Texas Hay Net Texas Haynet Hvy Gauge Round Bale Net

This is our first winter using this round bale net. We started with one of them, and there were some lessons learned, but it's worth the price. Overall, we like them and they do save hay; we liked them enough to buy 2 more. First, this does save hay, but you really do need a bale ring too. Just putting it on the bale and letting them eat really isn't the best way to use it. That's what we did the first time and by day 2, they had eaten the side off the bale allowing the top layers of the bale to slide off to the side and the whole thing looked like a huge mushroom. As they continued to eat it down, they ended up climbing on part of it (and these are horses, not goats), packing it down in the mud, and it was an absolute mess of a pancake with a lot of hay wasted. The second time we used it, we also used a bale ring and it worked so much better that we then bought 2 more nets to use in the other pastures. The ring really helps the bale to keep its shape and stay out of the mud and of course it prevents them from walking on it so the nets should last longer.Another lesson learned is that the yellow string is hard to untie; I've needed tools every time. But, using a tool it's not bad to untie unless it's frozen.The last lesson is that we recently had some really frigid weather and one bale had about a third left. With the cold and ice, the horses weren't really able to eat from it and we had to throw square bales to that pasture. We couldn't pull the net because it was frozen. The other 2 bales that were more full the horses were able to eat from still throughout that weather, and not really a fault of the net, just a matter of weather and the bale itself being eaten down more. But, something to be aware of it you have really cold weather and not much bale left.Nearly every time, I've netted the bales myself and haven't had any trouble. The only time I did have trouble was when the net was wet heavy when I tried putting it on a new bale. Since then, I've started pulling the nets the day before dropping a new bale and just hanging the net up so it can dry before putting it on a new bale the next day.These are machine washable. After they stomped the first net into the mud (before we also used bale rings) it was so muddy and had manure all over it that I tossed it in the washer. Came out great and I just hung it to dry. Using the bale rings, the nets stay clean enough that I haven't had to wash one again, but I'll wash them all at the end of the season before packing them away for next winter.It's January now and we've been using the first net since September. Even the oldest net has no (extra) holes and will easily last the rest of this winter into next year. The netting isn't white anymore but that's not a big deal.Overall, we've had some lessons learned on how to best use these, but we expect they will pay for themselves in year 2 at the rate they're saving hay so that's great!

Absolutely love this hay net! I bought my first one 3 years ago. I've never had any issues and it has held up in all types of weather (Northern Michigan). I just found my first ever rip, but I have a very aggressive boarder horse at my barn that always drags the net out of the feeder. My horses are on round bales 24/7, so this thing has been WORKED for the last 3 years! It's worth every penny. I just bought another one for my second pen, as the first one is still going strong!

No waste at all. We get 3 more days per round bale with this net

This is a great hay net. It's very durable, holding its own with 3 horses feeding off the round bales it covers daily for 2 years now. So far, not one rip. Very pleased with this purchase!

It did what I wanted. I only feed small square bales, and I wanted something I could put a bunch in and let them slowly eat vs having to throw hay everyday. Fine hay does go by fast as it slips through easier. But otherwise excellent and love it! Will be using this combined with my hay hut.

We have had several hay nets over the years and this one seemed to have the price right. When we got it and started to assemble it for the round bales (5x5), it would not adjust and really looked to be meant more for the large square bales. It definitely was not a good fit for the round bales and we decided to send it back.