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| dcsobob | Slow Feeder not really slow | 4 | Apr 15 2013, 7:40 AM EDT by lovemycurly | ||||
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Thread started: Jan 23 2013, 10:08 AM EST
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Lets start of by saying I'm not the horsey type person in the family. that would be my wife. I'm general labor, farm hand, and builder of horse stuff (as directed by wife). We have a new farm and 3 big boys and a pony. We did a lot of research on slow feeders and then I built two boxes and used some fencing grate and bunji cords to secure the grates. needless to say, the horses figured out how to defeat the cords and remove the grate. Poor design on my part. THen, we got into winter and I setup 4 seperate outdoor stall areas so that we could give them seperation in feeding, since NO one wants to have anyone eating out of their food. They would share at the boxes, but not in the stalls. We bought some heavy duty slow feeder bags with 1.75x1.75 openings and I can cram 10-12lbs of grass hay in them. The problem is that it does not seem to really slow them down. Some feedings thay will stay on the bags and will empty that bag in about 4 hours. Some feedings ( we feed twice a aday, about 12 hours apart). there will still be hay in a few of the bags. BUT, it was my understanding that these slow feeders we suppose to allow these horses to nibble all day, and that a bag of hay should last for alot longer than what I am seeing. They rip at these bags and pull out large chunks of hay and not sjust a ffew strands. I've tried fluffing out the flakes as well as just shoving compacted flakes in. Nothing seems to change. Am I missing something? Is this normal behavior on these bags? We have been using these bags for almost 3 months now. Good bags. Tough webbing, no twine or rope. Horses have nto been able to chew or damage them. Only downside is when they get wet and freeze, they are tough to work with.
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| Jess-n-Willow | New slow feeder | 1 | Mar 7 2013, 11:04 AM EST by PattyandJoe | ||||
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Thread started: Feb 18 2013, 8:49 PM EST
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I just recently put a wood box slow feeder in my pen. My older gelding has parked himself at it and hasn't moved away for very long for the past two days now. I'm not worried about foundering just yet but am wondering if he will get used to the idea of having food at all times and eventually walk away when he's full. He was recently fed twice a day before the feeder. Any thoughts and ideas would be greatly appreciated!
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| recipefordisaster | Natural Feeder report-customer service nonexistent | 11 | Dec 13 2012, 3:41 PM EST by SpottedTApps | ||||
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Thread started: Nov 26 2012, 9:14 PM EST
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I learned about the Natural Feeder here and after MUCH research and comparison, bought 2 from a local distributor this past summer. They seem to be a safe and effective solution overall... I needed large capacity as the 2 horses using it should eat about 3/4 bale per day per a nutritionist. The horses caught on very quickly and like the feeders(although even with the small grates, they need to be filled 2-3 times daily each which is disappointing... they are eating about 2 bales daily)BUT, they have undergone several redesigns lately, and worse, a change in ownership, and the new owner is extremely unethical. There was a divorce so of course there is animosity that shouldn't affect me. My particular feeders came with thinner, weaker, brittle grates which started breaking almost immediately. The previous owner promised they would be replaced just before the change and the new owner gave me false promises and strung me along for MONTHS. He does not answer my contacts now; I warned him that if there was no resolution that I would spread this warning far and wide. He was verbally abusive to someone who advocated for me and some distributors are no longer dealing with him. Plus, instead of 3 grates, you get only 2 now for the same price. The older style of grates were much different(I saw in person)and the really bad ones were only sold for a short time-he acknowledges that there were failures in the redesign, and these issues were fixed. Feel free to contact me for more-after spending almost $900 I expected better. I have 6 grates that aren't long for the world, and the small ones are unusable with breaks almost every place possible(I can show photos). The horses are very gentle with the feeders, never frustrated. It's a shame that this person did not care about customer service, or I'd have a much better report-they are really a great idea, and the outer part seems durable, anyway. An ethical company would have recalled these grates.
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| crowleysridgegirl | slow feeders in pasture | 6 | Aug 6 2012, 12:14 PM EDT by Badger/ | ||||
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Thread started: Jan 25 2012, 6:48 AM EST
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Most of these featured seem impractical to be left out year-round in a pasture.We have 4 horses out the majority of the time in pasture,and,the nets on the ground would definately be a no no.So,are any designed for year-round outdoor use that are NOT wood?
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| Takelababy | feeding novelty | 0 | Feb 21 2012, 2:18 PM EST by Takelababy | ||||
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Thread started: Feb 21 2012, 2:18 PM EST
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Drilled about 10 nickle sized holes in a gallon bleach bottle, but not the bottom 3". They were just random. I added pellets almost to the bottom holes, capped tightly and threw it into the paddock in the snow. Curiosity got the better of the horses and they checked it out. They could smell the pellets then began to bunt the bottle around. Each movement resulted in a tasty morsel. An hour later they were still at it until one tired of it. The other, at one point got so frustrated that he decided to murder the bottle, throwing it around and kicking and pawing at it. Altho the plastic dented, I was surprised at how well it held up. So now you know what to do with those bottles (well rinsed, of course) before they go to the landfull.
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| Sparrow01 | slow feeder works great! | 10 | Nov 27 2011, 6:29 PM EST by choochoowho | ||||
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Thread started: Apr 28 2010, 11:06 AM EDT
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Okay, so my husband had some cargo nets (leftover from his work) they are bright orange and have holes about 1 1/2 - 2 " big. I folded them and sewed the sides (with baling twine) leaving a flap to go over the top after I put the hay in. It holds about 1 bale of hay. I used two t-posts that my husband drilled holes in the top of - so the D-rings (Carabiners) that came with the nets could be slipped through them. I have rubber toppers on the t-posts for safety. I hung the net across the two posts and filled it with hay. I thought for sure the horses would give it a try, get frustrated and walk quickly to the other three corners where the hay is simply out in huge tires and they can (and do) eat it up lickity slit. BUT NO! They LOVED this slow feeder. In fact, I am having trouble getting them to LEAVE it and go around the track for the easy hay! The three horses I have, 2 yr old gelding, 3 yr old mare and 25 yr old draft cross are in love. The draft got it right away (maybe he had used them before?), he was slow and patient, my mare was next, finally figuring out that slow worked better and she got more, and last but not least, the 2 yr old (after picking the ENTIRE BAG UP HAY AND ALL) a number of times, finally got it too. I love this. The hay has lased twice as long, no wasting or blowing away (like the rest of it is today b/c it is really windy here). I hope the cargo netting holds up, but it it doesn't - at least I know that it works. Goal: get one up in all four corners and add some smaller ones on the long sides of the track. We are going to build a roof over at least two of the feeding stations so the horses have some sheltered areas to eat in. If I could figure out how to get photos/videos on here, I would share this in pictures with you all. I will work on that.
Happy in UPstate NY - where all my MUD IS FINALLY GONE!!
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| vidamel | hay 24/7 for two horses? | 7 | Mar 18 2011, 9:42 AM EDT by SpottedTApps | ||||
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Thread started: Mar 15 2011, 5:58 AM EDT
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I have 4 hay nets spread out over our small paddock paradise and I was wondering how much hay to put out for two small horses? Do I go in a stuff the nets full so they can have hay whenever they want or do I ration their hay twice a day? Right now I put in a flake of hay in each net plus an extra one (half for each horse) on the ground once in the morning and once in the evening. It takes them about 3 hours to eat up all the hay in the nets. I have tried to keep them all full but they eat and eat and eat and eat and are eating much more than before. Here a bale of hay costs 8 euros (used to be 5 but now with the economic crisis in Greece things are much more expensive).
Thanks for any help. Just want to know if I should keep the nets filled or ration. I want what's best for them. Vida
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| mandyblais | slow feeders in BC canada | 0 | Feb 20 2011, 1:22 AM EST by mandyblais | ||||
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Thread started: Feb 20 2011, 1:22 AM EST
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check out www.slowfeeder.com to see all kinds of slow feeders
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| meandshadow | Wanting to purchase.... | 3 | Feb 14 2011, 9:30 AM EST by Takelababy | ||||
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Thread started: Dec 31 2010, 1:49 PM EST
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I'm wanting to purchase a couple of the slow feeder pillows. I live in British Columbia Canada and would like to know if there is a distributor here or a contact site for where I can buy one.
Thanks, Love my minis
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| woman_in_shoe | Just finsihed making barrel/net feeder and have installed it in run-in | 7 | Aug 15 2010, 3:44 PM EDT by tangledmanes | ||||
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Thread started: Apr 10 2010, 10:50 AM EDT
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I just finished making my barrel/net feeder using a 50 gallon water barrel and 1.5 inch netting. Thinking now that I should have gotten the 2 inch. My lipizzan gelding seemed to eat from it a bit at the beginning. What I need to know is what steps can I take to encourage him to become more interested in using it? My schedule is such that I am not always able to make it out twice a day to feed him and there is no one else there to do it for me. Also how long does it usually take for them to get the hang of it?
What I hope to eventually be able to do is spread two flakes around his track (finished that a few days ago too) and leave two or three flakes in the feeder for him to eat for his second meal. At present I am having to get up early and driving out to feed him at 6 a.m. before getting kids off to school and then going back later in the evening to give him his second meal. This leaves him a long gap between a.m. and p.m.and a short gap between p.m. and a.m. feeds.Not happy with this but it is the best that I can do right now. Hopefully this situation will change soon, but I don't know and it is to complicated to explain.
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| Hubbardshorses | THe EZ hay feeder | 2 | Aug 7 2010, 6:54 PM EDT by Hubbardshorses | ||||
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Thread started: Aug 4 2010, 8:45 PM EDT
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I just stumbled across these surfing the web. Have any of you seen or tried these? They look like an easy way to quick fill hay.The holes are bigger than the hay nets..so not sure how much they slow the horse down. They say that they help with wasted hay. Check it out at this link.....
http://www.healthezhayfeeder.com/
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| Takelababy | Hockey net feeder | 2 | Apr 2 2010, 1:13 PM EDT by Takelababy | ||||
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Thread started: Mar 30 2010, 3:45 PM EDT
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My feeder is an upside down hockey net including the metal frame. The part that would be on the ice is now facing up which is where I load the hay. It is secured to a solid wall. The netting slopes inward from top to bottom. I plan on building a lid from scrap plywood and securing it to the wall with strap hinges. Cost was about $40. I plan on installing a few more.
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| tangledmanes | grazing muzzles (page: 1 2) | 20 | Nov 6 2009, 1:16 AM EST by luvmytwh | ||||
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Thread started: Mar 28 2009, 3:01 PM EDT
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When I need to use a grazing muzzle to prevent Jewel from getting any grass at all, I will tape the grazing hole closed with duct tape. Actually, I have two muzzles for Jewel -- one that is taped closed and one that has the open grazing hole. I just make a big 'X' over the outside of the hole, bringing the duct tape almost to the edge of the rubber. Before putting the tape on, I use a small piece upside down to cover the sticky part of the tape that will be directly under the hole. I figure that helps keep gross stuff from sticking inside the muzzle...
But with a little luck we won't need it this year on the turnout track at all -- just for playtime in the center field. :-) ~JoAnn
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| Anonymous | Lorna's hockey net feeder | 1 | Mar 13 2009, 5:10 PM EDT by tangledmanes | ||||
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Thread started: Mar 13 2009, 4:59 PM EDT
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I love the idea of Lorna's hockey net feeder. Is it tied to the barn? How does it close? I'd love to hear how she made it! Thanks!!
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| tangledmanes | interesting hay rack - would need a lid for horses | 1 | Mar 9 2009, 10:49 AM EDT by SpottedTApps | ||||
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Thread started: Mar 3 2009, 9:45 AM EST
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<http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=9a7abd6a-efcb-4f3d-997a-371a046c91d5>
I thought it was worth a look, though -- what do you think? ~JoAnn
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| tangledmanes | new barrel hay feeder | 0 | Feb 5 2009, 1:25 PM EST by tangledmanes | ||||
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Thread started: Feb 5 2009, 1:25 PM EST
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I saw another innovative idea today for a hay feeder toy made from a barrel: <http://forums.horsecity.com/index.php?showtopic=47025018> Pictures are in post # 15. Would love to see that added to the wiki gallery of hard-sided hay feeders here...
~JoAnn |
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| tangledmanes | slow feeding in freezing mud season | 2 | Nov 21 2008, 10:36 PM EST by donnajbrowe | ||||
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Thread started: Nov 18 2008, 1:01 AM EST
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Check out my new slow hay feeding video: It also shows why I look forward to the ground freezing! (hint: mud) <http://paddockparadise.wetpaint.com/page/Slow+Feeders> Get some popcorn first -- it's a long one. <G>
-JoAnn
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Pasture Pal
slow feeding
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| tangledmanes | Welcome to the slow feeder picture pages! | 3 | Nov 11 2008, 3:23 PM EST by tangledmanes | ||||
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Thread started: Sep 26 2008, 12:23 PM EDT
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Everyone is welcome to post photos here of any feeder designed to slow down a horse's eating in any way. It doesn't have to be high-tech!
When you add a picture, there is an option to adjust its display size. Just click "+" or "-" to make it bigger or smaller until it is roughly the same size as the other photos on the page. It has worked best for me to load the pictures into my album in the "Photo Gallery" before trying to add them to this page.
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