Monday 13 February 2017

Hay Hutch Review



I have had my hay hutches for about 4 weeks now and on the whole I have been really pleased with them.  After years of putting piles of hay out in the field I discovered these.
 


The problem with putting hay out on the floor is that the horses walk through it and spread it around,  it also gets wet in the rain and then muddy and they won't eat it.  There ends up being a lot of wasted hay!

I had a look around and found quite a few different containers for feeding hay which could be used in the field, unfortunately, they were all open at the top.  This means the rain can still get in to the hay and it would rot quite quickly.  

The hay hutches, because they have a lid, keep the hay relatively dry but it is also easy for the horses to eat.  There are 3 holes around for access to the hay so a couple of horses can eat from the same one.  There are also several sizes so they would suit most people's situation.

 
I chose to have 2 smaller ones instead of a larger one.  This is because I know that Chesney would not allow Tommy to share - and I think this is a problem lots of people would have.  Basil will share with Chesney or Tommy so I didn't need 3 but if I only had 1 then Tommy would never have any hay:(


They are really strong which is good because Chesney has always been a bit of a wrecker.  They are relatively bottom heavy which means the horses can't tip them over very easily but they can be rolled around the field when you want to move them.  The lids are a bit tricky until you get used to them but the advantage with this is that they are too difficult for the horses to remove as long as they are on properly. 

There is still some wasted hay because the horses tend to pull it out of the holes and then eat it from a small pile on the edge BUT they can't walk through the whole pile and it doesn't get wet or muddy. 


There is an attachment available which will allow you to put a haynet inside the hay hutch which would mean they couldn't do this so easily - although judging by the hay that ends up on the floor in the stables at night the horses could still create piles.

Tommy was a bit wary to start with but quite quickly decided the hay was too tempting.


I am pleased with them and would definitely recommend them, although I did have to save up.

The piles you can see in the photos are from before I had the hay hutches! 

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Until next time!
Jo

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