:10:31 PM
My boy eats loads and he gets through two bales a week, he is out in the day from about 7.30 and comes in at about 4pm. v x |
| angelarab |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 8:25:50 PM
thanks for all your replies, a great help |
| Nichole Waller |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 7:52:46 PM
Mine are out during the day and in at night through the winter. They have quite a lot of grass in their field so i don't give them hay during the day unless it's frosty or we've had snow.
They have half a bale each when they come in and if there is some left i reduce it the next day, if they have eaten it all i give them extra the next night. I recon i use 3-4 bales a week per horse during the winter. My hay is currently £3.00 per bale. |
| flosskins |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 5:13:43 PM
i always work on 3 bales per week per small, not very hungry horse - just under half a night but if theres not much grazing they will need more. |
| angel2002 |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 4:57:07 PM
In at night, out in day, hard feed twice a day and I use
1 bale hay per day per horse sometimes a bit more |
| natntaz |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 4:09:44 PM
My 15hh gelding has four sections a night, my yearling filly has four sections and my six year old gelding 15.2 gelding goes through
about five or six sections. I roughly go through six bales a week.
But lucky i have a reasonable hay man just up the road.
I would imagine you would go through a minimum of two a week, but always worth adding a couple of bales a months in case of bad weather  |
| Eeyore |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 3:58:19 PM
Mine are in at night year round but I always feed meadow hay ad lib. I also feed hay ad lib in their shelter when they are out during the day. Even though they have good grass they prefer to go in their shelter and munch hay some days!
Between the two of them they eat about 6 bales a week during the summer and about 10 a week during the worst of the winter. I feed minimal hard feed though and work on the principle of them always having hay there to eat if they want it  |
| jillandlomond |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 3:53:33 PM
If it's good hay, and there's decent grazing/turnout during the day, you'll probably get away with 1 section during the day, plus 2 or 3 sections at night. There's normally around 12 sections in a small bale, so each bale should last you around 3 days. |
| Holly |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 3:35:31 PM
Well last winter i switched to haylage and used 1 large round bale a week for 3 horses and it saved me alot of money so im using it again this year.
However mine live out all year round and were also fed a feed every night.
When i used to feed hay i would prob give them a bale a day between them in the field (that was between 2 horses and they were big bales). i would hang up nets in the field so as it wasnt in the mud. They would finish it within a few hours.
It depends on the grazing too as where i am now i have about 14 acres and the grass is long and rich, i know that if i put hay out at the moment then they wouldnt touch it but if theres no grass then mine would happily eat hay all day and all night.
Id say that you would deffinitly need 3-4 bales a week especially if you are stabling at night. |
| Sirius |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 3:29:32 PM
If it helps, we use haylage or wrapped hay(4 foot round bales) and we work on 1 bale = 28 horse days for either assuming no feed value from grazing during turnout.
Remember that haylage has to be used within 5 days or so of opening the bale, so haylage for 6 horses or more, hay for 3 horses or more, or smaller bales for fewer horses.
Dom and Jan
Seren Arabians |
| joanna_piana |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 3:26:39 PM
Well Ishara gets half a bale at night in the summer and about 3/4 bale at night now but these are very light bales and sometimes she eats the lot and sometimes she leaves loads so has it next day. I'd say at least three bales a week through the winter and two in Summer. I don't feed much hard feed though and hate the thought of them standing in with nothing to eat for hours. |
