# Beginner Hay question



## Failbhe (May 8, 2012)

subbing - I've had horses for a while but the last few winters we just had miniatures, it's the first winter in a few years we have a full-size horse, so I'd like to know too!


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## cakemom (Jul 4, 2010)

Each of mine eat about 25 lbs a day and are on pasture as well as hard feed.
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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

It will greatly depend on the individual horse you get. I have horses (all basically the same size) that range from needing 30 pounds per day to over 50 pounds per day to maintain their weight. And that's a non-working ration. If they were in work, they would be needing more.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

If you figure at 25 lbs (2 1/2% of your horse's weight) a day and a square bale is about 45 lbs (around here), that's 202 bales/year.
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## eclipseranch (May 31, 2012)

PaintHorseMares said:


> If you figure at 25 lbs (2 1/2% of your horse's weight) a day and a square bale is about 45 lbs (around here), that's 202 bales/year.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I always love your analytical problem solving ability!


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

eclipseranch said:


> I always love your analytical problem solving ability!


That's what us engineers were born for ;-)


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

It depends. Will there be pasture too? How's the quality of the hay? Will you feed it in a feeder? There are more variables too. 

A good general rule is a horse needs 2% of their body weight per day in forage. That is of their healthy weight. More if you need to put weight on. More in winter and less in summer if there is a pasture with grass. 

If you feed round bales, there will be more waste because they are usually not stored inside. The outer layer usually is no good being exposed to the sun and elements. 

We feed square bales. Usually feed 4 in the summer and 5 in the winter for 7 horses. They get about 1/2 a bale a day. So with that, about 180 per year but count some extra just to be safe. Like PHM said, about 200 per year per horse. 
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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Quick and dirty rule of thumb is 5 ton a year per horse with no pasture. It goes down from there with acreage and quality of grass on the pasture. With decent summer pasture it's about 3 ton per head for winter feeding.

Best thing to do is plan on the full 5 ton your first year. After that year is up, look at how much hay you have left and how your horse looks, adjust accordingly for the second year.


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## ThatDraftGirl (Jun 5, 2012)

My draft eats a bale a day with no pasture in the winter... So we usually get 200 bales in the summer to last us all winter til the spring... Then we have pasture in the summer so he only gets 1/2 a bale in the summer...


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## Brittney1119 (Jul 20, 2012)

Thank you everyone for your help. Yes there would be pasture as well, and we were talking to someone who bales hay near where we live, I don't remember the weight of the bales but I believe it is a timothy/orchard mix.

Another question would be how big of an area would someone need to store 200 or 400 bales of hay at a time?


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Brittney1119 said:


> Another question would be how big of an area would someone need to store 200 or 400 bales of hay at a time?


I can put about 56 bales in our 2 horse stock trailer if that helps any size-wise.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Just a suggestion. If possible store your hay away from the horse barn.


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## Brittney1119 (Jul 20, 2012)

natisha said:


> Just a suggestion. If possible store your hay away from the horse barn.


Thank you for the advice, is there a particular reason why?

We were actually looking into on of the carport type buildings for storing hay which was why I was curious as to what size we would need to store hay for a year for two horses.

The first one we found was 10x20 and just over 9ft high? Any ideas if that would be enough room or we would need more?


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I don't know about room. I've never stored that many square bales, but the main reason for storing the hay away from the horse barn is fire hazard. A barnful of hay is basically a fireball waiting to happen and all it takes is one tiny spark to start a monstrous blaze...and it doesn't take long for it to go completely up.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Brittney1119 said:


> Another question would be how big of an area would someone need to store 200 or 400 bales of hay at a time?


Well that all depends. 

The heavier your bale the less room you'll actually need for storage. A common bale weight is 50 pounds but a 100 pound bale is only slightly larger in size and you've gone from 40 bales/ton to 20. FYI, 50 pound bales are preferred by many due to how easy they are to handle in comparison.

Next depends on vertical height. How high is your rafters going to be and how high are you going to stack those bales? Most people are only comfortable stacking hay 3-4 tiers high. Taller people can toss a bale up 5-6 tiers from the ground. Going up higher than that requires either an elevator or dragging a bale up the stack. I've gone 20 tiers high in a barn. Elevation allows more hay to be put in with the same footprint.

Another factor is who baled the hay. Someone who is good at setting up their baler will make every bale the exact same weight and size. Unfortunately many don't do this so you get all different sizes of bales. That plays havoc with stacks and isn't fun at all to deal with.

Last factor is how tight is your stack. A good stacker can put ~10% more bales in the same area as a bad stacker.

So you see, you ask a simple question and get a more complicated answere than you expect. Best thing to do is go to the guy you think will supply you and ask or measure several of his bales and take the average. Then do some simple math to figure out how much room it will take


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

We have a 10 x 20 storage shed that's 6 feet high on the sides. We can fit 200 in it. 4 rows of 7 and another of 6. The bales are about 50 lbs each.
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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

smrobs said:


> I don't know about room. I've never stored that many square bales, but the main reason for storing the hay away from the horse barn is fire hazard. A barnful of hay is basically a fireball waiting to happen and all it takes is one tiny spark to start a monstrous blaze...and it doesn't take long for it to go completely up.


Yes, that & if any of the bales are too wet they will get hot & start to burn on their own (spontaneous combustion).


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## eclipseranch (May 31, 2012)

yep, I worried about this a lot until this darn drought..now I have hay stored every where that I can store it!

It is so frustrating when the bales are very uneven..plays havoc with stacking!!


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Being in PA I assume you probably have timothy and orchard grass (and just mixed grass) hay. I personally feed timothy square bales, and my horses go through about 1 bale / day (bale is 50-55 lbs). Less if I have them on pasture for several hours/day. 

If you have just 2-3 horses square bales are easier to feed, almost no waste, and easy to store, however with more horses I'd look into round bales (cheaper, although more waste, and you want to give botulism shot).


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

smrobs said:


> I don't know about room. I've never stored that many square bales, but the main reason for storing the hay away from the horse barn is fire hazard. A barn full of hay is basically a fireball waiting to happen and all it takes is one tiny spark to start a monstrous blaze...and it doesn't take long for it to go completely up.


I thought that, too, but when I first got my horses (June, 1985) I rented turnout with a barn for shelter from a farmer. He also rented his previously run father's chicken barn buildings to lot of other businesses, and one of them started a fire in February, 1986. Afterwards, I saw my gutted pop-up camper, bits left from leather bridles that had burned up, no more wooden desk (that had my business phone), no phone either. Most of the bales of hay and straw were singed on the outside, but intact inside, to my great surprise.
You know, LOTS of things are combustible in a barn. Barn fires from hay occur mostly bc of wet hay that is improperly baled and/or left out in the rain, and then stacked. I have bought "rained on hay", and opened up the bales, turning the flakes until they were completely dry. You CAN do that. You might HAVE to do that this year bc in many places the drought has left hay scarce, so I mention this. The temperature inside a wet bale a couple days after improper curing will burn you. It is amazing how hot they can get.
I have lightning rods on the roof of my barn. The builder (70yo?) put in a loft with stairs and I can store up to 500 bales in it. I keep my horses in their stalls below the loft mostly when there is ice or a snowstorm and I give them lots of turnout year round with their 16 x 19 ft. shelter, adjacent to the barn.
Put up dry, properly cured hay. Don't smoke or let anybody smoke in or close to your barn. Don't stack hay on a dirt barn floor bc your floor could get wet and ruin your hay with mold. Mold from properly cured hay doesn't start a fire, either, but a horse won't touch it. I suggest wooden pallets to get some air under the bales. Cattle will eat it. Most of us stack bales on their sides to keep moisture from molding next to the baling twine. Just wanted to share, so you know.


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