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Monday, April 13, 2020

My Slow Feed Hay Setup

I've received a lot of questions about the specifics of my slow feed hay setup since bringing the horses home. And to each of those questions, I have promised I'd do a video. And then something happens and my best laid plans are way-laid and the video doesn't happen.

Well, y'all. I finally took the video. Yet another episode of Liz's Barn Babbles lol



For those who aren't video lovers/can't watch due to connection issues see the screenshots below for details.

Net in the IBC tote

Demonstrating size of net holes

Each container has a two anchors: cheap carabiner attached to paracord 

The opposite anchor

One of the reasons we use these! To minimize waste and slow feeding times.

Ah, much better.

Paracord around each net cinched tight with a quick release knot and daisy chain to keep horses from fussing with it

Half IBC tote and Tartar hay basket

Full (almost) size IBC tote - same height as hay basket.

I love this setup. It has worked very well for the horses and I. Their eating is slowed down greatly; this artificial system more closely mimics what they are designed to do in a natural environment and helps keep them healthy. It also GREATLY reduces hay waste, helping me get more bang for my buck!

If anyone has questions beyond what I covered, don't hesitate to reach out.

21 comments:

  1. I really wish I could get some of those IBC totes! I have seen them used as feeders before, but have no idea where to source them from. Thanks for letting me pick your brain about the netting earlier this year (this year? last year? time has no meaning), it was really helpful!! :)

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    1. Absolutely! And yes, the availability of the IBC totes seems very regional. We have a lot around here because the coal industry uses them to acquire/store things. These had flocculent in them. I had to be careful to clean them each very well. The guy who gets them for me says as long as I have dry matter in them and am not storing water/fluid they're safe.

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    2. Nurseries and other ag product producers use them for fertilizer fairly often. You might be able to check in with some nearby farmers who have them to see if they have any decommissioned ones. Lots of people I know have a stack of old, hole-y ones sitting around because they are kinda expensive to get rid of (just bulky).

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    3. That's a better start than I had, I'll start poking around and see if anyone I know has any ☺️

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  2. Looks great. Love seeing how other people do their slow feeders. How did you find the IBC tote? I can find them for sale new online but they aren't cheap. One thing I would suggest is locking carabiners. A nice safety add for keeping horses from getting caught should they fool with it.

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    1. great idea and wow looks like it works. Stampy and The Brain you still using your prograzers? Mine is sitting in my barn since Remus doesnt need it at the boarding barn. Wondering if the donkeys would use it?? LOL

      PS Griff is kind of like wtf mom i like smearing my hay around :) HA

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    2. The coal industry uses a lot of the totes for their materials. They're really easy to get here in WV. Most rural homes use them as containers for their trashcans by the street for trash pick up.

      And yeah, if locking biners weren't so expensive, I may consider them. Maybe as Dave and I retire climbing gear I'll snatch some from our gear stores. I'm lucky to have horses that really don't fuss with stuff like that, fortunately!

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    3. Yes, I use the porta grazers in the stalls at night but I use rubbermaid water troughs outside rigged up with a small bale hay net so I can take out bales at a time and have them eat for several days. I still love my porta grazers, they were a great investment and the horses seem to love them. Vinny walked right into his stall and instantly knew how to use it and ignored the hay on the floor I left him. I bet the donkeys would have fun with it, if nothing else. Leave it loose and let them roll it around, lol.

      Liz - I would say I was lucky too since my horses don't fool with things but then Phoenix got his muzzle stuck on one during the one week he wears one as he switches to spring grazing last year. There was no reason for him to even be sticking his face in there, he had grass access, but he did and got attached somehow. Thankfully my parents just happened to be over in the other barn and noticed him. I had safety ties on the muzzle, but the hay feeder broke from the fence before anything else so he was dragging the feeder by his face. It was quite scary but thankfully he only got a few scrapes. The carabiners I bought are on amazon, 4 for $14, not a huge expense for safety. :)

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    4. Good to know! Thanks! I'm used to climbing gear and biners that are $14-30 each 🙈🙈

      Horses will always find a way to hurt themselves it seems...

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  3. the big herds at charlie's barn generally go with a roundbale inside a slow feeder net, surrounded by a hay ring (with the bale itself on the ground). the ring helps prevent too much wastage tho inevitably there's some left behind when they move to the next bale. and naturally most of the big nets get holes ripped in them over time... it works, tho, at least for a big herd. and... ya know... in conjunction with an annual botulism vaccine!!

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  4. Sounds like a great setup for a big herd! And OMG, a lady in our riding club lost three of her horses to botulism last year. Terrifying!

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  5. Omg Stan peeking under the door is everything I needed today. 😂

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    1. "Uh, hey lady, can I come out now? I see Q is done eating so I can't rudely barge in and steal her food. Time for hay? Pls?"

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  6. This is a great set up. I love my slow feed set up too. It saves so much hay and mess.

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  7. I didn't watch the video, but did you drill holes for drainage?

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    1. Yes! I didn't even mention that in the video 🙈 whoops! Dozens of holes were drilled. They don't hold any water.

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  8. One thing I like about your setup, as opposed to hanging nets, is that it seems to promote NATURAL head position. I've been seeing more and more reports (and have seen it myself) that when you hang the nets, horses twist their head sideways from the poll to more easily grab the hay. And they usually twist the same way each time. My horse's chiro says he's seen poll issues on almost every horse on a slow feeder net. Taking my horse to an endurance ride and trying a slow feeder net I saw my horse doing the same thing, always twisting his head to the left. I sold the net before I left the ride.

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    1. Yes! This! I have seen the increasing stories, too. I also worried about their teeth with the nets, but my dentist said it was discountable. So that was encouraging.

      I wish they could have 24/7 turnout like they used to have, but I simply don't and won't have that kind of land for them. Gotta try to make things as natural as possible.

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  9. this is great, thanks for sharing! I'm always keen on ways to minimize waste... hay is like gold.

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    1. I wish my wealth was determined by my hay stockpile...

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