At most horse barns, feeding happens on a schedule designed around people. A Kelowna company has developed an automated alternative intended to prioritize horses’ natural grazing patterns and physiological needs.
As a part of a product diversification program, led by Kirsten Wiklund and Ashton Shura, Nordic AutoFeed makes an automatic hay feeder that can provide small feeds up to 12 times per day.
The idea grew from many years of providing care for horses, and the realization that a better feeding solution was possible.
Horses naturally graze in small amounts throughout the day, but domestic feeding schedules often concentrate their food into two or three meals. Nordic AutoFeed was designed to help owners provide smaller, more frequent portions while reducing the labour involved.
Owners use the feeder’s control panel to select the first and last feeding times, the total weight of hay to dispense and the desired number of daily feedings. The system then calculates the intervals automatically.
At each scheduled feeding, a door opens to provide access to the hay. A built-in scale monitors consumption and closes the door once the allocated amount has been eaten. The feeder also offers a time-based mode for owners who would rather control access by minutes than weight.
According to the company, each unit can hold a standard bale of approximately 50 to 70 pounds and typically needs to be refilled every two or three days. The goal is to reduce manual feeding work while helping owners manage intake and avoid long periods without hay.
Nordic AutoFeed has begun providing feeders to customers in British Columbia and Alberta. From its manufacturing facility in Kelowna, the company now hopes to take its made-in-the-Okanagan approach to horse care into international markets.
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