How most easily to make old fashioned hay-box? How good are they and how best to use?

Question

Tried on www.search - got rubbish like cast iron American manufactured ones!
D.I.Y. for beginners, please.

Nicky.

Answer 1

So is a Hay Box the thing that you put a bale in for cattle or horses to eat out of??

In my mind they always look like the Cradle we see Jesus in in the manger.

An X of wood on each end and Planks from end to end slightly longer than a hay bale.

I have no idea if this is even close. But this is my guess.

Answer 2

One thing not mentioned in this article is that eating off the ground allows for natural sinus drainage which helps prevent heeves and other nasties. However, sand colic is real and it's deadly, and if fed on the ground, some horses will literally lick up the soil and sand they were fed on if there is even an odor of grain or hay left. Feeders also help keep manure and other contaminants out of feed. Some horses like to paw their feed risking catching their feet on a ground level feeder or water trough. Others urinate on their feed. A stalled horse may ingest bedding if feed on the ground. Wood chips and peatmoss aren't that good for the equine belly. Companion animals - goats, sheep, ponies - can also dirty feed or overeat if they have free access to ground level feed. Feeding in feeders or on the ground depends on the situation the horse is living in. And as for "natural" I've seen horses eat tips off branches or stand below banks and eat the grass off the top. Horses' necks bend. That's how they were designed.

Answer 3

Hay boxes are slow ovens. The stew is partially cooked in an ovenproof casserole and pl;aced on the bale of hay and immediately buried in hay tightly packed around it. The actual hay is inside a wooden crate, and cooking is obviously slow (8 hours ) They have been used in the twenties by campers etc. DON'T BOTHER
Try www.selfsufficientish.com/hayboxcooker.htm