# Feeding hay with twine still tied around it?



## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

Bump...


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## raisinandelana (Sep 11, 2011)

How large is the stall? And you are planning on putting 20 bales in it? Just wondering. I would NEVER have a horse have access to anything with twine.. it looks a lot like hay for one thing and I have heard people say they can choke on it which IMO I do beleive . What you could do for protecting your hay is pretty simple. I buy 50 bales at a time (I have a hay guy I go through) I stack them on pallates and cover it with a huge tarp. Mine is in a old tractor shed that leaks a little and want to keep it bone dry. Having the hay off the ground allows it to breathe and you won't spoil the bottom bales. Anyways if it is a standard sized stall ... no way I don't think it would be safe at all.... but that's my oppinion!
Good luck!


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

That is relatively speaking, actually I wouldn't be putting a ton in their, more like 8 bales or so, others would be put in the feed area, which is 5 by 4- :lol: And yes, I have decided not to do that, just wondering if anyone does.


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

Oh yeah, it runs out into a 24 foot run, the whole 12 foot side is open, so it is not like she would be cramped in there.


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## raisinandelana (Sep 11, 2011)

Ohhhh ok I got a better mental picture now lol I was imagining a usual sized box stall stacked wall to wall about 4 bales high and was like...... hmmmm lol yeah I am a huge stickler about twine the one thing I remember being told in my first ever lesson was 'if you see twine pick it up....horses choke on it' and I was like 7 so it stuck with me lol


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## Red Gate Farm (Aug 28, 2011)

The farmers around my area do this all the time. They put a big round 1400 lb bale of hay out for the horses and cattle (they run them together in the same field) with the string still around the bales.

Horrible idea.

I've seen cut up fetlocks when the horse paws the twine and gets it wrapped around their leg, then they pull back. Baling twine around here doesn't break so they cut themselves and sometimes badly.

I always remove the baling twine and feed the big round bale in a _horse_ round bale feeder (the tombstone shaped one) not the cattle round bale feeder. Again, farmers around here do this, and you should see the mess a horse can make of its head when they get stuck in one.


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## SadieMyBaby (Jun 11, 2011)

I wouldn't leave the twine on it. Is there anyway you can put it in a hay net or something? If not, I would just take the twine off and let the bale fall apart right there


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

Yes, I put it in a hay net, but my question was does anyone leave their hay storage open to their horses and let them eat the hay with the twine attached. Thanks everyone!


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## BellaMFT (Nov 15, 2011)

We built this slow feeder recently. It has cut down on our feed and they can eat when they are hungry. I love it and to do the horses.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

I like that, do you have more pictures of this ^?


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## BellaMFT (Nov 15, 2011)

waresbear said:


> I like that, do you have more pictures of this ^?


I can take some more picture and post them. That was just a quick snap shot I took the day we put it in the pasture. It took about a day to build and cost about $80 or so. It has been so nice. In the winter we stop by on the way to work and on the way home to feed them. We still stop by every night just to check them but we only fill up the feeder every other day. It holds a 80-90 lb bale of hay and last my two horses two days.


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## raisinandelana (Sep 11, 2011)

You should really patent that!


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## BellaMFT (Nov 15, 2011)

raisinandelana said:


> You should really patent that!


lol I wish. But I think you can already buy them. It's cheaper to build it then buy it. I got the idea from a friend who build one for her horses. I love it.


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

BellaMFT said:


> It took about a day to build and cost about $80 or so. .



I love love LOVE this. Is the wire screen on top secured in any certain way? Or is it weighted so it moves down as the hay gets eaten down? I really want to build one when I get land and get my horses home (hopefully within a few months).


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

Absolutely would NOT feed have them eat off bale with twine still on:shock:
Besides getting their foot caught them they can do damage to their mouth.When I was a kid my BFF bought a barrel racing gelding he had 1/2 a tongue.Apparently when he was a youngster got the twine in his mouth & other end around his foot & sawed his tongue!!:-(


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

BellaMFT said:


> We built this slow feeder recently. It has cut down on our feed and they can eat when they are hungry. I love it and to do the horses.


They sound like a great idea! I would build one, but a website said almost every horse figures out to eat a bunch from one side but not the other, and then the grate tips up, and they pull it off and end up gobbling down the hay. . . So I am sticking to my small mesh hay net. Also, is the grate secured in the box? I am sure Casey would figure out how to grab hold of it and throw it out :lol:


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## BellaMFT (Nov 15, 2011)

karliejaye said:


> I love love LOVE this. Is the wire screen on top secured in any certain way? Or is it weighted so it moves down as the hay gets eaten down? I really want to build one when I get land and get my horses home (hopefully within a few months).


 
This a link to the grate we bought. It is 2 feet by 5 feet.

Gridwall 2' X 5' Chrome

We basically build the feeder to fit this. It is sits on top of the hay and is held in with a peice of steele cable. What we did is drill to holes in the floor and run the cable through them. One side we premently attached it to the grate and the otherside we have a steele clip. This weekend if it's not to snowy I'll take so good picture and post them.


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## BellaMFT (Nov 15, 2011)

caseymyhorserocks said:


> They sound like a great idea! I would build one, but a website said almost every horse figures out to eat a bunch from one side but not the other, and then the grate tips up, and they pull it off and end up gobbling down the hay. . . So I am sticking to my small mesh hay net. Also, is the grate secured in the box? I am sure Casey would figure out how to grab hold of it and throw it out :lol:


 
We have the grate secured with a steele cable. We make sure to secure it so that they can't pull it out or tip it up. It can get a little tricky sometimes but after 2-3 times you figure out what works the best. It has to be tight enough that they can't pull it out.


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## LauraLA (Feb 7, 2010)

What a wonderful idea! So each little square is big enough for them to stick their noses in to grab a mouthful of hay?

And how deep is this "box"?


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## BellaMFT (Nov 15, 2011)

LauraLA said:


> What a wonderful idea! So each little square is big enough for them to stick their noses in to grab a mouthful of hay?
> 
> And how deep is this "box"?


It's about 2 feet deep. It will hold an 80-90 pound bale of hay. The grate allows them to pull out a little bit of hay at a time. The squares are not bit enough for them to get their nose in them but are big enough they can use their tongue and teeth to pull out hay.


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

Ok, that makes more sense now.


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## MahoganyBay (Nov 18, 2011)

BellaMFT said:


> We built this slow feeder recently. It has cut down on our feed and they can eat when they are hungry. I love it and to do the horses.


That is cool!


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## VT Trail Trotters (Jul 21, 2011)

Do not ever keep the twin on the bales. If the horse eats it it is very long and may get stuck in the throat.


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## New_image (Oct 27, 2007)

I was picturing like you said FILLING the stall with hay and jamming a horse in there with it at night. If the pile was high of course the horse would yank several middle bales out and you'd come back to a heap, not a stack of hay. If its eight bales as you later say, which is hardly the equivalent to "filling" a stall, then there is no risk of the hay toppling over onto the horse. 
If its only eight bales that you need to move I'd opt for the tack room, a shed, the garage etc... If you'd like to keep those eight bales in tact. I am not nearly as concerned with the twine as everyone else seems to be but I can assure you that if given eight bales to munch on the horse will have them all fluffed up and spread around by morning 

That feeder is a great idea! Maybe a silly question, I haven't had any coffee yet, but how does the horse reach the hay once the bail is half eaten? Is there a grid on the under side of the feeder as well?


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

New_image said:


> That feeder is a great idea! Maybe a silly question, I haven't had any coffee yet, but how does the horse reach the hay once the bail is half eaten? Is there a grid on the under side of the feeder as well?


The grid slides down with the hay, and she has it fastened so the horses cant pull it out the top.


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## New_image (Oct 27, 2007)

Thats brilliant!


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## eventerdrew (Mar 13, 2009)

We had a horse hospitalized in the spring at our barn from consuming twine.


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## ButtInTheDirt (Jan 16, 2011)

I wouldn't. Seeing as it is a very simple thing to avoid why even bother to take the risk? My mother's horse will eat the plastic twine if she sees it laying around; even when their is hay around. There was one time when we had two horses and their barn literally flipped over onto its roof in a wind storm. We locked them in the hay storage area and they tore three or four bales right open. We ended up wasting alot of hay, but I suppose our horses are still alive. If you need to store hay in your horse's pen, stack all of the bales on palates and cover then with a tarp. Open up one of them and let your horse eat that one. But it is such a waste of hay to let the horse to use it as a bathroom aswell as food and bedding. 

You probably could leave it on, but IMHO, I think it is a dumb thing to do.


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