Haying in winter

[JONKS]

Have another "green" question need a little input on.
I have quite a few square bales that'll last another month or two. Then a few round bales coming in. The guy I bought them from mentioned forking the hay from the round bales to the horse because "you don't want to give him free access to the bale"
My question is why? The bale will be in a ring and under a lean to and out of weather. (Snow, ice, rain)
I had horses in the south so feeding wasn't too difficult there being they mostly had feed.
Is it terrible to give him access to the bale in the corrals 24/7?
Never had this question come up before. Thanks for the nice comments in advance!

[dizzy]

That's a question that doesn't have a correct answer. Reason? It depends entirely on the number of horses, the horses themselves and the weather. You plan on having it out of the weather, which is good. Otherwise, it can get nasty if the weather is really bad.

Some horses are pigs. You stick out a whole RB, and they'll just stand there and eat at it constantly. Then you have horses that like to pull one to pieces. Being in a feeder doesn't stop them. What they don't eat, they drop on the ground, then walk all thru it and/or poop and pee in it.

I fed RBs last winter, and I only put out as much hay as I needed in a day. I have one that will eat constantly, pull the bale all to pieces, then walk thru what's on the ground and poop and pee in it.

[aoconnor1]

I have never restricted access to round bales, but I have a large herd that all eat at different rates and times, so they have to all have access during the day as needed. I am setting one round a week right now, but if we get very cold weather, that will change to one every 4-5 days. I have 1000 lb round bales.

I also have some decent winter grasses coming up which the horses easily prefer to the round bales, so I don't use nearly the amount of hay that someone with the same number of horses but in a much colder/snow climate would have to use. I have never heard of limiting access to hay for a normally healthy horse.

[tab]

I have a horse that would chase the others away and probably look like she was pregnant with triplets if I let her near free acess hay.

[wr]

The digestive system of a horse is not designed for a couple meals a day. I like to feed mine as close to how Mother Nature intended so in winter, they get free choice hay.

[jennigrey]

Some horses will shove their faces in a round bale and not even come up for air. This can lead to respiratory problems when they inhale the dust and chaff and - heaven forbid - mold. It is less labor to allow them free access to the entire bale but it can result in a lot of waste. Some horses will overeat, others won't.

[brody]

Free choice here too. Which this winter, this set up means round bale access 24/7

[Molly Mckee]

When we fed round bales we found that the horses would eat like pigs. After a couple of bales they slow down and eat normally.

[1sttimemom]

This year due to moving and having the horses all penned up in temporary smaller corrals we fork hay to them daily. But in the past we free fed large rounds in a ring feeder. I had the horses pretty much all together except the young stallion who shared a large corral with a gelding he likes. They did waste some but not too bad and it was a MAJOR time/labor saver to put a bale out once a week or so. This was nice grass hay with a teeny bit of alfalfa mixed in. I wouldn't do this with rich straight alfalfa. Our horses range in size from shetland ponies to 15+ hands. Ages from foals to adult bred/lactating mares. We didn't really suppliment with anything other than salt & minerals.

[mrs whodunit]

Right now with the horses/ponies we have got I put out a lot of straw in their feeders and then some good hay on top of that. That way, the ponies arent getting too fat but yet everybody can stayed filled up. I don't want empty stomachs.

I do have a few grass bales that arent great quality so I will put one out for them to eat free choice.

Many people around here do put out round bales for their horses to eat.

[Maura]

As hay digests it builds up heat and keeps the animal warm. They also expend more energy to keep warm. So, the coldest days they will eat more. Check your animals and if they are getting too fat, you can limit the amount they eat by rotating them into a different pen. Make sure they have water. They do not need constant access to water, and some may only drink once a day, but they will drink a lot.

[Whip Hussmann]

It all depends on the price of hay and the amount of time available.

[Convoy]

In Alberta here we gave up giving bales to the horses unless it is -40 or colder since they waste the majority of it. Then again the small pasture is 17 acres and the large is 40 so for 6 horses there always is plenty of grass for them to eat. Then again warm breeds need a bit more attention which is the reason we stick to the cold ones.

[aoconnor1]

My horses waste very little of the round bale when I have the bale in a good hay ring. If the bale is not in a ring it isn't going to go very far, it is pretty much a waste and I would feed flakes if I didn't have the ring.

[Jay27]

Horses were designed to forage continually. Their stomachs don't work like ours and they make acid 24/7. You can slow them with hay nets, 'cinch chix' make huge ones that easily go over rounds or big squares. They work great! No waste and different net options to control how fast they can eat

[Teej]

My horses have free choice on round bales, the minis don't.

[crittermomma]

I don't give mine access to free choice - my gosh, my QH would be a fatso before the end of the winter. I had a friend whose horse almost went blind a few years ago while eating from a round bale - when sticking her head in to eat, a hard piece if stalk poked her in the eye. It took months of treatment before she healed.

[Forestrider]

We fork hay to the horses, but feed them corn stalks. Usually 1/4 corn stalk bale every 2 weeks. They can eat all the corn leaves and chew on all the stalks they want. The hay is given 2 times a day.

They always have "something" to chew on. This keeps them from chewing on the wood rails and posts. It also keeps their guts happy. They do gain weight in the winter. But we are in Minnesota, so I'd rather them be a little on the chubby side, than thin.

They also get grain with veggie oil, on the -10 days or worse, and free access to mineral blocks and water. I do dribble salt water on their hay every couple of days, to insure water intake. Not too much salt in the water. I also give them a 5 gallon bucket of warm water on the days that are -10 or worse. They love the warm water and wait for it.

[luvmyjersey1]

We use CinchChix hay nets and have approx 2-3% waste. Barefoot horses get just a netted bale. Shod horses get a hayring around the netted bale. A bale is consumed in a week so not much worry of mold.

[brody]

Oh I like your hay ring very much. Any idea of what brand it is?