How much hay does a horse eat: hay calculator (UK and US), bales per winter
A horse eats about 2% of its body weight in hay a day at maintenance: 10 kg (22 lb) for a 500 kg (1,102 lb) horse, from 6 kg (13.2 lb) at 300 kg to 14 kg (30.9 lb) at 700 kg (University of Maryland Extension, Calculating Your Horse's Winter Hay Needs (7 Apr 2021), 2026-09-19). Because 13% is wasted when hay is fed on the ground, you put out 11.5 kg (25.3 lb) a day. In the UK that is 350 kg a month, 17.5 (buy 18) small bales of 20 kg, and 87.5 (buy 88) bales for a 5-month winter; with US 40 lb bales it is 96.4 (buy 97) bales. The calculator below does it for your own horse, bale and price; the tables give the same figures by body weight, by period and by feeder.
| Horse | Eats per day | Put out per day |
|---|---|---|
| 300 kg (661 lb) | 6 kg (13.2 lb) | 6.9 kg (15.2 lb) |
| 400 kg (882 lb) | 8 kg (17.6 lb) | 9.2 kg (20.3 lb) |
| 500 kg (1,102 lb) | 10 kg (22 lb) | 11.5 kg (25.3 lb) |
| 600 kg (1,323 lb) | 12 kg (26.5 lb) | 13.8 kg (30.4 lb) |
| 700 kg (1,543 lb) | 14 kg (30.9 lb) | 16.1 kg (35.5 lb) |
Hay calculator for horses (UK and US)
Opens in UK units (kg, 20 kg small bales) unless you have picked a region before; switch to US for lb and 40 lb bales. Weigh one of your bales and type its weight and price: bales differ a lot.
Result
- Hay eaten per horse per day
- 10 kg
- Put out per horse per day, waste included
- 11.5 kg
- Hay per week
- 80.5 kg
- Hay per month
- 350 kg
- Bales per week
- 4.02 (buy 5)
- Bales per month
- 17.5 (buy 18)
- Bales for 5 months
- 87.5 (buy 88)
- Cost per month
- Type a price to see the cost
- Cost for 5 months
- Type a price to see the cost
One bale lasts 2 days. The 5-month figure is also the year's total, because hay is counted only for the months it is fed; bales are exact first, then rounded up to what you buy. Starting forage share: University of Maryland Extension, Calculating Your Horse's Winter Hay Needs (7 Apr 2021), 2026-09-19. Starting waste share: Penn State Extension, Buying Winter Hay for Horses (27 Oct 2025), 2026-09-19.
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Daily and monthly amounts per species, the monthly shopping list in bags and bales, the total cost. Printed or exported to Excel.
How much hay does a horse eat a day, and bales per winter, by weight
Eaten = body weight x 2% (published range 1.5%-2.5%, Alabama Extension, Decreasing Costs of Feeding Horses (2022), 2026-09-19). Put out = eaten / (1 - waste), so what you put out covers what is trampled, soiled or blown away. Bales = put out x the days / the bale weight, exact; round up when you buy. The UK bale is a conventional small bale of 20 kg (Keythorpe Valley Farm (hay and straw merchant), Bale sizes, 2026-09-19); the US bale is a 40 lb small square bale (Penn State Extension, Buying Winter Hay for Horses (27 Oct 2025), 2026-09-19).
| Horse | Eaten per day | Put out per day (13% waste) | Bales per month (20 kg) | Bales per winter (5 months) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300 kg (661 lb) | 6 kg | 6.9 kg | 10.5 | 52.5 (buy 53) |
| 400 kg (882 lb) | 8 kg | 9.2 kg | 14 | 70 |
| 500 kg (1,102 lb) | 10 kg | 11.5 kg | 17.5 | 87.5 (buy 88) |
| 600 kg (1,323 lb) | 12 kg | 13.8 kg | 21 | 105 |
| 700 kg (1,543 lb) | 14 kg | 16.1 kg | 24.5 | 122.4 (buy 123) |
The same horses in lb, US bale
| Horse | Eaten per day | Put out per day (13% waste) | Bales per month (40 lb) | Bales per winter (5 months) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 661 lb (300 kg) | 13.2 lb | 15.2 lb | 11.6 | 57.8 (buy 58) |
| 882 lb (400 kg) | 17.6 lb | 20.3 lb | 15.4 | 77.1 (buy 78) |
| 1,102 lb (500 kg) | 22 lb | 25.3 lb | 19.3 | 96.4 (buy 97) |
| 1,323 lb (600 kg) | 26.5 lb | 30.4 lb | 23.1 | 115.7 (buy 116) |
| 1,543 lb (700 kg) | 30.9 lb | 35.5 lb | 27 | 135 |
How much hay does a horse eat in a week, a month, a winter and a year
One 500 kg (1,102 lb) horse fed on the ground. The winter row uses the 5-month hay season of the calculator’s starting values (Penn State Extension, Buying Winter Hay for Horses (27 Oct 2025), 2026-09-19); the year row assumes no grazing at all.
| Period | Hay put out | Bales (20 kg) |
|---|---|---|
| Per day | 11.5 kg | 0.6 |
| Per week (7 days) | 80.5 kg | 4 |
| Per month (30.44 days) | 350 kg | 17.5 |
| Per winter (5 months, 152 days) | 1,749 kg | 87.5 |
| Per year (12 months, 365 days) | 4,198 kg | 209.9 |
The same horse in lb, US bale
| Period | Hay put out | Bales (40 lb) |
|---|---|---|
| Per day | 25.3 lb | 0.6 |
| Per week (7 days) | 177 lb | 4.4 |
| Per month (30.44 days) | 771 lb | 19.3 |
| Per winter (5 months, 152 days) | 3,857 lb | 96.4 |
| Per year (12 months, 365 days) | 9,256 lb | 231.4 |
The share matters as much as the weight: at 1.5% of body weight the same horse eats 7.5 kg (16.5 lb) a day and at 2.5% it eats 12.5 kg (27.6 lb), which is 13.1 against 21.9 bales of 20 kg a month once waste is added. A horse at maintenance sits near the middle; a horse in work, a hard keeper, an old horse or a cold spell moves it up.
How much hay is wasted, and does a feeder help?
The horse eats the same amount whichever way it is fed; the waste share only changes what you put out and buy. Published figures for small square bales (Penn State Extension, Buying Winter Hay for Horses (27 Oct 2025), 2026-09-19):
| How hay is fed | Waste | Put out per day | Bales per winter (5 months) | Bales per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No feeder (fed on the ground) | 13% | 11.5 kg | 87.5 (buy 88) | 209.9 (buy 210) |
| Hay rack | 5% | 10.5 kg | 80.1 (buy 81) | 192.2 (buy 193) |
| Basket feeder | 3% | 10.3 kg | 78.4 (buy 79) | 188.3 (buy 189) |
| Slat feeder | 1% | 10.1 kg | 76.9 (buy 77) | 184.5 (buy 185) |
The same feeders in lb, US bale
| How hay is fed | Waste | Put out per day | Bales per winter (5 months) | Bales per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No feeder (fed on the ground) | 13% | 25.3 lb | 96.4 (buy 97) | 231.4 (buy 232) |
| Hay rack | 5% | 23.2 lb | 88.3 (buy 89) | 211.9 (buy 212) |
| Basket feeder | 3% | 22.7 lb | 86.5 (buy 87) | 207.5 (buy 208) |
| Slat feeder | 1% | 22.3 lb | 84.7 (buy 85) | 203.3 (buy 204) |
Why your horse may need more, or less
- Weight: the share is of body weight, so a 500 kg (1,102 lb) horse and a pony are worlds apart; weigh or tape your horse rather than guess.
- Work and condition: a horse in work, a hard keeper, a pregnant or lactating mare and an old horse need the top of the range; an easy keeper the bottom.
- Weather: cold pushes intake up, and the horse burns hay to stay warm; a shelter and a rug bring it down a little.
- Grazing: pasture replaces hay for part of the year, which is why the calculator asks how many months you feed hay.
- Hay quality and bale weight: coarse hay is refused more, and bales sold as one size can weigh well over or under it; weigh a few bales and type the average.
- Hard feed and haylage: concentrates replace part of the forage, and haylage is wetter, so more of it by weight gives the same dry matter. The figures here are hay only.
The honest way to find your own figure: weigh what you put out for a week, note how much is left on the ground, and type both into the calculator.
Work it out for your own horse
The hay calculator at the top of this page, also on its own page as the horse hay calculator, takes your horses, their weight, the forage share, the waste share, the months you feed hay and the bale you buy, and gives hay per day, per week and per month, bales per week, per month and per season, how long a bale lasts and the cost from your own bale price, in kg or lb. If you also keep chickens, the chicken feed guide does the same for the flock.
Amounts are published averages for planning, not veterinary advice; a vet or an equine nutritionist decides what an individual horse needs, and any change to a ration should be made gradually.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I calculate how much hay to feed my horse?
- Body weight x 2% = hay eaten a day; divide by (1 - 13%) for what you put out once waste is counted; then x the days and / the weight of your bale for the bales. For a 500 kg (1,102 lb) horse: 500 kg x 2% = 10 kg eaten, 11.5 kg put out, 350 kg a month, and 350 kg / 20 kg = 17.5 bales. The hay calculator at the top of this page does it for your horse, waste and bale, in kg or lb.
- How much hay does a horse need a day in winter?
- About 10 kg (22 lb) a day for a 500 kg (1,102 lb) horse at 2% of body weight, all of it from hay once there is no grass, and 11.5 kg (25.3 lb) put out on the ground. A cold spell, work or a hard keeper moves it up the published range: at 2.5% the same horse eats 12.5 kg (27.6 lb) (Alabama Extension, Decreasing Costs of Feeding Horses (2022), 2026-09-19).
- How many bales of hay does a horse need for the winter in the UK?
- About 87.5 (buy 88) small bales of 20 kg for a 500 kg horse over a 5-month winter fed on the ground (1,749 kg of hay), about 4 bales a week. The bale weight is from Keythorpe Valley Farm (hay and straw merchant), Bale sizes, 2026-09-19; no UK source gives a winter length, so the 5 months are the US extension figure (Penn State Extension, Buying Winter Hay for Horses (27 Oct 2025), 2026-09-19). Set your own months and bale weight in the calculator.
- How much hay does a horse eat per month?
- 350 kg put out for a 500 kg (1,102 lb) horse fed on the ground: 17.5 (buy 18) bales of 20 kg, or 19.3 (buy 20) US bales of 40 lb (771 lb). Lighter horses, a feeder that cuts waste or grazing bring it down.
- How much hay does a 1,000 lb horse eat a day?
- About 20 lb (9.1 kg) of hay eaten a day at 2% of body weight (University of Maryland Extension, Calculating Your Horse's Winter Hay Needs (7 Apr 2021), 2026-09-19), and 23 lb (10.4 kg) put out once 13% waste is added. That is 17.5 bales of 40 lb a month.
- How much hay does a horse eat in a year?
- Fed hay all year, a 500 kg (1,102 lb) horse gets through 4,198 kg, 209.9 (buy 210) bales of 20 kg. Most horses graze part of the year: for a 5-month winter it is 1,749 kg and 87.5 (buy 88) bales.
- How many bales of hay does a horse eat a week?
- 4 bales of 20 kg a week (80.5 kg) for a 500 kg (1,102 lb) horse fed on the ground, or 4.4 US bales of 40 lb. Bales vary a lot, so weigh one and type its weight into the calculator.
- Does a hay feeder cut how much hay I buy?
- Yes. With hay on the ground 13% is wasted and a 500 kg (1,102 lb) horse takes 87.5 (buy 88) bales of 20 kg a winter; in a slat feeder (1% waste) it takes 76.9 (buy 77) (Penn State Extension, Buying Winter Hay for Horses (27 Oct 2025), 2026-09-19). The horse eats the same; the difference is what is trampled and soiled.
More guides
- How much feed does a broiler chicken eat per day, per week and to 7 weeks
A broiler chicken eats 1.87 lb of feed in week 5 (4.3 oz a day), 10.26 lb to 7 weeks (UKY ASC-191, 2012). Per bird and for 10, 25 and 50 birds, in bags.
- How much do chickens cost per month to feed: 3, 5, 10 and 20 hens
What chickens cost per month: about $2.28 a hen at $15 a 50 lb bag; 5 hens $11.41, 6 $13.70, 10 $22.83, 20 $45.66. Per year, other bag prices, UK sacks.
- How much to feed chickens per day
A laying hen eats about 4.0 oz (113 g) of complete feed a day: 6 hens 1.5 lb (680 g), 10 hens 2.5 lb (1.1 kg). Flocks of 3 to 50: per month, bags, cost.
- How much does it cost to feed 5 chickens per month
Feed and cost for 5 hens per day, week, month and year in lb and kg, bags of layer feed, cost at other bag prices, and 5 chicks raised to point of lay.
Last updated 2026-10-01. Figures are planning estimates built from published feeding guidance, each with its source and year: adjust for your own animals and follow the guide on the bag. Not veterinary advice.