Round bale feeder for horses

Some common questions answered about small hole round bale hay nets.

Many horse owners choose to feed round bales, especially in the winter. They last longer than square bales and keep your horse busy. In order to prevent hay waste, it’s a good idea to use a hay feeder or hut. They can be expensive to buy, so consider making your own out of recycled wood. […]

If I did not already own a Hayhut, I would build this. Feeds one round bale or six to eight square bales. All treated wood, solid roof sheathing, keeps hay off the ground, virtually eliminates waste and spoilage. Every edge is chamfered for horse safety. Built on skids, the unit is completely portable, so I can move it to fresh ground or another field anytime, pulling it with a pickup truck. It wasn't cheap, but it has paid for itself in savings in hay.

RB feeder * I like the chain/skid idea makes it much easier to move!

Horse hay feeders from Farmco are designed to save hay and protect horses. Reduce waste with hay saver horse feeders and roofed horse feeders, all USA built.

Well, if you read the DIY Square Bale Slow Feeder article, you know that our horses’ paddock was set up for square bales, not round. Round bales are a whole ‘nother ball game.

Since we got a tractor and can actually move a round bale without use of PVC pipe as rollers and only the strength of Chuck's back, he has been experimenting with making hay feeders. He's made some pretty good feeders for grass hay by the flake, and a commercial horse feeder works fine for the lespedeza because the large openings between the bars work fine with the tightly packed lespedeza stems. The round bales were a challenge, though. How to make a feeder the goats could get the hay out…

hay tunnel -- I think mine would still waste hay but this is cool in theory.

Greg's Perfect Large Round Bale Feeder.