Hungry Hungry Hippos vs Tricklenets

Remember I bought some Tricklenets (slow feeder hay nets) a couple of weeks ago? I thought I’d let you know how the Boys (now affectionately known as the Hungry Hungry Hippos) are getting on with them.

Hungry Hungry Hippos at their palloxes

Day 1 – I hung one Tricklenet from a tree. It rained that night. The net fell down and I extracted it, empty, from the mud the following morning.

Day 2 – I left one full Tricklenet hanging from a tree. It did not fall down this time. Woohoo!

Day 3 – About half the hay was left. Apparently it’s harder to eat hay from a Tricklenet if you can’t fling it around in the mud. I refilled and rehung.

Day 4 – Once again I picked the net up off the ground, almost empty. Must learn to tie better knots.

Day 5 – I found one empty Tricklenet hanging from a tree. They seem to have the hang of it now, I thought. I guess I need to hang two a day. I left two full Tricklnets hanging from two trees.

Day 6 – Yay! Two half empty Tricklenets hanging from two tree. This is great! I’ll just have to fill and hang every second day!

Day 7 – Instead of hanging from the tree, I tied them at ground level. It’s better for horses to eat at ground level, right?

Day 8 – Hmm, two Tricklenets lying empty and forlorn at the bottom of two trees. Apparently, tying the Tricklenets at ground level made it too easy for the Hippos to extract the hay. Right, let’s forget the idea of it being better for the horses to eat at ground level. After all, we’re not aiming for any fancy schmancy dressagy stuff. I’ll go back to hanging the nets. Trying to eat hay from a swinging net seems to slow the Hippos down. So once again, I left two full Tricklenets hanging from two trees.

Day 9 – Two empty Tricklenets hanging from two trees. So much for swinging nets slowing the hippos down… I stuffed the two nets to the gills and hung them once again.

7pm, day 9 – Better go see how much they have left…

This much.

So are the Tricklenets working? Are the Hippos eating less than before? Given that they get two forkfuls of hay each per day in their feeders PLUS one fat Tricklenet each, I don’t think there is any actual reduction in consumption. I think that they ARE actually prepared to spend all day picking hay out of the Tricklenets one strand at a time. But, on the other hand, it’s keeping them amused all day.

And of course, some Hungry Hungry Hippos also steal from their neighbours.

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