Enough already Bailey!

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maplegum

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Bailey is getting more and more food aggressive lately.

I feed both Bailey and Willow a hard feed at dinner time and they both really look forward to it. They are waiting by the stable when I arrive home from work, knowing it's almost time to eat.

I hang their feed buckets over the fence, with a good distance between them. Bailey always thinks that Willow is getting something so much better than he is.

He wanders between his bucket and her bucket with his ears pinned the entire time. My poor Willow is so timid that all Bailey has to do is walk towards her and she backs away from her dinner.
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She then has to walk around very wide and try his feed. Well, by the time this happens, he has chased her down and is then in charge of both buckets!

He runs from bucket to bucket while Willow grabs what she can.

Bailey does not need the extra food where as Willow is very finely built and can't afford to loose weight.

I could lock them away seperately, but was hoping someone would be able to suggest a way to help Bailey realise that he has to share!

He loves his little sister at all other times, just not dinner time! He shows no signs of aggression towards me as I simply won't tolerate it, but poor Willow will.

Even as I'm carrying their feed towards the fence to hang up the buckets, he is chasing her around the yard 'just in case' she gets some 1st!

Help!
 
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Do you have separate stall areas or paddocks? They need some private time during feeding.
 
That's just no good. Horses need to eat in peace and should be able to relax and enjoy it.

You need to separate them at feed time.
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I agree, separate them for feeding...my Sahara does the same thing to Mocha and they are in separate stalls!
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She eats hers then runs around into the other stall and chases Mocha out of her bucket to see if she has any left!
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I have to put down 4 separate piles of hay-spaced very far apart - in order for Mocha to get her share of hay.
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Oh--all my horses would do that if given the opportunity.
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Claire--the baby and tiniest one--was the worse. She bull over anyone to get their food.
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Since Rosie gets a bit more than the rest--she has to be separated from Whisper just for their 1/3 c of Gro N Win. All my horses are stalled for GnW--I can't imagine the bedlam if they weren't.
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If you don't have a seperate paddock, maybe you could tie them both up in front of their dinner far enough apart so neither can kick?

I am sorry you are facing this.. When one of my geldings used to be in a herd situation at feeding time, he was always chased off, etc, and I know how it feels to watch.
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Since moving barns, he is now in his own stall at feeding time, and is as happy as can be.
 
Thanks everyone. I'll take that advice on board and it looks as if keeping them seperate during feed time is the way to go.

Bailey has an appetite like a teenage boy!
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I know you already got several answers, and mine's about the same, but thought I'd share anyway.

I feed a hard feed twice a day (ration balancer plus BOSS) and hay twice a day (well right now, once a day, as they go out on pasture in the morning). Anyway, I only separate mine for the hard feed portion of their diet, and they all share hay, laid out in several piles. I separate for the hard feed, as they are all at different levels of the feed and I want to be sure each gets what they need.

In the winter I feed soaked beet pulp mid-day; and they share that, although I do spread it out in four different feeders for the 4 that share a pen. [i have 3 more with separate pens, so feeding them is fairly easy.]
 
We use feeding time as additional training time here. Everyone gets haltered and tied to eat so that they all have a little "personal time" with the feed bucket. If you won't be haltered....you don't eat (grain)!!! Doesn't take them long to learn a) being caught is a GOOD thing and b) doesn't matter what your neighbor has...you DON'T get it!! They all know where their bucket is on the fence and will usually be standing by it waiting for the halter
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We tie far enough apart that kick fights don't start, but close enough to be convenient for us. And they all have to stand tied until EVERYONE is finished and the hay is out, so some of the piggies learn some patience!!
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Hmmm, I could even try that method. Both horses are good at being tied up.

I'll start tonight and let you know how I go.
 

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