Nikki here! We received so many creative setups last time that one blog simply wasn’t enough, so here’s part two.
Running GutzBusta has taught me that no two feeding setups are ever quite the same. Some of you keep it simple, others go all-in on DIY, and your ingenuity never stops surprising us. Here are a few more of my favourite setups, sent in by our wonderful customers.
Katherine’s Feeding Funnel
Katherine has 9 of our Medium Knotless nets around her property, and this corner setup in her barn is a clever one. She has fixed a blue plastic drum in the corner of the stall, against the timber posts behind it.
The net is clipped around the middle of the plastic drum and hangs down underneath, creating a funnel like structure for the hay. Making filling super easy, she throws the hay in the top, and it drops straight down into the net! That keeps it up off the stall floor and neatly in the corner, out of the way.
"Love these nets! I have 9 of these nets and they are awesome. They are tough and strong, but soft for the horses mouths. They hold a large amount of hay and save money on waste. These are the best nets!"
Sophia's Hole in the Wall Feeder
Sophia's story is a great one for anyone who's tried a few different setups before landing on the right one. With three Fjords who she says "destroy everything," she started with a net clipped into an old water trough on the wall, but it was awkward to fill and put pressure on the trough's wall fixing. From there, she built her own frame from electrical conduit that flips up against the wall to close.
"I built a frame and installed it into the wall and I can fill easily from outside. I have to hang them high enough that they can’t paw holes into them (they destroyed a smaller one). If I put it on the ground it gets dragged away into the mud.
So I made a frame from electrical conduit for this recent one and flip it up against the wall to close it - very easy to fill and has more capacity than my through the wall design (same size net but none lost in the window), I don’t have to use the cinch rope which is a plus (less hassle and fits way more hay) but I have to carry hay in to fill it vs fill from outside."
Jennifer’s Anti-Tip Trough
Jennifer has used GutzBusta nets for years with her Welsh pony and her little barrel-shaped mini. After trying plenty of setups, this is her favourite so far, because it lets the ponies eat with their heads down at a natural angle.
The base is a red plastic trough that sits on the ground. Jennifer drilled holes in the four corners of the trough and attached GutzBusta clips through them with cable ties (which you can see in the close-up photos). The cable ties are there on purpose, they will break away if a pony ever gets caught.
Her Medium Knotless net sits inside the trough, it’s clipped at all bottom corners and she has left the hay net opening on the side, so its easy to refill. And because it is attached on all four bottom corners, since the net is empty it stays in the trough instead of flopping over the edge into the mud.
“Having never found a better net! Thank you for making horse-life a little easier! I’ve trialled lots of different setups, but this is my favourite so far, as it allows the ponies to feed at a natural angle.”
Nerissa's Modified IBC
Nerissa already fed her hay in modified IBCs, the big plastic tanks in a metal cage that are often cut down and reused as hay feeders on farms. They kept the hay together, but her horses were still pulling out and wasting a lot of it.
After looking at a few different options, she settled on our Large hay nets and modified them slightly to fit her feeders. Now the hay sits inside the net within the IBC, so the horses pull it through the holes a little at a time instead of dragging out mouthfuls and trampling them.
"Absolutely love these hay nets! I usually feed my hay in modified IBC’s but was finding they would still waste heaps of hay. After spending sometime looking at various different ones I found the large hay nets that would do what I was hoping. Slightly modified to do what I want and they are fantastic. Almost no waste and they don’t guts their hay."
Colleen's Outdoor set up
If you’re feeding outdoors through a wet winter, you’ll know this problem... Hay gets pulled out, trodden into wet ground, and by morning half of it is mud. One of our UK customers Colleen was spending hours digging wasted hay out of her field, until she switched to our Knotless nets with 30mm / 1 1/4" holes. Now the hay stays in the net and off the ground, and her hay bill has come down with it.
The real test was her grey mare, Layla, who Colleen describes as a "thug who will destroy anything!". The smaller holes mean Layla can only pull out a little hay at a time. She isn’t thrilled about that, but the nets have held up to her.
“No more hours spent digging up £££’s of wasted hay!! They have reduced my hay bill as there is none wasted in the mud now... My grey mare is a thug and will destroy anything!! She gets a bit hangry with them as she can no longer get more in her mouth than she needs 🤣 but the GutzBusta nets are stronger 💪 than her.”
Cathy’s Easy-Fill Trick
Cathy’s idea is a little different from the others! It isn’t a feeding setup, it’s a trick for the part most of us find fiddly: filling the net.
She uses a stack of empty plastic tub as a filling station. She opens the hay net and sets it inside the tub, with the edges of the net folded down over the rim so it holds its shape. Next, she folds a single flake of hay slightly and drops it into the tub. Then she lifts the edges of the net up around the hay and pulls it closed. Cathy fills three nets this way each day and hangs them in the pasture for her three mares.
“I have found that it’s easier to fill my hay nets with a single flake by placing the hay net in the container... We hang 3 nets in the pasture for our 3 mares to consume during the day. Hope this helps someone!”
