Sunday, November 2, 2008

Virtual Tour of our Track Feeders

Here's the latest from the Browne Horses track system. We've setup feeding stations around the track using three different feeders. The BusyHorse Grande bags (2" holes), small mesh hay nets (1 1/2" holes), and home made feeders from my neighbor's tennis court net (1 7/8" holes) they put out for bulk trash pickup.

After all the money spent on feed bags and nets, the ones that are working the best are the home made tennis court net feeders. I put a full day's worth of hay out along the track in the feeders you will see in the video. The horses are usually just finishing the hay the next morning. They take naps when they want and 'graze' from the feeders when they want. They are out 24/7.

11/15/08 Update: The feeders you see made from the old used tennis nets started to break down from the constant 'nibbling'. I suppose these nets served their time in the AZ sun. I just turned it over and the net is still holding up well. I found another newer net and it is lasting much longer.

Here's the virtual tour as Harley sees it.






Here is a photo and short video of the mesh hay net secured to either eye bolts or pipe bolts (I think the eye bolts work better, but hey I used parts I already had :) I have carabiners and double ended snaps to secure the nets.







Close ups of the tennis court net feeders. We tried putting pea gravel under it, but it just got mixed up in the the dirt. If I want to spend more money, I can put a rubber mat under it.







Here's another idea for the mesh hay nets. I will probably use these when it's raining and I don't feed on the track. These are their original feed barrels inside their stalls under a shade. Nets are secured to eye bolts with carabiners and double ended snaps.