# feed set up



## Anny (Dec 27, 2009)

How do you have your feed set up for your goats? How do you keep your hay off the ground and try? what do you do to reduce feed loss? 

How do you water your goats? Do you have photos of your feed setup.


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## goat lady (Dec 27, 2009)

I don't have any photos. We keep our hay in a rubbermaid shed I bought off craiglist. It holds 3-4 bales depending on where we buy them.  We only have 8 goats. 6 does and 2 bucks so it works for us. Then I keep their feed in a bin from Home depot.  Hubby has not made a shed yet just for the feed for the animals.  Maybe he will get to it in '2010.  We only have goats, hens, and rabbits on our little farm.


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## Anny (Dec 27, 2009)

About how long does 3-4 bales of hay last you with your 8 goats.


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## goat lady (Dec 27, 2009)

Probably 2-3 weeks.  We keep the hay rack full all the time.  Here in Florida we would have to fill it twice a day in the summer. Now that it has cooled down usually only in the mornings.  So right now it is about every 3 weeks we go get hay.  We have two goat pens. One houses three does that are 4 months and 6 months. The other pen houses our two bucks and three adult does.


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## jhmoore (Dec 27, 2009)

I have smaller breeds: 2 pygmy wethers and 2 nigerian dwarf doelings.  The 2 boys are housed in one pasture, and the 2 girls in another.  The boys split (and waste a lot of) 1 flake of grassy hay in the morning and again at night.  The girls split about 1/2 flake am & pm. So, the most hay I go through is 3 flakes a day with the goats right now.  My goats have the ability to run in and out of their stall, which is in the barn.  So, I keep hay and water in the barn to keep it out of the elements.

I use a regular water bucket for the goats, just like for the horses.  The babies had a smaller, shallower one to start, but they're big enough for the full size now.  I do secure the bucket to the stall wall, otherwise, the goats are notorious for tipping the bucket over.  

It is difficult to reduce hay waste with goats.  I feed mine out of large rubber tubs from TSC.  I have found that they often stand in it, dump it over, or sleep in it.  But, I'm afraid to try hay nets or bags, as I've heard of goats getting their heads caught and strangling themselves. 

I hope this helps.


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## freemotion (Dec 27, 2009)

I love to experiment, and here is my latest attempt at reducing hay waste.  It seems to be working....so far.

I only have five goats, so this works for me.  Me and my dad made some simple wooden frames just a bit bigger than a flake of hay, and inside the frame, we stapled a scrap of wire fencing with 2" x 4" openings between the wires.  Just big enough for a goatie muzzle!

I attached the bottom of the frame to the wall with two little scraps of rubber roofing material....think heavy inner tube rubber and you'll get the idea.  I used 1.25" sheetrock screws.  This acts like hinges but not so rigid.  

I screwed two hooks above the top of the frame, set at an angle so there is just a small space between the open part of the hook and the wall.  I attached two ball bungees to the frame and I place a flake of hay between the wall and the frame and use the ball bungees to hold the frame against the hay with some tension.  

This really slows the goats down.  They have to work a bit to get the hay out.  I went from about 70% waste to about 25% waste.   Considering good alfalfa mix is $7.25 per bale for me this year, that was expensive bedding!  

I set up one for the buck and three in the communal stall for the four does.  In just two days, I find them to be calmer in general and not so starving and frantic when I go out.  There is always a little hay left in each frame, so they are never without hay.  The lowest goat may wait, but since there is always hay available now, she has plenty of time to get some.  I will put up a fourth one soon, so everyone will be happy.

They are easy to load, and the chickens can't roost on them.  I really hope these work out!


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## FarmerChick (Dec 27, 2009)

I farm so my feeding is mass hysteria when I feed.

LOL


We have grain troughs placed at intervals.   We literally speed fill and the goats hit the feed fast.

free choice baking soda containers

free choice molasses mineral blocks and salt blocks

hay we feed round bales in dead of winter...but being in NC I have green grass out in the pastures now even....so I am feeding a few square bales every few days or so to supplement.  I just throw them out on the ground since we have tons of pasture and goats and hay.


So my system is set up for over 100 goats (well, was, down to 30 now...tired of goats..LOL)


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## aggieterpkatie (Dec 28, 2009)

I have two horse hay racks mounted on the back wall of the shelter, but because the bars were spaced too far apart and too much hay was wasted, hubby welded some rebar horizontally in order to make smaller spaces.  It works great!  











For outside we have this nice hay/grain feeder.  





This is our water trough, a nice rubber one so it won't crack.


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## cmjust0 (Jan 4, 2010)

We made our hay rack from lumber we had laying around..  The ends are two boards nailed together in an X shape..  Imagine the goats standing in front of the X with their heads level with the upper 'v' portion.  There's a board at the top and bottom of the front part of the X, with vertical (diagonal, actually) slats running in between.  

Ok...too hard to explain.  Here are a couple of quick drawings.  

Side view...





Front view...





The slats are diagonal because they have to cock their heads to the side to get them into the feeder, which supposedly makes them less likely to constantly pull their heads out and put them back in....which supposedly reduces waste.  

Supposedly.  :/


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## Anny (Jan 4, 2010)

I love the wonderful photo, plus the "nom"-age


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## cmjust0 (Jan 5, 2010)

Best I could do with the windows paint app on short notice.   

Or even with plenty of notice, actually...I'm not a graphic artist by any means.  

Forgot to mention that our feeder is probably somewhere on the order of about 9' long.  It'll accomodate roughly 6 head across the front, and then a couple always go to the ends and a couple go around behind it and jump up to 'browse' the top of the hay.  The back is solid since we didn't really anticipate it feeding this many head..  It's eventually gonna get pulled from the stall its in, the solid back will be replaced by slats like the front, and it'll be placed in the open so it can be accessed from both sides.  I have a feeling that's going to lead to some nose-biting, but oh well.


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