# Your Experience with Round Bale Hay Nets



## Lockwood

Made one myself. It is outlined with pics in this thread-
http://www.horseforum.com/horse-nutrition/making-slow-feeder-133248/

I made it in spring this year and it is still holding up quite well. The top is attached loosely so that as the horses eat down the hay, the top collapses down on the remaining hay.
It was well worth the $30 in materials that I used and the hour or two it took to make it. I'm getting anywhere from 3 to 5 more days per bale, and with the scarcity of hay in my area this year, that is a big deal. 

While the pre-made ones are expensive, now that I know how well a hay net will work, when mine gives out I'll either make another one or buy an expensive one.


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## RATHER BE RIDING

Lockwood - Thank you for your feedback. I was considering making my own but had concerns over finding netting that was strong enough. I had not considered the plastic netting. I will have to look into that. I was hoping to get a few more replies so that I could tell whether it was worth the investment. I also would like to know if any of the soccer or hockey netting could be toxic to horses. While most horses would learn to eat through the holes and leave when done, I could see mine just hanging out chewing on the netting for fun.


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## DancingArabian

They were used at my old barn. They were obnoxious to get on the bales. It took two of us on the ground and a third in the tractor. They dramatically slowed consumption and worked well. I recommend that you use a strong hay feeder because in some fields (there were over a dozen fields), the horses would lean on the sides of the feeder, causing them to break and the net would sometimes slip through to the ground. Shod horses would get their shoes tangled in the nets and torn off. One barefoot horse somehow got his whole hoof stuck in the net and dragged it around (there was about 200 pounds of hay left in the net and there were drag marks of hay on the ground) for who knows how long (it was after the last night check) before he got freed.

So, short version: I liked what they did for slowing down eating but I didn't care for the added hazards.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## RATHER BE RIDING

The safety aspect does concern me. I am just getting desperate to stop the waste. We have a round bale feeder but that does not stop the horses from tossing the hay over the sides where they then muck it all up. Where I live hay is not cheap or plentiful.


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## katieandscooby

I bought both a round and square one this fall. I love them! None of my horses are shod so that doesn't bug me, and the holes being so small I don't worry about them catching themselves. (square is 1 inch round is 1.25 inch and I have half square feeders that are 2" holes. ) because the grapple on our new tractor has yet to be fixed I am only using squares all around right now. I have noticed that instead of thinking they are starving 2 hours after I feed them, they are good till I feed them again at 430. What does fall out of the feeders gets cleaned up quickly by my crew. I have 7 horses on these right now and I will probably buy another couple square bale feeders next year so that my other ones can have these too rather then being out with the cattle. Depending on the temperature I am feeding 3 to 4 squares per 7 head depending how cold it is, whereas I would probably need to feed 6 to keep them happy otherwise. Mine are by Lead On NUtrition, bit cheaper then your NAG bags or econets, but work the same and made out of similar material.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## caseymyhorserocks

I don't feed round bales, but I do use small mesh hay nets. 

Do they hold up? I have used my Freedom Feeder on and off for a couple years (on trips and occasional stalling) and I recently got a small mesh hay net from Smartpak and have been using those only for my two horses for the past 4 months and no damage. 
Did they really slow your horse down? Yes they do.
How easy are they to use? Not the best to fill up.. you have to open up the drawstring (or with my Freedom feeder, unclip the top), stuff hay, then hang up.
Do you recommend them? Absolutely.
What did you like the best about the net?Very minimal hay falling on ground and extending eating time.
What did you like the least? Filling them up.

As for round bales, I would get a big round net the width of a round bale with 1x1 inch holes (a big hockey net spread out flat maybe?) for the top of the bale, and then build a "pen" for the round bale that goes up at least a couple feet (I would recommend sinking 4x4's into the ground in a semi circle shape and put a little concrete in with them, and then nail planks along the sides, 2x8's would be great). Then, put hooks (the twist-in screw eyes would work) along the outside of the bale pen, put the round bale in the pen, put the net over the top of the bale, clip clips to the net and clip those to the outside hooks. If you dont have a way to lift the bale up over the "pen fence" you could put a wooden door along the side. I think that would help the problem with getting the bale in the hay net- just make sure the bale pen doesn't go up too high otherwise the horse won't be able to eat the bottom part of the bale.


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## Failbhe

I bought two of the large round bale feeders from CinchChix - haven't tried them out yet as they are still finishing the bales we put in earlier, but next time we but a new round bale in we'll put on the net. Ours are also barefoot


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## BBBCrone

I have a question as I never used a hay net before. Do the horses chew on them? I'm considering them but I'm afraid I'll end up with a horse with a belly full of hay net.


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## poppy1356

Yes they can chew thru them. We have the Cinch Chix ones and 1 out of 4 is holding up. No horses have shoes but some groups are more agressive. If you have agressive eaters I say no to them. But they do help with waste. We never had the waste they claimed you have without them so it only cut down by about 5% for us.

I more have an issue with how the company handled the situation more than they were being chewed thru. 

They are also a pain to put on once the cold hits. They freeze and then your fingers are frozen and ugh takes at least two people.

But for a few horses they would be great. As long as they don't have the inclination to chew thru them.


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## EmilyJoy

We bought a Texas Hay net, and it was totally worth the money, went from pretty much eating all the hay in less then a week or two to lasting a little under a month. We also use a ring around the hay bale/net so that can't damage it. We've only had ours for about a year...


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## Lockwood

My crew learned to pull the hay through the little holes with their lips. Occasionally they will pick up a bit of the netting along with a bit of hay, but they have learned to let go of it and not put holes in it.
I will say though, because I made mine with smaller sloy feeder nets, the material is big enough not to get stuck or caught between their teeth either.
This was a concern for me with the smaller string nets or hocky nets. The ones I looked at were tiny strings.

Also, with the sides of mine being plastic snow fence, it will easily break with finger pressure should something get caught on it.
Although, a horse hoof is too big to fit but a mini or donkey hoof isn't.
One last thing....because the sides on mine hold their shape, the actual net part rarely touches the ground or even has a chance to be stepped on because I take 30 seconds to check it daily.


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## RATHER BE RIDING

I finally decided to order the Cinch Net fro Cinch Chix. Failbhe, you will have to let me know how they work for you. They were cheaper then the Texas Hay Net and got good reviews. Still a lot of money to pay, but I have other people's horses to consider, so I did not want to make my own and then have something go horribly wrong. At least I know this was made specifically for horses. 

Last question - those of you that do use a hay net on your round bale, that is not under cover, do you have any problems with mold when the bale gets wet?


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## Failbhe

Well we put on the net for the first time this morning. It went ok, the main trouble came from the tractor not the net! :lol: While the bale was up on the bale spear we cut all the twine, but because we had had some freezing rain and a lot of snow we couldn't get the twine off the bale so we put the bale back on the ground so we could scrape off some of the snow and ice and get the twine off. Once we tried to put it back up to get the net on, the tractor wouldn't stay up so it went up and down a couple times and some of the layers of hay started to fall off the bale. Once the tractor stopped being temperamental and we pulled the loose hay out from under the bale it wasn't too hard to get the net on, but I can see how it would be frustrating trying to do it with just one person. 

So far it looks like the horses' first reactions are confusion and some pawing and chewing, but we also put in an uncovered bale so if they're really hungry it's not like they have nothing to eat until they figure out how to get hay out of the net. I'll keep you updated on how they hold up.

Now to photobomb the heck out of this thread! :wink: (I know when I was debating whether or not to buy the nets I would have found these pics helpful, so here they are in case this helps someone else!)


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## RATHER BE RIDING

Thank you for posting pictures. I imagine it did get frustrating with the bale falling apart. We don't have snow yet, so at least I won't have frozen bales to contend with. I really hope for both of us that these nets work and hold up well. Looks like your guys are starting to figure it out. Cute!


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## Lockwood

RATHER BE RIDING said:


> I finally decided to order the Cinch Net fro Cinch Chix. Failbhe, you will have to let me know how they work for you. They were cheaper then the Texas Hay Net and got good reviews. Still a lot of money to pay, but I have other people's horses to consider, so I did not want to make my own and then have something go horribly wrong. At least I know this was made specifically for horses.
> 
> Last question - those of you that do use a hay net on your round bale, that is not under cover, do you have any problems with mold when the bale gets wet?


I haven't had too much an issue because the bale still gets eaten fairly quickly. 
My guys are not put off by eating wet hay when it rains and will eat the wet bits before mold has chance to set in.


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## Chardavej

I made one out of a 10x20 hockey net. I bought a cinch strap from the Cinch Chic's website. I put the hay in it and put in the round bale feeder, that way they can't get into the net. Works wonderfully! Hay lasts longer, no mess tossed out around the round bale feeder.


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## poppy1356

We are sending ours back. Holes get chewed in them within a day and it's just to cold to be out daily trying to fix them. Also yes the bottom will get very moldy if there is any moisture under it. Also the nets freeze.


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## Blue Smoke

I have the 1 1/4" hole large bale cinch net and so far it has worked wonderfully. It is recommended to not use with horses with shoes unless you also use a ring feeder to prevent snagging and accidents like the one already mentioned. The first 2 bales I put out this year were pawed to death and stomped into the mud after the bale naturally collapsed, getting that nasty hay out was a CHORE, and I just rinsed it with warm dawn water and hosed it off after that. But I finally broke down and bought a metal ring feeder to keep them from pawing and stepping on the hay, and use a pallet to keep up off the ground and stop from getting any moisture/mold forming between, and I'll never look back. I can put the net on myself, but its much easier with hubby there to help. 

Its obviously a bit more time consuming than just putting rounds out normally, but it really does slow my horses down considerably with the smaller holes (the other option is 1 3/4" holes) and my hoover can't just stick his head in the bale and never take it out. He has not gotten heaves yet this year, where normally he would start getting heave-y before the first round of the year was gone. I have had *zero* waste with using the CC net in addition to ring feeder and on a pallet, and haven't gotten a hole in it yet.


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## Failbhe

Well, after just over a week the hay nets are holding up great. There's no fraying or any broken strands that I can see, though they have definitely gone at the uncovered bale more than the covered one. 

I think it really depends on the horses - my horse doesn't chew or fuss at her blanket (it still looks brand new aside from a little dust) so she's probably the perfect candidate for using a hay net. 

Using a ring feeder would probably help too but in my case they don't work very well because my miniatures can't reach very far into them. It might be ok while the bale is still big and round but when it starts to collapse I'm not sure if they'd be able to get at the hay. Granted, they could stand to lose some weight but I don't want to starve the little guys!


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## RATHER BE RIDING

None of my horse have shoes, but we are still going to use a ring anyway since we have one. Right now I am very frustrated with Cinch Chix because the net has not arrived yet. I am trying to cut them some slack because of the holidays, but I think the shipping has been very slow. 

I ordered the net on the 19th of December. They did not even confirm my order. I finally emailed them on the 22nd, just to make sure they got the order. They emailed me on the 26th to say that it had shipped UPS that day. UPS tracking says that they received it on the 28th and it will not be here until January 4th. 

Maybe Amazon has spoiled me for quick shipping, but I think this is really slow. Hope the net works better then their customer service!!


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## poppy1356

They wouldn't provide a receipt for my bo's purchase of 4 nets so that doesn't surprise me. But doesn't matter now since we sent them all back. UPS is typically pretty spot on with tracking and they should know that.


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## RATHER BE RIDING

The Cinch Net finally came and we put it on a bale yesterday. It was very easy to get on. Our round bales are 4'x4' so not too hard to deal with. The horses were a little frustrated at first as they are use to just diving in and gorging themselves on the new bale, but after about 30 minutes they all seemed to be figuring it out to some degree. They were still pulling on the net with each bite so I thought for sure that the net would have a few holes in it this morning, but it was still in one piece. The horses were doing better on it today. Still pulling on the net a little bit, but a couple of them had it down to where they were not getting any net. No holes or fraying of the net. 

I really hope that this net holds up. It was sooooo nice not having hay laying all over the place and watching the horses eat slowly, not just shoveling it in.


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## RATHER BE RIDING

Just a quick update in case anyone is considering buying a Cinch Net. So far it has been GREAT! We are about to put our 3rd bale out using the net. Our horses were pretty hard on it at first and I am amazed that it never got any holes. The horses have now figured it out and are not quite so hard on the net. 

I have the original cinch net for 4'x4' bales which has 1 3/4 size mesh. I thought that this would be enough to slow them down, but it does not. So if you are looking to truly make your hay last longer and slow down your horses eating, get the smaller mesh. 

My main goal was to stop the waste and there is zero waste! No more hay tossed all over the place and then pooped and peed in. Hooray!!! At least they are not eating the hay in huge piggy mouthfuls. We might be getting an extra day out of the hay, but certainly not 2 or 3. We definitely get a full 7 days. We are also taking the net off when it gets down to just the loose stuff as there is just too much net and not worth accidents or ruining the net for what is left. Basically, on the last day before we put out a new bale. 

The fun part is that for about 5 days our bale looks like a huge gumdrop. As they pull the hay off, the loose stuff falls to the bottom of the net and makes it larger on the bottom than on the top. 

So far, our experience has been great and I would recommend this net.


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## Failbhe

Yup so far ours are holding up great as well. We had a little bit of fun last time we put a new bale in the pasture, it had rained and snowed about a foot so the net was almost completely covered and frozen down. We tied the metal ring at the bottom of the net to the bucket of the tractor and lifted it out of the ice and snow - I was a little worried that would put too much pressure on the netting, but it worked fine - hopefully we won't have to do that again though.


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## RATHER BE RIDING

Failbhe - I am impressed that the net held! Our winters here are a picnic compared to Canada. I have a lot of respect for what you do to take care of your horses when you have to deal with the ice and snow for months. We might have to deal with it for a few days at a time at best.


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## Failbhe

Haha yeah it's no picnic - one year we had so much snow the horses walked over the fence on the drifts. We've reconfigured the fenceline since then and I think we've avoided the worst spots, but we clear the snow as much as we can anyway just to be safe!


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## Blue Smoke

The only problem I have had this year with my CC net is the freezing rain. It froze the net to the ground and was almost impossible to get it freed. I bought the 1 1/4" smaller holed net and I am glad I did, my horses are hogs and I was thinking I could even go smaller. I use a metal ring feeder in addition to the net, I made the mistake of just using the net and when the bale collapsed they walked in into the mud, peed, and pooped all over it, basically ruining half a bale, and it was the biggest PITA to get the soiled hay out after that. 

I definitely recommend using a metal ring feeder to get the most out of the net, and I also now put a pallet underneath the bale to keep it off the ground for the most part. I have NO waste whatsoever, and other than some minor issues with getting frozen to the ground, have had no problems with it, no holes, and I still love it.


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## RATHER BE RIDING

I do use a ring and pallet with mine also. I wish now that I had gotten the smaller holed net, as the 1 3/4 did not slow them down at all, but the fact that there is no waste makes me very happy. At least my money is being pooped out rather than pooped on.


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## Spotted

Love them, Love them more. I have been using them for almost a year and is worth every penny. I use small and large round bale nets. 
the round bale one, I also use use a feeder to keep them from pawing at the hay. Not sure if they would paw, but just being safe. The horses prefer to eat from them rather than the hay thrown on the ground. No fighting, pushing and they are all calmer.


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