Sunday, June 26, 2011

Hay feeder update

Here's the pictures of my slow hay feeder.
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The white mesh is hockey netting. It's extremely sturdy and the holes are a good size to slow down a horse, but not frustrate it completely.
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My attachment system is so ridiculously ghetto, but I can't figure out a better way to keep the hay in the net without starting over completely. Sigh. It's a piece of PVC woven through the top squares of the net, then that's clipped to to the lip of the backing with Romex.
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I think the backing is a shelving unit. There were a bunch of wire mesh L-shaped things in the barn when we bought the place, and one of them ended up in my hay feeder. It looks like something from a closet organizer kit to me. But there are no sharp ends and it doesn't trap water!
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The rest of the feeder is just scrapped together. The legs are 2' long - because I could cut four legs out of one 8' 4x4. There are plywood ends and some 2x4s bracing it all together. I tried various things, but ended up tying the metal shelf in place with more Romex. No sharp ends, easy to reposition if you have thumbs.


I went ahead and Romex'd the whole damn thing to that telephone post in the pasture. It's not a live wire post, it's just a very sturdy 12' post standing in the pasture. Obviously I didn't put it there, and taking it out seemed like way too much trouble. But it keeps frustrated Dixie from knocking over her hay feeder, so it can stay.

15 comments:

  1. If it work, it works! I love seeing some of the very original creations horse people make to make life with horses work. =)

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  2. I like it. Although, I will say, the lack of bailing twine is a disappointment. Nothing is truly rigged till it's partly held up by bailing twine.

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  3. Caitlin - thanks! :) Nicholas, I just upgraded the last bits of baling twine to Romex! It used to be tied to the post with twine. Lots of twine.

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  4. Hey?....Its good! Dont knock it, if it does the job? Which it is, so why spend money when you dont have to? Good for you!

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  5. Looks good to me! I'm all for making do and being creative - there's a great new way to recycle old hockey nets!

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  6. I am so glad to see this post! I purchased a slow feeder and I had a hard time making it work for myself and my horses this summer. One horse was able to make a great use of it - but she's plenty heavy, while my horse that needs the calories (growing), wasn't able to get the feed he quite needed.
    So - then do I add another feeding in addition to the slow feeder? If so, how much feed?
    I'm telling you- I went a little bonkers. Reminded me of breast feeding - you never knew how much your baby was getting!!
    I am somewhat of a control freak, in case that's not obvious (HA), and I finally just gave up on the slow feeder and went back to routine feedings twice a day.
    All this to say- if you decide to chat more about your slow feeder and just how you're incorporating it, I'm reading!! =) I would love to learn!!

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  7. Love the rig! Glad to know you at least initially used some baling twine in your design lol ;)

    Here's a link to Glenshee Equestrian Center's very informative post about hockey net slow feeders...

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  8. I wish we had these at SRF.

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  9. CFS - that's where I got the hockey net idea! I started with welded wire fence, but that was unpopular AND not durable. Then I tried a net I tied out of haystrings, which took like four thousand times longer than I thought it would and got really ratty really fast. Then Glenshee posted about hockey nets and I immediately ordered one.

    Dom, look at that link CFS posted - it's easy to rig them up along a fence if you have solid wire or board fences. My contraption is freestanding and complicated because she doesn't really like the run-in and that's the only solid wood out there.

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  10. Very clever. I like that yours is low. When they get too high, horses can pull the hay down into the eyes. Not good.

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  11. Very creative!!! And it works so who cares how ghetto it is?

    How is Her Majesty Princess Horse. Healing up ok?

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  12. Terry - I try to feed low because it's a more natural position for the horse, blah blah blah. :) It's one of those things where I don't know how much difference it really makes, but it's easy enough to do.

    Jeni - she's good! Really chilled out about staying in jail, looks forward to her daily walk and backyard grazing time afterwards. I am really enjoying the enforced idleness. :)

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  13. I like it! Ingenuity at it's finest! I bought a "Nibble Net" this winter for Khari - she became too frustrated with it. At least she doesn't waste her hay - so went back to giving her the usual pile.

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  14. Looks good to me! Those Slow Feeders we bought worked but I think they were a little too frustrating and SLOW feeding for some horses.
    - The Equestrian Vagabond

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  15. Hey Merri and HH, what does your hay look like? Right now I"m feeding second cutting grass, and it's got more short bits than I like (the flakes want to fall apart walking them outside and the short bits get *all over* me). But I think the short bits make it easier for her to pull hay through the netting.

    I wonder if she'll have a harder time when I get my first cutting hay in a couple of weeks?

    Part of my ease in slow feeding is because she's an only horse. She doesn't have to compete with anybody else - there might be some herd dynamics coming into play with the frustrated horses who can't eat fast enough.

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