# How do you fill a hay net?



## Dry Rot (28 January 2013)

Maybe it's a bloke thing, but I stand a small bale on it's end and pull the hay net over it, then cut and remove the string, finally "bend" the bale to make a gap, draw the string and...volia! Hay net is filled!

So why do the gentler sex pull off handfuls, shove them into the net, then half an hour later, the net is filled?

Yeah, I know, I'm male so I am missing some vital and subtle element here why it has to be done by pluck and shove....

But I do confess to having recently learnt the proper way to tie up a hay net so it's easy to undo. OK, so I still have a lot to learn!

Teach me!


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## clydesdale (28 January 2013)

as the bale of hay i use wouldnt fit in a hay net in one go!!!


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## PolarSkye (28 January 2013)

We have a handy-dandy contraption in the barn that a very clever livery made . . . it's an oil drum with the top taken off and strategically placed hooks around the rim (facing out, if that makes sense) . . . simply place haynet into drum and hook edges under the hooks and then stuff haynet . . . takes a minute or less to fill a huuuuuuuuge haynet.  Love it .

P


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## nieghham (28 January 2013)

Dry Rot said:



			Maybe it's a bloke thing, but I stand a small bale on it's end and pull the hay net over it, then cut and remove the string, finally "bend" the bale to make a gap, draw the string and...volia! Hay net is filled!

So why do the gentler sex pull off handfuls, shove them into the net, then half an hour later, the net is filled?

Yeah, I know, I'm male so I am missing some vital and subtle element here why it has to be done by pluck and shove....

But I do confess to having recently learnt the proper way to tie up a hay net so it's easy to undo. OK, so I still have a lot to learn!

Teach me!

Click to expand...

*Checks under top*...hmmm...if I am a male something has gone very wrong....and yet...this is exactly how I fill my nets too


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## MerrySherryRider (28 January 2013)

I shake the hay out to ensure there are no stones or dead mice and also to shake out the dust. Then I put my boot on one edge of the net and stuff it. Takes seconds.


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## Kat (28 January 2013)

Dry Rot said:



			So why do the gentler sex pull off handfuls, shove them into the net, then half an hour later, the net is filled?
		
Click to expand...

Because much as my horse eats shedloads of haylage and has enormously huge haynets she has yet to need a full round bale a day    and I have yet to find a haynet big enough to fit a full round bale in


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## Suelin (28 January 2013)

I use that method but just bend the bale where it's needed rather than in half.  Always done it that way and I am most definitely female.


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## ILuvCowparsely (28 January 2013)

PolarSkye said:



			We have a handy-dandy contraption in the barn that a very clever livery made . . . it's an oil drum with the top taken off and strategically placed hooks around the rim (facing out, if that makes sense) . . . simply place haynet into drum and hook edges under the hooks and then stuff haynet . . . takes a minute or less to fill a huuuuuuuuge haynet.  Love it .

P
		
Click to expand...

 hope its ok I have added this useful idea to the web site.  Pm me if not ok


 Only thing I find  takes me seconds to put 2 sections in hay nets and lots of my liveries use plasters baths so  sections just get put in takes 2 seconds per  section


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## ILuvCowparsely (28 January 2013)

Dry Rot said:



			Maybe it's a bloke thing, but I stand a small bale on it's end and pull the hay net over it, then cut and remove the string, finally "bend" the bale to make a gap, draw the string and...volia! Hay net is filled!

So why do the gentler sex pull off handfuls, shove them into the net, then half an hour later, the net is filled?

Yeah, I know, I'm male so I am missing some vital and subtle element here why it has to be done by pluck and shove....

But I do confess to having recently learnt the proper way to tie up a hay net so it's easy to undo. OK, so I still have a lot to learn!

Teach me!

Click to expand...

same for you  I hope its ok to add your useful ideas to the site (which is what its there for )

 any more useful ideas please tell me and I can add them .


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## 4x4 (28 January 2013)

I have yet to find an easy way of filling nets from round bales...


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## RunRunReindeer (28 January 2013)

4x4 said:



			I have yet to find an easy way of filling nets from round bales...
		
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You probably already know this ... It's easier if you can loosen off a few layers first, then as you go through the bale manoeuvre it around to get to the easiest bits to pull off, if that makes sense


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## Dry Rot (28 January 2013)

Leviathan said:



			same for you  I hope its ok to add your useful ideas to the site (which is what its there for )

 any more useful ideas please tell me and I can add them .
		
Click to expand...

Of course!


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## Dry Rot (28 January 2013)

aeg123 said:



			You probably already know this ... It's easier if you can loosen off a few layers first, then as you go through the bale manoeuvre it around to get to the easiest bits to pull off, if that makes sense 

Click to expand...

Last winter I wanted to ration ponies at grass but only had 4x4s. So I'd cut them half way through with a hay knife and forked off layers, which is what you are describing but I think you are doing it manually (so hard work).

Hay knives are not for the faint hearted as they need to be kept razor sharp to cut hay or haylage, but they do work. Dangerous things to leave around too!

http://www.gardentoolsforallseasons.com/reduced pics/h182.jpg


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## smellsofhorse (29 January 2013)

I use a hay bar but when i do fill haynets, we use large haylage bales.
I grab a slice and cram it in.

I dont know why people stand there for ages loosening the hay, grabbing a handful at a time, taking then ages.

i grab the slice, cram it in and tie it up.

You can get lots more in the net that way!


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## 4x4 (29 January 2013)

It would cost us a lot to change our equipment to make small bales which are so easy to slice off and put into hay nets - so stuck with round bales I'm afraid!  Might in vestigate the hay knife idea thanks!


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## Enfys (29 January 2013)

I don't. 

Evil things, I use hay bags for the goats and the minis, and as I have hestons and round bales I have no option but to go with the grab and stuff method


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## Star_Chaser (29 January 2013)

we were always taught to 'split, shake and check' when filling a net, you split so you get the right amount for the horse, you shake to get rid of the dust and crap that gets picked up when baling and to fill the whole net not just the middle and you check for things that shouldn't be in hay like ragwort. 

Your method would be quicker but my grandmother would turn in her grave if I did it your way and old habits die hard


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## Dry Rot (29 January 2013)

Star_Chaser said:



			we were always taught to 'split, shake and check' when filling a net, you split so you get the right amount for the horse, you shake to get rid of the dust and crap that gets picked up when baling and to fill the whole net not just the middle and you check for things that shouldn't be in hay like ragwort. 

Your method would be quicker but my grandmother would turn in her grave if I did it your way and old habits die hard 

Click to expand...

Shock! Horror!

Dust, crap, or ragwort in MY hay???

(Wanders off muttering to self).


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## Mystified (30 January 2013)

I have two methods both really effective.

Method 1

I have a sets of portable hooks that you put over fencing (4 hooks in a row you get them from equestrian stores) which I hang the haynets from and I fill these up with the soaked hay I have drained in large tubs.

Method 2

I have a large tub with rope handles that I put the haynet in and stretch over the sides of the tub and then I fill it up with dry hay as I shake and sort the hay takes minutes.


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## maree t (31 January 2013)

I have an easier option .... dont use haynets  
I only use haynets to travel and I always shake it out to check iteven though we make our own . I just stand on the edge of the net and stuff with the other hand, we use large bale haylage. Solid wedges in haynets are a pain with the partitions aswell


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## Suelin (31 January 2013)

Dry Rot said:



			Shock! Horror!

Dust, crap, or ragwort in MY hay???

(Wanders off muttering to self).

Click to expand...

Quite.


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## Wagtail (31 January 2013)

I only fill haynets for the three fatties.The other four have adlib haylage fed from the floor. I have large bales and so can't use your excellent method, op. Each of the fatties needs to have a certain weight of haylage/hay a day. I know how much a slab of my large square bale weighs (around 8 kilos of the very dry stuff), and divide it up between five nets per horse. So I don't have to actually weigh it every day, though sometimes I will pop the nets on the scales to make sure I am getting it right. So there is not much in each trickle net. I must admit, it is my least favourite of all horsey tasks.


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## RutlandH2O (31 January 2013)

Mystified said:



			Method 2

I have a large tub with rope handles that I put the haynet in and stretch over the sides of the tub and then I fill it up with dry hay as I shake and sort the hay takes minutes.
		
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When I used haynets, that's exactly what I did for years. I removed the rope handles, though, because the nets always seemed to catch on the ends of the ropes. I didn't pull the slices apart, but I did check between the slices. I kept the tub down in the hay barn specifically for the purpose of filling the nets. My nets were massive because I have Shire horses, and each net was the equivalent of more than half a bale.

Now I use ring feeders (the horses are in a huge pole barn).


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## Skyebald (1 February 2013)

Who said there wasn't a hay net big enough for a round bale 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAY-NET-F...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item56516224f3


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## whisp&willow (1 February 2013)

I always shake out the sections before I stuff!  You'd be surprised how many mice end up in the baler... 

For what its worth, it takes me less than 2 mins to fill a haynet, so not sure that fluffing is slowing me down too much!


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