[alabama]

Anyone familiar with these? I find them interesting (but expensive!).

http://www.hayhuts.com/

If anyone has had experience with them or knows people that have used them, I'd like to hear the good or bad.

Thanks!
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[moonriverfarm]

I want one!!!!! Donations accepted!

[Phaxxton]

I'm also curious to hear what people have to say -- I'm planning to get either Hay Huts or the Duplessis feeders this year. I will update when I get them in another month or so!

[mht]

I'm pretty sure those are the Duplessis 'hay huts', only done in green. I will be coming up to my 5th winter with two of the Duplessis models. LOVE them. Very little wasted hay-the horses will clean up right to the bottom. They are easy to flip over-I'm 5'6", and can do this myself.

The horses don't seem to fight as much around these, as they did when I used the tombstone type feeders. I keep both feeders on the go, and use on average two 500# bales per week (in the dead of winter) for 5 TBs who are out 24/7.

[alabama]

mht, not to be nosey but were yours $725? That's pretty pricey to me but if it really saves hay and keeps the paddock clean I'd be even more interested. My bales are a bit bigger than 500#, though. Does one of your bales fill one up? Sorry to pepper you with ???? but you're the only one I've found that has actually used something like this.

Thanks!

[mht]

When I purchased my two, they were $550 each, delivered-and that was from Quebec to Southern Ontario! I would imagine the price of oil has really affected the manufacturing costs.

I'm just stating my bales as 500 lbs, as they are not 'hard core'. To be more accurate, they are a loose 4 x 5. The bale does not completely fill the hut. As I mentioned before, the great thing is that the horses will clean the hay up down to the bottom of the feeder. There will be some waste, as they do pull hay out when the bale is new, but if you go out and fork it back in, you can keep the surrounding area fairly clean.

I really like that no matter what the weather- rain, sleet, snow- the hay stays protected. The only problem I had last year was with some gale force winds that blew the huts away, but we are devising a way of anchoring them down for this coming winter, so this doesn't happen again.

In the late spring when pasture has come in, we just move the huts away, and my husband works any leftovers into the ground with the harrows.

[TwoFoxFarm]

I didn't realize that products like this were available commercially. Having a need to keep our round bales protected from the elements while 2 horses worked on one, my husband built me what we call the, "Bale Barn." It's made of treated lumber and the one side has hinges so that it drops down and turns into a ramp. It's built on skids so that it can be dragged around the paddock and there is a raised floor inside so that the hay doesn't sit on the ground. There is no waste at all and the horses can reach every scrap. I LOVE it! And so do the horses.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php...type=1&theater

[Luckydonkey]

Funny that on the add they are $725 and the one on craiglsist locally is $800 used.

[fordtraktor]

Has anyone tried these as a half unit with squares, then cut the strings once it is rolled on? Do you put the hay on a pallet, on plastic or right on the ground? Once it gets down near the bottom, can they push it around at all? And does snow/rain blow in the sides at all? Anyone tried it with a Cinchchix-type net? Sorry for all the questions --

[mht]

Alabama-there is a Duplessis distributor in Lancaster, Penn. You might try contacting them to see what their prices are.

[Phaxxton]

They are easy to flip over-I'm 5'6", and can do this myself.

Are they so light that they would blow over / away in strong winds, though?

[tveley]

I LOVE mine. I have 5 of them that I use in each of my pastures. No more wasted hay and bossy horses running the others off from the hay.

Due to the drought here in Texas, hay is like gold now and I cannot afford to waste it by having the horses spread it out and poop and pee on it. With almost no rain here, they have not been able to stomp it into the mud, but they loved to do that as well when we did have rain. It does not take too many ruined round bales to justify the cost of a HayHut! We are now using small square bales in the HayHuts since I ran out of round bales. We can put up to 16 small square bales in at a time.

I looked all over the internet for used ones and could not find any, so I began look for new ones. The closest dealers were almost 300 miles away and many of them did not actually have any in stock. Since I was having trouble finding the HayHuts, I knew others were likely in the same position I was. I decided to become a dealer myself and stock them since I was looking to get so many for myself anyway. I have sold dozens of these and often have a problem keeping them in stock!

You will not be sorry if you decide to invest in a HayHut. They are very well made and even though we often get very strong winds here, we have never had a problem with them blowing over.

[Bravestrom]

another option you may want to consider is our hay feeder

www.prospectequinefarms.com/hayfeeders.htm

[Phaxxton]

FWIW, when I asked for a quote through Duplessis, I was quoted $600 each if I purchased 3 feeders (+ shipping).

[mht]

Are they so light that they would blow over / away in strong winds, though?

It took gale force winter winds to send my huts flying. They are not light, but seemed to be well balanced so that when you reach the 'tipping' point, they go right over.

[mht]

another option you may want to consider is our hay feeder

www.prospectequinefarms.com/hayfeeders.htm

But these do nothing to protect the hay, and it would appear that there would be more waste, as the horses can actually fling the hay out of the feeder.

To me, these are not much different that a metal feeder, other than that they are much safer because they a made of plastic and don't have anyplace for the horses to get their legs stuck in.

[alabama]

another option you may want to consider is our hay feeder

www.prospectequinefarms.com/hayfeeders.htm

Yes, I like those, too, but they don't cover the top to keep the bales dry. I do like that they aren't metal and seem safer then the one I have currently. I actually called and got a quote on shipping and it made that one a bit expensive for me, as well.

As for the hay huts, they show the round bales on their sides with the mesh still on which I found a little weird. I put my bales out with a back hay spear and then flip them up onto a pallet with a front end loader. I then take the mesh off. ( Leaving the mesh on just kind of gives me the willies about it getting wrapped around a leg or something.) Then I put the (metal) bale feeder around it.

If the bale is covered by the hut, I guess I wouldn't care if it was sideways or upright but I don't think I could leave the mesh on it. I can be a little "worst case scenario" so it would bug me.

So how do you guys do it?

TwoFoxFarms, I love the idea of a wooden one on skids. I tried to go to your link but it said it was currently unavailable. Could you PM me a pic or a direct link to a pic? Thanks!

[muffintop]

Wow those things seem very expensive, especially if you need more than one and it seems that most people would. What about the Big Bale Buddy. I bought one of these and i can honestly say they are amazing and well cheaper than the hayhut. we are on our second round bale and literally only lost an armful of hay on our last bale.

[lwd]

I've had hay hut for 3 years. Its a love hate relationship I have with them. They are too heavy for me to move by myself. When I have Mr lwd help me there is nothing to hang on to and its not an easy process to tip it back up right. I have to use the tractor to flip them over. We us round bales in ours. The good thing is they take a lot of abuse and they bounce well. My horses like to pull the hay out the windows and make a mess. It great when it rains as everything stays dry!!

[Cindyg]

As for the hay huts, they show the round bales on their sides with the mesh still on which I found a little weird.

Yeah, me too. I can't see how the horse is going to get any hay out of that set up. I think maybe they were just showing us how to move it around, not recommending we feed like that.

The website had like 6 videos and not one showing horses really eating out of it. (I know there were a couple of snatches, but I wanted to see how they settle in and shuffle around.)

Plus, all these hay feeders show full, big bales. It's quite different when you're on the last quarter of the bale. I always wish the commercials showed how the feeder handles that.

I use the Cinch Net. We've gotten through two round bales with no problems. I am able to use this in the barn and out of the weather, so I'm happy. (Obviously it doesn't protect the hay from rain.)

I just wish/hope I can get a decent round bale when the time comes.