Between the square-ish round pen and the new farm office, We. Are. So. Tired. Of Spending. Money. So when it came time to move the horses to their winter pasture, the same issue as the last two winters came up yet again (odd, that). How to keep hay dry and edible? And stay solvent while doing so?
The solution that has worked well for us in the past is to feed twice a day or bring out tons of hay and know they will waste a lot. However, I wasn’t pleased with their body condition this past spring so I don’t think they were getting enough, and there are still those rainy days when they will never eat fast enough before some hay is simply too wet for their majesties.
So after letting my mind wander and referencing Pinterest for awhile, we came up with a workable solution. It’s ugly, but it works.
Here, you see two corral panels, recycled from the old round pen cattle alley; two cattle panels stolen borrowed from the garden; a section of PVC we found in the pasture; copious amounts of wire ties; and six recycled t-posts. I had a tarp as well that I had never used before, but it was way too small, so we had to purchase a $15 tarp last weekend 😡. So, so close to being no active out of pocket money spent!
Then, we needed somewhere to keep the hay since we don’t have a round bale feeder for horses. So my husband brought home some used pallets from work, we cut them down so the horses can reach the bottom, and tied it all together with baling twine.
We have been feeding from the remainder of a round bale we had in the barn, just to make sure they didn’t demolish the entire structure in a day. However, I am confident an entire round bale will fit in here and so far it’s worked great. So, if no one tells my horses how registered, fancy horses are fed their small batch alfalfa hay from gold plated hay bunks, I’d appreciate it.
Sourwood Hill 