I hate to waste hay. It’s not just that it’s expensive (that’s part of it) but waste hay gets trampled on, dug into the mud, and takes up valuable riding time to rake up!
For many years I had metal hay rack in the field. It wasn’t ideal, but it earned it’s keep. Then, this winter, after being knocked over several times, it broke.
Instead of replacing it, I looked into some other options. I prefer to have something in the field that isn’t easily knocked over as I worried that a horse would catch a leg in it or otherwise become entangled. I also wanted something that contained the hay better as the horses still managed to spread it around.
I researched slow feeder hay nets and decided to try Nibblenets. I bought two of the largest bags that they sell — the Double Nibble Ground Feeders (28″ x 22″ x 6″) and chose the smaller size mesh (1.5″).
When they arrived, I was impressed by how durable they seem. These are made from heavy duty strapping that looks like it will hold up well. The open end is fastened using double ended snap hooks.
The Nibblenets are easy to fill. The top end has a wide opening and you can fit about four flakes of hay into the net without difficulty. The double ended snaps close it up and also serve as a handle for carrying it.
I served up a Nibblenet to my horse and his pasture mate, stood back, and watched. I was slightly concerned that the 1.5″ holes would discourage them from eating they hay so I pulled some tufts out to get them started. I needn’t have worried. They had no trouble figuring out how to eat out of it whatsoever and were happily chowing down within two minutes.
There are several things that I like about the Nibblenets:
- They keeps hay in front of the horses longer — I like my horse to have hay in front of him as much as possible. However, with the rich second cut hay they were eating it very quickly. The Nibblenets make them work a little bit harder for their hay and slows down their consumption to a more reasonable rate. This is particularly handy over night.
- The hay is contained! I’ve found very, very little waste hay left over. The Nibblenets are always empty when I feed but I’m no longer raking hay up in their paddocks. So they are saving me money and saving me time.
- Feeding quantities are more precise. I’m at a co-op barn and each person feeds slightly different quantities. With the Nibblenets, I know that the horses are being fed the same amount each time. It’s easy to tell someone to fill the Nibblenet and it gets away from the variation in the size of flakes.
- The nets are very sturdy. Our horses and nets are outside 24/7 and the nets get tossed around plenty. They look like they will last a long time.
- They are safer than the metal feeder we had. Compared to the metal hay feeder these are much safer for the horses to have in their pasture. They can’t tip over and there are not hard edges. The manufacturer warns that a shod horse could get caught in the netting but our horses are barefoot and we haven’t seen any problems so far (we’ve been using them for two weeks). I throw our Nibblenets directly on the ground.
- They are entertaining. I find the Nibblenets all over their pasture so they seem to use them as toys as well as feeders.
The Nibblenets seem expensive but in truth the two nets I bought were less expensive than the metal feeder and I believe they will pay for themselves in saved hay, very quickly. If I count the time saved from not raking up spoiled hay? They’ve already made it worth the purchase. I like the product so much that I’m considering getting one for my trailer as well.
How are the nets holding up?
We love the nets. They are out 24/7 and have held up very well – the webbing looks exactly like it did when we took it out of the box even though it gets stepped on and tossed around the paddocks. In fact, we bought two more! The only downside is that the clips can break. It’s not terrible but you do need extra double ended clips on hand.