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New slow feeder
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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Feb 18 2013, 8:49 PM EST by
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Slow Feeder not really slow
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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Jan 23 2013, 10:08 AM EST by
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Natural Feeder report-customer service nonexistent
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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Nov 26 2012, 9:14 PM EST by
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Nibblenet 3" holes on top row?
I ordered a Double Nibble Slow and Slower in 1.25 and 1.5" openings. The top row on one side, however, has 3 inch holes. Deb at Nibblenet said that they are all like that, because of how the webbing comes out. She did agree to add an additional strap across the top row for me if I send it back. Just wondering for all of you other Nibblenet fans, if yours has 3" holes, too, and if you are having any problems with hooves getting stuck in them or too much hay coming through that row? I bought it to put out in the paddock on the ground. Thanks!!
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Jul 5 2012, 3:45 PM EDT by
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feeding novelty
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.
Posted:
Feb 21 2012, 2:18 PM EST by
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Klene Pipe Structures Horse Round Bale Feeder - REVIEWS
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS FEEDER. DOES IT REALLY LEAVE NO WASTE? Add photo caption or credit here. Add photo caption or credit here. Add photo caption or credit here. Add photo caption or credit
Last updated:
Dec 31 2011, 2:05 PM EST by
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Please read and give feedback, track design in attachments
I hope this is the right way to do this.. it is labelled "Waymire track".
After our recent feeding crises, (for those of you who have not read my previous posts we have a very diverse herd that was not doing well eating only hay on the track, the fatties were obese and the skinnies were starving, plus we have a serious hay shortage so I simply cannot get enough to support them on hay alone) I decided to start feeding them safechoice (the lowest nsc feed I can buy in my area) individually in stalls twice a day, it was the only way I could get the right amount of feed into each horse. Initially I was still spreading their hay out, but found that the TWH was still not getting enough feed, and my arthritic gelding was not eating enough of the hay, so I resorted to giving them both the feed and hay in their stalls and putting the TWH back on chops. This solved the feeding problem and everyone is looking good..... except now nobody is doing anything except standing in their stalls or taking a short walk to the water trough. There is no grass to eat, no hay to find, tummies are full, and they are all stall potatoes. Plus they are without feed for too long. So my solution at this point is to still feed in stalls, still give the two problem eaters their fiber, but put the rest of the hay out. I drew up a diagram of a plan for more tracks, I apologize in advance it is a bit rough... but will give you a good idea of what I am thinking. Would some of you be so kind as to take a look and see if you notice any problems? I would really like some feedback before I put up yet another track, and have to tear it down again, this will be the fourth version for me. Thanks bunches.
Posted:
Dec 13 2011, 7:52 AM EST by waymire
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NibbleNet on Platform
I LOVE this! I have been using those small hole hay nets in their stalls and ended up double bagging once they got good at it. But my horses are outside most of the time and I have been trying to figure out something that is affordable and easy to make for this winter. There are some great ideas for various slow feeders, but the easiest ones were hung on a fence. We have electric fence, so not an option. I've looked into purchasing a large feeder or a couple of smaller ones, but talk about expensive!
This however, looks very doable so I'm going to order 3 NibbleNets today and start putting together the platform this week! Great idea!!
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Nov 21 2011, 10:28 AM EST by
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Ontario Track
I just wanted to tell you how very much I love your track and your pictures. :)
Posted:
May 6 2011, 9:16 AM EDT by
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Leela NH Proposed Paddock Paradise (see pic in attachment section)
Would love some feedback on my proposed PP. The track will encircle approximately 9 acres and go into the woods in two areas, one is a well defined track that has a good incline (in the back of property) I am unsure if I want to have a large open area on the steep hillside, but I think they will enjoy running up the hill to a feeding station. It's mostly low scrubby brush. Herd of 4 horses (2 pairs), unsure if they will be turned out on track together, may have to build two tracks if they don't get along. Thanks! Leela
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Apr 12 2011, 2:15 AM EDT by
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hay 24/7 for two horses?
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
Posted:
Mar 15 2011, 5:58 AM EDT by
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slow feeders in BC canada
check out www.slowfeeder.com to see all kinds of slow feeders
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what about using some kind of webbng to make a mesh out of
Does anyone have any ideas for using some kind of webbing to make a pouch for the bottom of a barrel so that the mesh doesnt get bitten and torn like the hockey mesh tends to? I wondered if anyone had managed to make a pouch out of criss-crossed nylon webbing like the busy snacker is made of. That way the bottom would be more durable and not allow the mesh to get broken like the hockey net. Any thoughts anyone has on obtaining a premade mesh webbing pouch would be most appreciated. Thanks Lorraine
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Feb 17 2011, 11:32 PM EST by
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Double Netting the barrel
My wonderful hubby made me 3 blue barrel feeders this past fall. They are working wonderfully! I thought I would post some of the things I would change or how they are doing in general.
My husband hung them so that the nets hang on the rubber mats a few inches. He was going to finish off the tops of them with a lid but we found it wasn't needed. None of the three horses put their head through the top and try to eat from there. Sometimes I push the hay towards the bottom with a broom if they were extra fluffy going in. This is really nice since I don't have to take time to take off three lids!
The other thing that I have now discovered is that I think I will be taking off the single net and adding another net to double it. I still think they eat too fast out of the nets. Throughout the summer I had them doubled and that worked well. But, when my husband placed them on there he just put a single one on. I fed them this morning and because it was too cold to do the poo I waited to come back in a few hours and they were just finishing off their hay. I would like to extend that into a longer time. Two hours is much better than half an hour of past years, but, I think four would be better.
I still feed three times a day. 7:00 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8:30ish p.m. They have lost no weight this winter and I was hoping for upwards of 50 pounds weight loss this winter.
All in all I LOVE these feeders and will never go back to open mangers.
Posted:
Jan 15 2011, 11:47 AM EST by
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Wanting to purchase....
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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Nibblenet warning
I love the nibblenet, it's constructed well, slows down feeding, kept my horse occupied, it's still in one piece even after 10 days of use 24/7, but and this is a big but for me, this morning when I wormed my horse I noticed that the gumline of his upper jaw was raw, swollen and very inflamed. there is no doubt in my mind that it is from the net because his gumline, I check his mouth once a month or so, was just fine 3 weeks ago. he's really working on the net to get to the hay, pushing his teeth against the webbing especially if the amount of the hay in the bag is decreasing.
I don't want anyone to not try these nets for their horses because your horses might be fine, it just damaged my horse's gums. I was so happy about how well they worked that I ordered another one, which, hopefully they'll take back. Sigh, back to the drawing board...
Dee and Kodi
Posted:
Dec 9 2010, 1:17 PM EST by
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Hi, I'm new and very excited about the prospects of PP!
I've just added an attachment that I hope is visible enough to figure out what I've got in mind for a potential PP.
I just discovered PP's last week and just finished the book today.
If anyone has any recommendations, insights, ideas for my PP, I'd be more than happy to hear them.
Thanks!
Emily
Posted:
Nov 29 2010, 4:48 PM EST by Equemily
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Barrel Feeder
Just finished our first barrel feeder and got it hung up in the loafing shed! We took a 50 gal barrel, cut the bottom off with a SawsAll, drilled 3/8th in holes about 2" apart all around the cut off edge. Then I attached an old small mesh hay bag to the bottom using 1/4 in rope. I whipstiched it in place. To make the cover, we used the SawsAll to cut 3/4 of the top off. Then we used a couple of strap hinges to re-attach the top so it makes a good lid. We hung the finished feeder in our loafing shed on a 6x6 post using 3 - 4 inch lag bolts. The finished feeder holds over 1/2 bale of hay. Within 5 minutes of hanging it up, 3 out of 4 horses were already eating from it.
Posted:
Nov 14 2010, 10:05 PM EST by
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Cheryle's Fish Net Feeder 2
This is the bottom of the first of the three feeders built. The mesh is the one that I will be using for all of them. It is heavier and more sturdy. The feeder size is approximately 3'x3' and 2' deep. The runners on the bottom are 3-
Last updated:
Sep 15 2010, 6:25 PM EDT by
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THe EZ hay feeder
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/
Posted:
Aug 4 2010, 8:45 PM EDT by
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