Name: Slow Bale Buddy - round or square bale hay net, knotless nylon, slow feeder
Brand: Bale Buddy
SKU: 2990
Availability: InStock

Description

Slow Bale Buddy from the inventors of Big Bale Buddy

Top quality net Slow Feeders for hay made with 100% knotless nylon

Can be used on its own, or in conjunction with the Big Bale Buddy or a Haybell or suspended in a barn

Slow BB is very versatile – it can be used for both round and square bales
Can be used indoors or outside; on its own / over a BBB / under a Haybell
Made from nylon (not polypropylene as most large bale nets are)
It is completely knotless, so no risk of damaging your horses’ teeth or gums
Slow Bale Buddy has the best patent fastener I have seen on a large bale net – it is very strong, easy to use & very safe for animals (unlike the string fastener with other similar nets)

When using the two feeders together hay consumption is slowed down still further, making this a good option for good-doers and overweight horses. It is recommended that the Slow Bale Buddy be put on over the top of the Big Bale Buddy; both for ease of installation and also so that the hay remains accessible to the animals at all times. If the net is on the inside of the Big Bale Buddy it will bunch up inside the feeder as the bale is eaten, making it more and more difficult for the animals to access the hay.

Nylon is the softest and strongest of the netting materials and will not cause abrasion to the teeth and gums like poly and poly blend nets can. Slow Bale Buddies come with a patented safety fastener that eliminates the unsafe drawstring fastener of other brands, and double bound seams and openings ensure they last a long time.

How do I get the hay in the slow feeder? For round & square bales

If you move your round bales by hand, the Slow Bale Buddy is pulled over the bale until it is completely covered. The bale is then rolled over until the sides of the top opening can be pulled together, completely enclosing the hay in the bag.

Unscrew one end of the safety fastener and starting at one end of the opening, thread the fastener through both layers of netting passing through every third set of holes until you reach the other end of the opening. Screw the end of the fastener back on and your hay is ready to feed

Please note: There is a green X on the centre bottom of the bag. when you put the slow feeder over your bale the top opening will be exactly opposite the green X. If you are feeding large squares the flakes can be loaded into the Slow Bale Buddy to the desired fullness, or the net bag can be pulled over the bale while it is standing on end. If feeding small squares or loose hay load the desired amount into the slow feeder and close as above.

Why choose a Slow Bale Buddy feeder?

The Slow Bale Buddy is the safest, best quality small mesh hay feeder on the market today. It can be used outside or in a shelter / stable area. The only one with a one year warranty, it is the perfect solution for feeding horses round and square bales of all sizes. Waste is virtually eliminated and aggressive and anxious animals are calmed by having to graze and forage for their hay. Overweight animals will walk away from the hay without overeating, helping to normalize weight. Because grazing is always on the surface of the bale, it is excellent for feeding horses with breathing problems. Slow feeding benefits most animals and is the most natural way to feed hay.

Slow Bale Buddies can be used to feed any hornless animal (horns can become caught in the netting).

While not for use with shod horses unless used in conjunction with a solid sided feeder, the Slow Bale Buddy is completely safe for use with all unshod horses, (even minis) as the holes are too small to get caught in. When given a choice between freely fed hay and the Slow Bale Buddy in field tests, most horses preferred to eat from the Slow Feeder.

Like the Big Bale Buddy, this feeder is durable and lightweight and will pay for itself many times over in saved hay.

Slow Bale Buddy

Construction

The Slow Bale Buddy is a Patented Small Mesh Hay Net (SMHN) made of 100% nylon woven netting. Nylon is the softest and strongest of the netting materials and will not cause wear or abrasion to the animals teeth and muzzle like poly and poly blend nets. Nylon is extremely strong, abrasion resistant, resistant to UV rays and is naturally white (not bleached). Because of nylon’s natural stain resistance, the Slow Bale Buddy will wash up bright and clean at the end of the hay feeding season. Our Slow Feeders are designed to be soft on your animals muzzle while being strong enough to survive constant assault by teeth and hooves. The bottom centre and the top opening are marked for visual ease when putting the Slow Bale Buddy on the hay. All seams and openings are double serged and then nylon tape is double sewn over all seams to ensure that the seams and bindings hold up for long life and durability. The safety fastener, which eliminates the unsafe straps and drawstrings of other designs, has rounded edges and is made from tough HPE plastic that will resist 5000 pounds of pressure.

How to use

When using your Slow Bale Buddy for the first time it is a good idea to pull hay through the netting in a few spots around the bale to help your horses get the idea that the hay must be pulled through the net to be eaten. They will learn very quickly and will be pros before the first bale is gone. The horse owner will be very pleased because all the hay that was purchased or harvested will be consumed, saving money, effort and time.

The horses are happy because they have a constant source of hay that they can nibble and graze on in the way that nature intended. Their minds are occupied and their stomachs are soothed by the constant slow supply of food that their digestive system needs to function at optimal levels.

Warranty Info

Nets are replaced under warranty if 16 or more strands of netting break within the first year. Occasionally small holes may appear. As small holes are easily repaired and do not affect the function of the feeder, this is not a warranty issue. To repair small holes, place both sides of the opening together and tie a double knot with strong twine at each junction of the netting until the hole is closed.

At Bitless Equestrian Centre we have been trialling one of these for almost a year now (Medium size Slow Bale Buddy)

We have used it indoors in our undercover stable area (NB no horses are actually ‘stabled’ here) and both goats and horses feed happily from it and we have had no damage or issues at all. As you can see from the photos, we have chosen to suspend it using a block and tackle (Ebay!) from one of the concrete roof supports of the building. Apart from keeping it all tidy, there are additional benefits:

As the bale is eaten, the block and tackle can be used to tension the bale to avoid any bagginess
The block and tackle can be used to regulate the hole size too – the more the Slow Bale Buddy is tensioned, the smaller the holes become – so you can tension it to suit the animals you’re feeding.

Update – trialling Small size Slow Bale Buddy February 2024

We have put the Small size SBB on one of our usual round bales (roughly 4ft 6″ diameter, the most common size of round bale in UK and the size that fits nicely into the Large size Big Bale Buddy)

We have removed the usual netting from the bale, then popped a Haybell over the bale with Slow Bale Buddy cover – see gallery photos. So far the goats love it, but will review in a while.

Although the SBB is oblong, not circular, the Small size fits a regular UK round bale nicely with a little bit of excess at each end of the opening, as you would expect. This is neatly taken up by the excellent patented fastener that comes with the Slow Bale Buddy – again see gallery photos.

Additional information

Weight	N/A
Size	Small, Medium

1 review for Slow Bale Buddy – round or square bale hay net, knotless nylon, slow feeder

Sheila (store manager) – October 6, 2025

Review kindly supplied by Nicola in February 2025…

So after being initially sceptical of the net, I just wanted to let you know it’s worked out great!

It seems very large when taken out of the box, but once we’d cut the netting off our bale it easily took up any remaining slack, and it was nice and easy to get on the bale in the first place. The closure system is brilliant, no greedy noses are able to fit in the net as it collapses down (or feet!) so it’s really suitable for using just as a standalone net. Our ring feeder should turn up in a couple of weeks, so I’m happy to send another update then, but I’m already a fan and would recommend it to other people.

I’ve included three pictures of when the bale was just put out, half way through the week and this morning.

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