DAPNET Forums Archive › Forums › Draft Animal Power › Horses › What Do You Feed Your Horses?
- This topic has 41 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 8 months ago by
Bess.
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- February 11, 2009 at 12:24 am #47972
Ed Thayer
ParticipantWill all horses self regulate on round bale hay? I am down to my last 150 bales of 1st cut and was wondering if I could stretch it by buying round bale hay and making it available all day to the horses.
When I go to upstate New York hunting in the fall, I drive by severeal farms feeding horses this way. I do not however see this at home in NH.
February 11, 2009 at 3:07 am #47970Robert MoonShadow
ParticipantHighway; The company mules do… but they’re mules, so…? On their winter pasture, I just pull in, and shove a 650# bale off the back of my Datsun p/u & cut & pull the twine. It’s a mix of grass types – I don’t think I’d do it with a bale heavy in alfalfa or clover. It lasts a standard & a draft mule about 3 weeks. {A lot of waste, but at $35 or a bottle of Crown Royal per bale…}.
Wow, how many head do you have, that 150 bales won’t last ’til spring? Even spring in NH?February 11, 2009 at 3:12 am #47960near horse
ParticipantI think the key word used here was wastage. That’s why folks have bale feeders – and even then some will keep pulling hay out picking through for “the good stuff”. I did see a pretty cool home made round bale cutter on RFD Prairie Farm Report – cuts them right in half.
February 11, 2009 at 1:32 pm #47945Rod
ParticipantI feed my Halfingers with round bales out of a feeder. They eat it all, no waste. But I did have the Vet give them botulism shots in the fall which is recommended if you are feeding round bales. Three shot protocol two weeks apart.
February 11, 2009 at 1:46 pm #47973Participant@Robert MoonShadow 5827 wrote:
Highway; The company mules do… but they’re mules, so…? On their winter pasture, I just pull in, and shove a 650# bale off the back of my Datsun p/u & cut & pull the twine. It’s a mix of grass types – I don’t think I’d do it with a bale heavy in alfalfa or clover. It lasts a standard & a draft mule about 3 weeks. {A lot of waste, but at $35 or a bottle of Crown Royal per bale…}.
Wow, how many head do you have, that 150 bales won’t last ’til spring? Even spring in NH?I have the 1000lb Haflinger and a Morgan x Draft around 1200lbs.
Last year we did not harvest our first crop untill mid July because of the weather. I will be reseeding one of my pastures so it will not be available untill late summer for grazing.
Like you, I can get the round bales relatively cheap and build a covered holder for it. We drink Jim Beam here:D
I asked the question because I had heard that horses would not stop eating when full. I guess that is not correct?
Ed
February 11, 2009 at 1:54 pm #47946ParticipantMine eat as much as the they want. A 600 lb bale will last a couple of weeks for the two of them which is about 20 lbs each per day. They are not slim at this point but also have a heavy winter coat of hair so it’s hard to tell and they have not done any work this winter to speak of.
February 11, 2009 at 1:58 pm #47974ParticipantThanks Rod,
You have the vet administer the shot’s I assume?
February 11, 2009 at 2:55 pm #47947ParticipantYes the Vet did it for us.
February 13, 2009 at 3:21 am #47977HeeHawHaven
ParticipantWell, here’s a couple of pics of my mules after what I’ve been feeding all winter. They look great to me.
Dave
February 13, 2009 at 6:20 am #47971ParticipantNope, sorry Dave… they’re obviously neglected & severely malnourished. You better go out & give them each a bag of carrots & 3… no, make that 4, large apples.
February 13, 2009 at 4:12 pm #47961ParticipantOh come on Dave. That isn’t Idaho in February. Where’s the snow? I’m just jealous:). The mules look fine.
February 13, 2009 at 9:44 pm #47978ParticipantGot a dusting the other day. I hope we’re done! I want to spend more time working with Duke without freezing my donkey off!
D
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