Size daily horse hay from body weight and forage % of BW — then scale to a feeding period, waste, and optional bale counts.
Use this when budgeting hay for stalled or dry-lot horses, winter feeding, or comparing bale purchases against herd demand.
NRC-style maintenance forage often starts near 1.5–2.5% of body weight as dry matter, with ~2.0% a common planning midpoint for idle adults.
Daily hay per horse = weight × (% BW ÷ 100). Scale by head and days, then inflate for waste.
lb/horse/day = weight × (hay% ÷ 100)
period_lb = lb/horse/day × horses × days × (1 + waste% ÷ 100)
tons = period_lb ÷ 2000 · bales = ceil(period_lb ÷ bale_lb)
This treats the % as as-fed hay planning; if you feed by dry matter, raise the % or correct for hay moisture.
Two 1,100 lb horses at 2.0% → 22 lb/horse/day → 44 lb/day. Over 120 days = 5,280 lb; +10% waste ≈ 5,808 lb (2.9 tons) ≈ 117 of 50 lb bales.
Assumptions: forage-only or hay-dominant diet; constant body weight and waste rate.
Limits: does not balance DE, protein, or minerals; hard keepers, pregnancy, and heavy work need higher intake or grain.
Responsibility: never drop long-stem forage below roughly 1% BW without veterinary/nutritionist guidance.
Body weight. A 1,000 lb horse at 2% needs about 20 lb of hay per day as a maintenance starting point.
Subtract expected pasture intake or shorten hay days — this tool is for conserved forage demand.
Enter your actual bale weight (often 800–1,200 lb). Waste is usually higher without a good feeder.