My slow feeding experiment starts today – February 5, 2010. I will give this experiment four weeks to see how much hay my horses are eating, and how much weight they have on them. Here are some photos and a video of the first couple of hours into it.
Currently, I’m feeding a six year old QH mare and a seven year old miniature mare in the same paddock. It’s rocky, the water is on the other end from the feeder but I hope to design and implement a “paddock paradise” to get them to walk even farther and have to travel over varied surfaces that I will create to help them strengthen and maintain their feet.
The feeder is made from a replacement hockey net from Canadian Tire which retails for $25.99. It is stitched together using a blanket stitch done with the cord that comes with the net to attach it to the frame. I stitched it down the long side and across one end. The open end has a drawstring (made with the same cord). I stand the bale up on end with all baling twine intact – slip the net down over the bale, flip it over and close the net. Then I bring the net into the paddock and attach it to the trees. Once it is attached, I used a pocket knife to cut the baling twine, pulling the twine out through the net. Voila! One full bale of hay in the paddock with less wastage and less dropped along the way!
It looks like that when Maya comes home, I’ll need another feeder and location for it. Hopefully somewhere that will get them moving!
I’ll keep this updated as the experiment progresses.
February 5 – noon – first bale in
February 7 – AM – feeder empty – new bale added
February 9 – AM – feeder empty, some hay on the ground – new bale added.
February 10 - PM – some feed left in feeder, about a flake worth on the ground around the feeder. Full bale added.
I hope they slow down! We’ll keep on keeping track.
