Hay used to be cut, raked, and stacked by hand. This process was labor intensive but the only way farmers could feed their animals through the winter. Mechanized mowers began to make the task easier around 1930, and the baler was invented by the 1940s. Now huge round balers have cut the labor even farther, but the big bales have a few drawbacks which a round bale hay net can mitigate.
Grazing is the natural way for cattle, horses, and sheep to get their food. Goats prefer to nibble on bushes and trees but can make do with grass if that's all there is. Many animals have pasture year-round, but others may never feed outside a paddock or a stall. These animals will need hay in bale or pellet form year round.
Winter also means limited pasture, since grasses go dormant and snow may make grazing impossible. The forage that these herd animals need to stay healthy is easily supplied with hay, which can make up 100% of their diet. Breeding stock, growing youngsters, dairy cows, and horses under heavy work may need grain supplementation.
Dried grasses can replace pasture, providing the roughage, the vitamins and minerals, and the slow intake of nutrients that is most natural for grazing animals. Grains are too concentrated to be a sole source of nutrients; the animals need roughage for proper digestion and elimination. Hay is an important part of the diet of the domesticated grazer.
This practice makes caring for animals easier, but just placing a bale in the field is very inefficient in terms of cost and waste. A frugal farmer wants to feed only as much as the animal needs for health and for the desired weight gain of meat production. Horse owners are usually trying to maintain an ideal weight on their animals, who are enthusiastic over-eaters.
Animals allowed free access to a large bale of hay will also waste a lot of it. As they pull out great mouthfuls, they drop what they can't chew on the ground. Then they trample it into the mud, defecate on it, and lie on it. As much as eighty percent of the hay can be wasted.
Putting a hay net around the bale solves both the problems of waste and over-eating. Having to pull the hay out through the small openings in the mesh means that an animal gets one mouthful at a time, not big clumps. There will be less dropped on the ground and wasted. The consumption is slowed, as well, since it takes more time and effort to get the hay out. The animal will eat less before getting satisfied.
As far as horses go, there are even slow-feeder nets, which reduce the ease of getting to the hay even more. This is a great way for owners to make hay available at all times - like natural pasture - but still limit consumption. Nothing is worse than putting a horse on a diet; both horse and owner are miserable and it doesn't work very well, anyway. Using a net is an easy solution that helps eliminate out of control weight gain.
Grazing is the natural way for cattle, horses, and sheep to get their food. Goats prefer to nibble on bushes and trees but can make do with grass if that's all there is. Many animals have pasture year-round, but others may never feed outside a paddock or a stall. These animals will need hay in bale or pellet form year round.
Winter also means limited pasture, since grasses go dormant and snow may make grazing impossible. The forage that these herd animals need to stay healthy is easily supplied with hay, which can make up 100% of their diet. Breeding stock, growing youngsters, dairy cows, and horses under heavy work may need grain supplementation.
Dried grasses can replace pasture, providing the roughage, the vitamins and minerals, and the slow intake of nutrients that is most natural for grazing animals. Grains are too concentrated to be a sole source of nutrients; the animals need roughage for proper digestion and elimination. Hay is an important part of the diet of the domesticated grazer.
This practice makes caring for animals easier, but just placing a bale in the field is very inefficient in terms of cost and waste. A frugal farmer wants to feed only as much as the animal needs for health and for the desired weight gain of meat production. Horse owners are usually trying to maintain an ideal weight on their animals, who are enthusiastic over-eaters.
Animals allowed free access to a large bale of hay will also waste a lot of it. As they pull out great mouthfuls, they drop what they can't chew on the ground. Then they trample it into the mud, defecate on it, and lie on it. As much as eighty percent of the hay can be wasted.
Putting a hay net around the bale solves both the problems of waste and over-eating. Having to pull the hay out through the small openings in the mesh means that an animal gets one mouthful at a time, not big clumps. There will be less dropped on the ground and wasted. The consumption is slowed, as well, since it takes more time and effort to get the hay out. The animal will eat less before getting satisfied.
As far as horses go, there are even slow-feeder nets, which reduce the ease of getting to the hay even more. This is a great way for owners to make hay available at all times - like natural pasture - but still limit consumption. Nothing is worse than putting a horse on a diet; both horse and owner are miserable and it doesn't work very well, anyway. Using a net is an easy solution that helps eliminate out of control weight gain.
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