We are officially launching our 2023 hay drive and asking for your help and any donation you can make to help us stock the hay loft with hay for this winter. Hay prices fluctuate based on a number of factors including the previous year’s weather conditions, the current year’s demand, and the amount of stock local farmers have. Hay prices this year are starting at about $0.15/lb, which means we will need to spend about $2,400 to buy enough hay. However, if we are unable to buy all of our hay in advance, the price will go up and we could face potential shortages. When local farmers run out of hay, they begin to import it by the truck load from other neighboring states. Imported hay can be significantly more expensive because of the added cost to procure it, transport it, and handle it. We have seen hay go up to as much as $0.30/lb in recent years.
As we head into winter this year we are preparing for the feeding and hay needs the horses will have throughout the cold months ahead of us. Hay is a critical resource that our rescue horses will need to stay warm and thrive when the temperatures drop to freezing and below. On average, a full-sized horse with hay as its primary food source can consume around 15 to 20 pounds of hay per day, or about 2% of their bodyweight. This means that the three full-sized horses in our pastures; Cash, Ellie, and Kiah, will require almost 10,000 lbs of hay to get through Winter. Altogether with the ponies and mini donkeys this brings our total hay need to about 16,000 pounds of hay for this winter. We need your help to stock the hay loft and to ensure there are enough round bales of hay this winter.
Donate Now to the 2023 Hay Drive
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We buy hay in two different forms, square bales and round bales. Our primary source of feeding hay is round bales. Round bales are the large round objects you’ve seen sitting in a pasture when you drive by. They can contain anywhere from 500 to 1200 pounds of hay from the places we buy them, and they last approximately a week with the herd eating from them when it gets cold. In the photo above, you can see we use a metal round bale feeder to keep the horses from standing in and wasting the majority of the hay they are supposed to be eating. We also use hay nets to help prevent the horses from ripping out large chunks of hay and dropping it on the ground where it gets stepped on, and even worse, peed on. All of these measures are put in place to maximize the amount of hay that gets eaten and reduce the amount that gets wasted.
You may not know this, but horses eat hay to stay warm. The hay ferments inside of them and produces heat that helps keep them warm from the inside out. This is obviously not the only way that horses keep themselves warm when it gets cold out, but it is an important one, in addition to being their chief source of nutrition and sustenance when snow is on the ground and grazing is not possible. This is why it is crucial that we restock the hayloft to ensure we have the necessary hay to feed and keep the herd warm this winter. Anything you can donate to help is greatly appreciated and goes a long way to enable us to continue rescuing and rehabbing horses.
If you are looking for other ways to help, you can also go to our Donate page to see how else you can support Freedom & Whiskey Equine Rescue to see how else you can support Freedom & Whiskey Equine Rescue, and since the holiday season is also kicking off, check out our blog post, Support us with AmazonSmile, to learn how you can passively donate to Freedom & Whiskey Equine Rescue while you shop on Amazon through the AmazonSmile program. Every little bit helps and we are thankful for your continued support and generous donations.