How much hay do you feed in the winter

[zoey829]

It is cold here and the grass is well, nonexistent. So we feed grain and of coarse hay. How much do you give per horse per day? It seems we can put 20 bales and they will eat 20 bales.

THanks

 

[chandab]

Mine are getting pretty much free choice hay, with a couple exceptions.

Our saddle horses have a round bale (in a feeder) in front of them 24/7. My senior half-Arab gelding gets almost free choice; I stuff his feeder whenever its empty. 4 of my mini mares have a round bale; my foundered mini mare has access to the round bale in the morning, then goes back to her pen and gets 3-4 flakes at night (about 7-10#); my B stallion gets a couple flakes morning and twice that in the afternoon; my A-stallion gets 1 flake morning and 2 flakes at night (he rarely, if ever, cleans up his hay). [Come summer they will get about 1.5% of their bodyweight in hay per day. Less for those that get grazing time.]

Edited to add: 6 of my 7 minis are B-size and weigh roughly 300-350# (its been awhile since I calculated anyone's weight).

 

[midnight star stables]

I could not feed free choice. Either they'd eat until they burst or they will just make a huge mess.

I give one flake AM and one more PM per horse. Sometimes a lunch snack if I'm home of 1/2 a flake.

My minis get less in the summer.

 

[Keri]

We're pretty cold where I live. But I don't like to get my horses excessively fat over the winter. I feed an alfalfa/grass hay mix. They get fed 1/2 flake in the morning each and at night, they get 1/2 flake, 4 cups beet pulp, 2 cups grain, and supplements. Mine are all fat and sassy, but look good. So I don't have my work cut out for myself. The pregnant mare and babies get a bit more since they need it.

 

[Minimor]

Ours get pretty much free choice hay too. We put hay out twice a day, but we give enough of it that they usually have some left when we give them their next feed. Our 8 pasture boys get a 65 lb. bale of mixed hay (mostly grass, some alfalfa) for each feed, so that's 8 lbs each. They are in nice shape--nicely rounded over the topline, but not fat. Some that would get too fat on the alfalfa mix hay get straight grass (brome), and it would be about the same amount, weight wise.

 

[lilmiraclesfarm]

I grain my horses and they get 1/2 flake each twice a day, and sometimes a snack during the day.

 

[dawnsminis]

Mine get free choice grass hay. It ends up being total of (4) flakes through the night, for (3) horses. I put out the same amount during the day; but they usually don't eat it all, since they are out during that time.

 

[dgrminis]

Mine all get free choice brome hay 24/7 and they get grained every night in the winter as well.

 

[Brandi*]

When you guys say "flake" are you talking about a normal big horse flake??? What breaks off of the bale right?

 

[MBennettp]

I feed bermuda and mine get free choice year round. We stuff the feeders morning and night. They also get oats and beet pulp morning and night. We have no pasture, just dry lot. I noticed that when a new horse comes in, they will stuff themselves for about the first week then they level off.

My horses will very seldom just stand there and eat hay, they go past a feeder occasionally and grab a bite but they won't just stand there and eat until it is gone. I guess they know there is always hay in the feeder if they decide they need a snack.

 

[Keri]

Yep, a flake that breaks right off the normal size bale.

 

[Sandee]

When you guys say "flake" are you talking about a normal big horse flake??? What breaks off of the bale right?

One "flake" is not the same as another. You're better off if you can find a way to weigh the hay. One flake (yes, that which peels off a square bale easily) of straight alfalfa can easily weight twice as much as a flake of brome (grass).

I feed 2 lb. (one flake) of brome alfalfa mix at night and 1 lb. in the morning along with a cup of beet pulp (soaked) and 1 lb hay after lunch. The hay will be cut to around 3 lb and we add an hour of pasture and the beet pulp upped a bit during show season.

 

[Riverdance]

I prefer my breeding stallions and pregnant mares to come off the winter a little on the fat side. This way the mares have a bit more reserve for nursing their foals, and the stallions wear it off fast with their constant pacing during breeding season, even when they have their own little herd of mares.

I give all of my horses grain with extra vitamins in the AM with a flake of hay each and a flake of hay each in the evening. The weanlings/yearlings get grain ( grain ment for weanlings) 2x a day and 1/2 flake each 2x a day.

The hay I have is mostly alfalfa.

Winters here can get VERY cold, so I want them to have enough fat so that they are not shivering as they are all outside in paddock areas with large run in shelters. Each shelter has a mineral salt block to encourage them to drink.

As it warms up, I go to about 1/2 flake per horse 2x a day with grain and vitamins in the AM and when the pastures are up and running, they get just the pastures during the day and grain and vitamins at night.

 

[barefoot]

I have a 13 hand pony and my miniature ,and they are eating about a bale a day right now. It is cold.

LOL I had a friend call who doesn't normally like blanketing, but joked that she blanketed hers and they are eating half of the hay as they were before.

If I start to get low I may need to go buy blankets.

Emma

 

[minih]

We feed a good tiftan bermuda and during the winter months it is pretty much free choice fed.

 

[Leeana]

Hi

I have a roundbale over in the big pasture that they can get to during the winter if they want, its very nice grass hay and is in a covered shed. Right now i have 5 horses out together so i throw out about 4-5 blocks in the morning and 4-5 blocks in the pm and each horse finds his own block of hay. They really dont much on the round bale much, its the same exact thing that we have in square bales. They just nibble on it as they wish.

A friend of mine made a post on another forum and why so many horses colic in the winter. People feed more hay to keep the horses warm and they result in the horse colicing.

Anyway, in the summer i have a few in the stall and they get small amounts of hay about 3x a day. Everyone else has the round bale and i throw down about 1 block of hay per horse AM /PM.

 

[MyMiniGal]

I was trying to find some information on winter feeding...my mini seems to be needing quite a bit more hay, right now. We have gotten an abnormal cold snap, for this time of year. It has been down into the teens, and it is only in the 20's- 30's during the day. When it is in the 40's, she seems content, with what we were feeding before, but once it dropped like this, she is very cranky.. But I worry I will cause her to colic. How do you know when too much is too much? I am depending on her to let me know...as everytime she has become this bad, personality wise, it has gotten colder. She does get 2 cups of feed a day...one at each feeding. Anyway, I sure like feeding in the summer, better than the winter. It seems like it is a guessing game.

 

[Jean_B]

Pretty much free choice hay in the winter. The process of digesting roughage is what keeps a horse warm. When I lived up north, on some of those really cold days they were getting 2 or 3 times as much hay as normal. If the feeder was empty at feeding time, I would double it at next feeding.

 

[MyMiniGal]

I wish I could, but I board, and that makes it hard to make sure there is hay in there at all times. I would love to just put a whole bale int here and let her eat off of it.

 

[Jenny]

I feed Breaker by body weight percentage, as it makes it easy to know how much to give him. Right now he's getting 1.5% of his body weight (4.5 lbs.) in hay per day and no grain. He's a very easy keeper, so he doesn't need much. I also have a Hay Pillow now and that has made a big difference as he never runs out of hay between feedings. When it gets really cold in January/February I will give him 2% of his body weight (6 lbs.). I know he's a bit colder right now as he's been in his stall a lot more this week (it's been steady -15ºC in the day). I think he's at an even better weight than he was in summer as I can actually feel his ribs slightly now