Enclosed versus ring feeders: Impacts of round bale feeder type on horse behavior and welfare

Abstract In an effort to minimize the amount of hay wasted from a round-bale, horse owners generally surround the bale with a round-bale feeder. While often necessary as a supplemental feed source, this feeding technique restricts the space each horse has to feed, altering a horse’s natural eating behavior. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of round bale feeder type on stress, agonistic behaviors, and horse preference of feeder types. Two feeder treatments were evaluated: (1) round bale surrounded by a ring feeder (ring feeder; BW Hayhuts LLC, Palm Coast, FL). Two horse herds (n = 5 horses per herd) were evaluated using a crossover experimental design, where each herd received each treatment for one week to evaluate behavior and cortisol concentrations. Following this, each herd had access to both feeder treatments at the same time to evaluate preference. Feeding horses with the enclosed feeder resulted in fewer total agonistic threats (P