Hay for a miniature horse!?

Question

How much hay do you go through for your miniature horse? Or how long does X amount last them usually?

I was just planning on getting 20 bales right now so how long would that last? Also, what else do you give your miniature? (Food wise?)

Answer 1

ask Rob from Rob & Big

Answer 2

20 bales sounds like a good amount, just because then you're always stocked up. To prevent it getting mouldy, keep it in a dry place, preferably raised off the ground if it's outside.

Minis don't usually need a lot, and rarely need extra food. Where I work we used to have 2, and all they ate was grass and a bit of hay if the grass was very short or their paddock was really muddy. They shouldn't need much hay either. Maybe about half a biscuit (called a flake in US I think) at a time, a couple of times a day.

This is me assuming there is little or no grass for them. In the summer and spring, when there is grass that isn't covered in mud or all dried up, they need very little hay, or none at all. And hay will store for quite a while if kept in an appropriate place that won't get damp.

Answer 3

I do not have any horses of that stature, but I would like to warn about buying too much hay at one time.  I you keep it for too long it could turn bad before you have a chance to feed it.  And if you do feed it once it has turned bad you are looking at a nice contribution to your local vet for colic treatments.

Answer 4

I don't know where you live but if you have grass with a fenced in yard just let it eat grass in the yard. if you need to feed it off of a square bale you need to find out 3 things how much your horse weighs how much the bale weighs and how much a flake weighs if you have a 1000lbs horse and a have a 80 lbs bale and a flake weighs 5 lbs that bale will last you 8 days feeding a 5 lbs flake in the morning and one at night a horse eats 10% of its weight a day if you need to put weight on feed 15% so if you have a 300 lbs mini it only need a flake a day if that best thing to do is feed a half flake in the morning and 2 lbs of a pellet feed in a bucket a 50lbs bag will last 25 days and a bale will last 24 days and every 3 or 4 days put a 1/2 cup of canola oil mixed in the pellet that helps keep the gut moving and give the mini a shiny coat just keep an eye on the mini if it looks like it is losing weight increase the feed just a little bit if its getting fat cut the amount a little bit. and a tip on deworming a mini I have always found it easier to deworm at the 600 lbs mark on a 1200lbs tube and get 2 different brands that way you can deworm every 3 months rotating the brands andit will last you a year unless its a real small mini go with the 300 lbs mark and they will last you 2 years

Answer 5

you should ask the people that you got the horse from. you should name your horse mini like on rob && big. umm, other ideas... make sure you include in your question how big the persons area for their horse is, because if you dont, youll get many different answers and be confused. so i would try revising your question, just add on. cool pet to have!!

Answer 6

I have been breeding show and pet miniatures for some years and have found they are happy and content with approx 1/3 biscuit good quality oaten or lucerne hay morning and night.  When breeding I also give both mare and stallion 1 cup measure of Breeda mixed with 2 cups chaff and water to make damp.

Some people mix a product called Copra with the feed but I have not given this to mine.

Overfeeding will cause huge problems with founder and feet so be more to the less than too much.

Answer 7

Hello ,Well first good luck on your miniature .

I would suggest for any other future questions

get advice from your local vet as they can tell

you whats right for you mini as its better to

be safe then sorry . But anyway I will try and

help as much as possible . Well first I must

say it is very common and very easy to over

fed your ponies as they tend to get spoilt

with to many treats and just too much

feed lol (it is hard to cut down on the treats

because they are so cute lol) But I feed my horses

Chaff (really green luccen chaff ) I scoop

1/2 scoop of there vitimans with garlic and other

inportant things then also I feed them Milrun

(well it is called that here in Australia lol but it is like a weat

mix and I add water to that but  have been one to always add

water to my horses food to much sure no dust and other things

get inhaled and it is alot easier for them to eat I add water to

a crumble consitancey not like soup lol , also I would just add one flake

of hay to his diet depending on how much grass you have other wise

he may not even need the hay but you should get him/her wieghed

and see how much he/she wieghs so you can work out the right

ammount of feed to feed him/her =] But if there are any

other questions feel free to e-mail me !! I hope you have fun with you

mini and Give him/her a cuddle from me lol . I love my horses

and miniatures are really cute and cuddly I love them lol.

Thanks Heaps  

Answer 8

20 bales should last at  the LEAST 3 weeks, ( i have regular horses) and have had no experience with minatures, but i am kind of guesstamating

they should get one flake of hay a night and morning.

Answer 9

20 bales of hay will last you a while. It is actually better I think to get a bit more hay because you never know when the supplier will run out esp around here anyway.

We have mini's and believe me you if you feed them too much they will look like mini little elephants. Plus you have the founder and colic issue. Our mini's have a little bit of grass (the are h**l on pastures more so then big horses) but we give each of them just a flake of hay a day. When we see they are getting too fat we cut that down. They are VERY easy keepers, I have never met a hard keeper.

In the winter we may give them a handful of grain and increase their hay a bit just for the extra added warmth but we do not blanket them. They have a run in shed and they grow more hair then a gorilla in the winter.

Best of luck with you mini.

Answer 10

Don't listen to any of these people they are all messing with you

Don't get round bales!!!!!!

get the rectangular ones and get about 30 or so so you are stocked up

Don't feed them people food or grain!!!!!.....cause it can hurt their poor little bodies

feed them and don't let them eat too much grass(have one dirt paddock and one with grass in it(let them in the grass one for like 2 hours and then put them back in the dirt one))

Answer 11

20 bales is too much i reckon, if you only have one horse. i go through 1 bale of hay in about a month and i have a bigger horse. so 20 bales would last around a year and a half but i would just get one then when you run out get another etc. that way the hay doesnt get mould n stuff. i would feed him about half a bucket twice a day if he is in good weight. if hes fat then feed him only once a day, if hes skinny then feed him a whole bucket a day. you can give him treats like apples, carrots, licorice, bananas when they r low on minerals, if you have a mozzie/midge problem where you live then you could mix garlic in his feed, mineral blocks give them all the nutrients they really need, though some horses dont like them (like mine lol)um...also horses like peppermints i think and yeah.also with the hay its not the best idea to feed him lucerne hay unless he can digest it well. the best is to get barley or a grassy hay.

good luck with your new friend! :)