Tractor tyres are out for me. No contacts or way of getting them to the paddock. So wondered what everyone uses to anchor their hay in windy weather or possibly to stop the little angels from piddling all over it -(not that Freddie does of course!!) Would have to be DIY or budget minded of course.
I can just imagine if we put tractor tyres in the field with Amigo the saddlebred..............they would end up decorating the field - he would move them to where they were not supposed to be - in the far courners - he would just take hold & move them!! Or end up wearing them
i use a sheep/cow feeder and its brilliant Saves on all that waste. got mine off a local farmer for £20 and in a space of a few weeks i reckon i saved that in hay
I'm using an old plastic water tank (that I think came out of the loft when the house was being replumbed). I poked some holes in the bottom for water to drain away and half a paving slab inside to weight it down.It only holds a couple of slices of hay but better than nothing! The other thing I'm thinking about is using one of those large plastic storage boxes that cost about £20, they'll hold almost a bale.
This year we have made some Hay feeders out of Pallets. You can get them from the builders yards or also Tile shops often get their tiles delivered in bulk in square pallets that are just the right size to put hay in. You just have to add some more wood along the sides and the front and they're great, maybe if the building trucks are going past you you could get them to drop you some off? They will only be breaking them up anyway so they may be willing to bring them to you, and if they are flat pallets you can break them down and nail them together to make them square, depends which they have.
I have wooden pallets, tied securely against the post and rail fence, and I fix to those (two thirds the way up) large haylage nets stuffed with hay. The holes are small so they graze it through the day/night and hardly any gets lost. Even though it's tied fairly low down (about 3 feet above ground and it gets lower and lower as they go through it - so they aren't eating from high up) they don't paw it and there's never been any problem with entanglement. Might be different if it was a haynet but the holes are only a couple of inches square. Just adding that that's one pallet each horse. I did have a metal hay rack but the problem there is they can pull their manes out scratching and also catch their rug clips on and tear them, so it's the haylage nets only! Less waste too.
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England
Posted - 08 Dec 2006 : 6:24:46 PM
