# Freemotion:  regarding your personal size hay feeder



## Our7Wonders (Dec 6, 2010)

In the pictures of your indoor and outdoor personal size hay feeders it appears you are using 2x4 fencing - is that right?  Do your does do ok pulling hay through that?  I ask because I just constructed something very similar but the does are having a tough time pulling the hay from the small openings.  I think 3x4 would be perfect, maybe even 4x4, though I'll likely have a bit more waste with 4x4. The problem is I can't seem to find anything with those kind of openings without buying a whole roll of fencing - that would be a VERY expensive feeder!

My gals are full size Nubians and it just seems to be a bit tight for them to get in there - I'm concerned that they're going to get sores on their mouths trying to squeeze in there.  Any suggestions?

FWIW it's a much better feeder than the large bucket I've used for the last week.  They MAYBE ate 15-20% of their hay - they'd dig for the loose alfalfa leaves and then let all the stems fall on the ground.  

Thanks,
Debbi


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## freemotion (Dec 6, 2010)

I find that those racks work with hay of a certain stemminess....too stemmy, the holes are too small.  I have third cut hay this year and they pull it all out within minutes and stomp all over it....so I made up a bunch of hay BAGS with a tiny hole a couple inches up from the bottom....about 1.5x2.5".....and that is working well with this hay.  If they have to work a little to get it, they seem to waste less.

Yes, I used fencing with 2x4" openings in the wire.  You may be able to spread the wire on a few of the openings for the hay you have now....trust me, they will find the bigger holes quickly enough!


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## Our7Wonders (Dec 6, 2010)

Thank you!


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## freemotion (Dec 6, 2010)

Oh, the other thing I thought of.....the hay needs to be tight against the fencing for this to work well...so I use ball bungees on the indoor ones to keep the rack tight against the hay and the wall, and regular bungees on the ones outside on the gate, as you probably saw in the picture.  I did it that way when I first got the idea and just threw something up to see if the concept would work.....and for once, the first try worked.  Don't we wish life were always that simple....

I made four prototypes of the hay bag until I got one with a hole small enough that they couldn't pull all the hay out at once.   Then I had to make seven bags.  It is actually working so well that I may make seven more so that I can fill them in advance and feed really fast, or leave them for someone else to hang if I'm going to be home late from work.

Another thought....I'd considered making the "grid" for the wire fencing hay feeders from baling twine, the plastic kind, knotting it sort of like a hay net but in a smaller grid, and flat in the wooden frame.  I used a horse hay net once and had a goat horribly tangled in it and never used it again, but so far, no accidents or injuries on these ones, and I've been using them for a while.


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## Beekissed (Dec 6, 2010)

A cattle panel might suit your needs...this way you don't have to buy a roll of fencing.  My sheep are feeding through a cattle panel and it seems to be just the right size to allow for their heads but to keep waste to a minimum if you keep the panel against the hay pretty tightly.


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## Roll farms (Dec 6, 2010)

We used goat panels (4" openings) and have had good luck w/ those.

I buy the bent ones at 1/2 price, since we're going to cut them up anyway, who cares if they're not perfect.


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## freemotion (Dec 6, 2010)

Bee, my goats would have the entire winter's worth of hay on the ground overnight if they had access to your cattle panel sheep feeder!   Goats are naughty!


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## ChksontheRun (Dec 7, 2010)

Can anyone post pics of their feeders.  We have one that is 4 x 4 and so much ends up on the ground.  Perhaps that is just the breaks.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Dec 7, 2010)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> We used goat panels (4" openings) and have had good luck w/ those.
> 
> I buy the bent ones at 1/2 price, since we're going to cut them up anyway, who cares if they're not perfect.


We're using panels too, but uncut because we don't presently have a tool that works well enough to cut them.  What are you cutting them with?


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## Melissa'sDreamFarm (Dec 7, 2010)

I cut my goat panels with a hack saw. It did take some time, but when my husband finally had a chance to help me, he sawed through them like butter. :/


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## freemotion (Dec 7, 2010)

ChksontheRun said:
			
		

> Can anyone post pics of their feeders.  We have one that is 4 x 4 and so much ends up on the ground.  Perhaps that is just the breaks.


Here's mine:  http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3755&p=1

The hay bag pics are still in the camera and my dh is the one who knows how to get them onto the computer!


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## miss_thenorth (Dec 7, 2010)

here are some hockey net bags and such that people have made.  I am currently trying out a round bale feeder bag made with hockey nets.

http://paddockparadise.wetpaint.com/page/Hockey+Hay+Nets


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## freemotion (Dec 7, 2010)

Cool!  I wouldn't make that type of bag for a goat, they would get entangled in it with their pointy little feet....but I followed the links and you can buy the netting by the foot for a reasonable price and one could make wall feeders or hay bags with a small piece of the netting in place of the wire fencing or in place of making a welted opening in a hay bag, which is not a beginner sewing technique.


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## PJisaMom (Dec 7, 2010)

n.smithurmond said:
			
		

> Roll farms said:
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Angle grinder.


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## Our7Wonders (Dec 7, 2010)

I must tell you, despite the small openings, my feeder seems to be working VERY well!  They manage to pull the hay out - more slowly than they would otherwise, but they get it all done regardless.

What's rather cool is I have almost NO WASTE!  I only have a week of feeding them to compare it too, but I was feeding them 5 slices of hay throughout the day, wondering if I shouldn't give more - I think they would have easily taken another slice or two if given the chance.  More than half would be on the ground.  Now I'm going through only 3 slices and there is a tiny bit left over in the morning that they finish off along with their breakfast slice by noon.

4x4 would likely be too big, I think we'd start seeing more waste again.  I think a 3x4 opening would be perfect instead of 2x4, though watching them eat now does remind me of how they would likely forage naturally.  They have to work a bit at it and they rip small mouthfulls of hay out of the feeder then munch it all up and rip more out.  They seem more content now than when it all wound up on the ground - feeding less and they're getting more out of it - makes me a happy goat feeder!

Thanks freemotion!!  I'll take a picture and try to post it in the near future, I appreciate you posting your examples!

Debbi


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## Roll farms (Dec 7, 2010)

We used bolt cutters to cut the panels...


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## Beekissed (Dec 7, 2010)

n.smithurmond said:
			
		

> Roll farms said:
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I cut mine with a sawzaw with the metal cutting blade....very quick and easy.  Here's a pic of my self feeding station using the panels.  Unlike Free's naughty goats, my sheep are really utilizing this well and I have had very little waste.  Actually less than I had anticipated and so I had to actually place hay on the ground as bedding....I had kind of hoped they would waste just enough to supply nice soft bedding places for themselves!  

At the beginning:







After half a month of use:


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## jlbpooh (Dec 14, 2010)

I made a feeder that holds about 5-6 flakes of hay. It is gravity fed and kind of a v-shape attached to the wall. The mesh for them to eat out of is a chain-link fence scrap that is stapled onto the frame. It works great with minimal waste and they can eat it empty all the way to the bottom with no problems. I can get pics this weekend if someone wants to see it. (It's dark morning and night when I get to take care of my animals right now, so pics are out during the week.)

|\
|  \
|    \   OSB
|      \
|        \
|          \
-----------
|           /
|          /
|         /  Chainlink
|        /
|       /
|      /
------

OK, I am no artist on here and its not to scale, but there is a wooden frame. The bottom half is covered in chainlink and the top is a solid piece of OSB (otherwise I had a crazy goat using it as a bed. The back is against the wall as is one end. The exposed end has a triangular shaped door that swings open to allows it to be filled with hay. 4 goats eat out of it at the same time with no problems. On my goat's playhouse, I have considered putting chainlink across a portion of the wall and putting the hay in between the studs to be a smaller scale feeder. I haven't gotten it done yet though. This one seems to be plenty of capacity for the 4 of them since it gets filled daily. More goats in the future ever, may mean feed space expansion later on, LOL. If we go away, we always have someone that comes twice a day at a minimum, so I don't have to worry about needing a larger quantity available.


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## freemotion (Dec 14, 2010)

I want pics!!!  That drawing looks similar to the design I had in mind when I made the bungee/sled/cookie sheet version.  I would love to see what you made!


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## Our7Wonders (Dec 15, 2010)

Yes, yes!  Pictures please!


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