Poly vs Metal Hay Rings: Which One Should You Buy for Horses?
Poly hay rings have no bars to trap a leg, never rust, and one person can move them. Steel is cheaper up front. Here is the honest comparison for horses, cattle and small stock.
Short answer: for horses, buy poly. A poly ring has solid panels with no bars, so a horse cannot put a leg through it. It never rusts, so there are no flakes in the hay and no sharp edges on a hip. When the herd leans, it gives and springs back instead of bending. Steel is cheaper the day you buy it, and over five years it usually is not.
We sold steel rings for years, and we have seen a leg go through one more than once. Here is the full comparison so you can make your own call.
The leg problem
A metal hay ring is a set of vertical bars with gaps a horse's head fits through. A horse's leg fits through those gaps too. It happens when a horse paws at the bale, rears at a paddock-mate, or gets shoved by the herd. A leg through a bar and a panicked horse is a vet call at best.
Poly rings are solid panels. The horse eats over the top edge, the same as a stock tank. There is no gap for a leg. This is the single biggest reason we switched, and if you keep horses it should be yours.
Rust, flakes and edges
Steel rings rust. Not in year one, but by year three in a wet paddock every weld is orange, the paint is gone, and flakes come off into the hay. Rusted welds crack, and a cracked weld is a sharp edge at hip and shoulder height. Every farm has a horse with a scar from a feeder.
Poly does not rust, does not corrode, and does not chip. The panel edges are rounded from the mould. Ten years in, it looks like it did in year one, faded a bit.
Leaning and bending
Put four horses on a bale and something leans. A steel ring bends where it is leaned on and stays bent. The ring goes oval, the panels no longer line up, and eventually a horse gets its head stuck where the geometry changed.
Poly flexes. The panel bows under the weight, then springs back when the horse walks off. The ring stays round. This is also why it survives being backed into by a tractor.
Moving it
A 7 ft steel ring is a two-person job or a tractor job. The AGI poly ring comes apart into panels, and assembled it is light enough that one person drags it to the next bale by hand. It takes no tools and about five minutes.
Cold
The question we get most from Alberta and Saskatchewan: will plastic crack at minus thirty? The AGI panels are UV-stabilized polyethylene, the same material as a stock tank or a calf hutch. Ours have been through five prairie winters. Steel is fine in the cold too; this one is a draw.
Cost over five years
| Steel ring | Poly ring with net | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $300–$600 | $1,050.95–$1,275.95 |
| Life before rust or bending is a problem | 3–5 years | 10+ years |
| Hay waste | 15–25% (open bars, no net) | 2–4% |
| Vet call from a trapped leg | It happens | No bars |
| Moving it | Two people or tractor | One person |
| Cost over 5 years, 20 bales at $110 | $300 ring + ~$2,000 in wasted hay | $1,050 ring + ~$330 in wasted hay |
The waste line is the one people miss. Put your own numbers in the hay-waste calculator. The full breakdown of where the hay goes is in How Much Hay Does a Horse Actually Waste?
When steel still makes sense
Honest answer: a cow-calf operation feeding polled cattle on frozen ground with a loader. Cattle do not paw at bales the way horses do, and if the ring bends you throw it on the scrap pile. Steel with a skirt is fine there. Horned cattle need an open top, which both types have.
If there is a single horse, pony or goat anywhere near the feeder, buy the poly ring.
Small stock
Goats and sheep go through the bars of a steel ring and into the bale. The 24" Mini poly ring is too tall for them to climb and too solid to squeeze through, and it still holds a full round bale.
Uncle Jeeter says: "A steel ring is cheap right up until the morning you find a leg in it."
Questions people ask
Can cattle use a poly ring?
Yes. Use 2.75" mesh if you add a net. Horned cattle are fine with the open top.
Do poly rings blow over?
Not with a bale in them. Empty, in a prairie wind, drag it against a fence or drop a bale in.
Can I add a net to a steel ring?
You can tie one on, but the bars still let a leg through and the net snags on rusted welds. If you already have a poly ring, the Net Topper and a pipe kit turn it into a slow feeder.
What size do I need?
Measure three bales. If they are all 7 ft or under, take the 7 ft. Sizing table on the product page.
Where is it made?
AGI poly rings are made in Canada. We ship them from Sherwood Park, Alberta, to Canada and the US.
Next step: Pick your ring size, or message the barn with a photo of your bales.
