Horse peeps, does anyone have the hay hut?

[patandchickens]

I've seen them in use but not personally acquainted with them. I have absolute confidence however that a horse can still find ways to defeat or get hurt on them, although possibly not *as* easily as other roundbale feeders.

Personally I'd just suck it up and feed measured quantities X times a day. I realize that kind of goes counter to the usual convenience factor people are looking for in roundbales, but barring some sort of physical limitation that actually *prevents* you from visiting the horses 2-4 times a day in winter, honestly I think feeding set amounts is a lot better strategy. It is safer and much less wasteful in multiple ways.

I feed weighed amounts off big square bales most of the time, but have done the "unwind the roundbale in the barn" and weigh it to feed metered amounts thing, sometimes when roundbales were more easily acquired than good quality big squares. It is not that annoying once you get used to it.

JMHO,

Pat

 

[miss_thenorth]

Quote:
We have done that also, with round bales that were too big for the bale buddy. But, when you have sheep, a calf, and two horses, and you have to keep the bale in the shop, b/c there is no room in the barn for it, and then have to truck out hay from the shop to the barn 4 times a day, and make sure there is enough for all animals, alot of hay is wasted in that situation also, as in blowing all over the place. Best thing for us is to get a feeding type system that is most friendly to the horse, Thunder in particualr as he can be a bit of a pain. We have contacted the company, and he and hubby have discussed 'us' becoming his first Canadian supplier, and then we would get them at cost,

But before we dgo ddown that road, I would really like to hear if anyone has one, and what they think of it.

 

[arabianequine]

Ask the company if they have any reviews on their product. I don't have one and not so sure many people do maybe why your not getting any feedback on the actual product.

A lot of good feeders out there that would be better imo.....I think the hayhut you are looking at is too spendy and seems pretty flimsy.....that lady pushed it over with no problems don't think a 1000 pound horse can't....how is your wind out there too if you get high wind might just tip it over. We get bad wind here all the time.

 

[gofasterstripe]

Quote:
WOW!!!! im in SC and the guy we get our hay from ships it up from Fl and sells it here for $35 a round bale. Nice, heavy, green, smells fresh as the day it was baled, been kept inside a barn.

 

[Beekissed]

Some folks around here just place a cattle panel around the round bale and just tighten it against the hay bale as they eat into it. Seems to eliminate waste.

I use a similar setup for my square bales in my hay shed. I just place a cattle panel tightly against the stack, remove the baling twine and let the sheep eat the hay through the panel squares. This has eliminated daily feeding and wasted hay for me....I LOVE the convenience of it all!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
If you have a good and adequate-sized windbreak or shed, then the hay should not be blowing all over the place while it's being fed.

As far as losses when it's being carried out there, do you just carry it or have you made any sort of a sling or carrier for it? HIGHLY recommend making something, if you haven't. Mine is a couple-few yards of canvas or tough cotton material (they wear out after a couple years so I have to whip up new ones periodically... actually you could probably use feedbag "plastic burlap" material, just sew a couple opened feedbags together to get the size). I put a loop of heavy duty baler twine (you could use light rope) at each corner. Open it flat on floor, put hay on the R half, close L half over it so the handles match up, and carry it out to the animals.

I can transport up to 40 lbs of hay in my sling, which if you're feeding 4x/day should be plenty capacity for what you need. Worth thinking about, anyhow. The stuff that falls onto the floor when you're unwinding the bales can perfectly well be swept up and fed to the animals too of course (assuming the floor was not junky to start with)

If you do decide to inve$t in the hayhut, as someone said above, make sure you've figured out how you will anchor it down securely.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[cat1994]

I say the hay hut also, but instend of buying one, me and my dad built our own out of old wood and it worked great untail a big gust of wind blew it over and messed it all up!

 

[fowler_chick]

the only hay loss i deal with is my neighbours stealing my hay because there to poor to feed there 3 horses.......but a side from that untill i run out of square bales, my 5 horses get 2 70 pound bales a day in a old round water tank.......hardly any loss of hay...i did see a add in a ag mag about a new type of bale feader that looked like a up side down tea cup that elimenated hay waist.......

 

[BuckMann Farm]

Just found this thread...I thought I'd share our experience with the HayHut....we initially purchased 3 of them from a dealer in MN that wanted to get of the dealer side of it. We were so impressed with the quality, the durability, the safety, and the significant hay savings - we knew that the HayHat was going to be a success once word got around...so, we contacted the manufacture. We are now the area HayHut dealer. Since we signed on with HayHuts (which was approx 9 months ago) - we've sold about 25 of them. The Univ of MN recently conducted a scientific study of 9 different hay feeders as well - where the HayHut was rated "exceptional"...with a hay waste rating of only 9%. In comparison - a tombstone style feeder will waste in excess of 30%.

Below are answers/comments on some of the comments/questions in the tread...If I can answer any other questions - please ask.

If you do decide to inve$t in the hayhut, as someone said above, make sure you've figured out how you will anchor it down securely.

We live in MN - our pastures are not protected by any type of wind breaks. We get very heavy winds from time to time. The HayHut stays put. It does have anchor points if you feel anchoring is necessary.

Ask the company if they have any reviews on their product. I don't have one and not so sure many people do maybe why your not getting any feedback on the actual product.

If you check out the website - there are several reviews and endorsements.

A lot of good feeders out there that would be better imo

According to the U of M study - The HayHut would be at the top of the list.

I think the hayhut you are looking at is too spendy and seems pretty flimsy.....that lady pushed it over with no problems don't think a 1000 pound horse can't....

They weigh 230lb. They are made of polyethylene. They are very durable - you can beat on them all day long with a sledge hammer. It actually takes the correct leverage/technique to tip them over. We feed 12 horses. We've never had a horse try to climb in or try to tip them over. to think about it - I don't think it's physically possible for a horse to pick one up and flip it over.

I have absolute confidence however that a horse can still find ways to defeat or get hurt on them, although possibly not *as* easily as other roundbale feeders.

There has not been a single incident reported to the manufacture.

I think they hay hut is too closed in, and will cause more mold and deterioration of the hay.

In MN - we get a ton of rain and snow. We have not had a mold issue due to wet hay yet. We also put our rounds on top of HD plastic pallets inside of the huts. Before we started using the huts - we'd constantly have to inspect the bottom of our open feeders for wet moldy hay.

Dave​

 

[Hennypen]

We bought one and LOVE it so much we are now dealers here in Georgia.

All of what BuckMann Farm says is spot on!!!!

Yes, they are pricey but the hay saved will pay for itself quickly.

Check out the video I made showing how much hay was left over after a 1500 round bale.

As to feeding square bales each day.. We switched to a hayhut to save on labor (while not taking a risk on wet or moldy hay.)we now only touch hay once every two weeks instead of daily. It has improved our quality of life!!!!