Hay feeder and Spillage question

[Augie]

his is my hay feeder, its a pallet that is wired to the chain-link fence at an angle. It holds a lot of hay and works okay as a temporary one until I get one a proper one built. Its on the bottom of the to do list. I have 2 question. I seem to have a quite a bit of hay spillage. I plan to section off the bottom of the pallet which I think will help with spillage. What should I do with the hay on the ground? Leave it there? Throw it on the pasture? Put it back in the feeder even if it has pee and poo? Question number 2 is I live in a place that get 4 inches at most of rain. What should I do with the wet hay? Should I put a top on the feeder? I usually put enough feed to last 2-4 days. Thanks

 

[Mini Horses]

Don't put back in good hay if peed/pipes on. They won't eat it an will dirty rest to non edible for them. Goats are notorious to waste and lay in pulled out hay....when they stand up, poo happens.

 

[Alaskan]

Question number 2 is I live in a place that get 4 inches at most of rain.

4 inches a year? 4 inches a month?

The growth in the background of that photo looks like way more than a 4 inches a year kind of place... but maybe that is your irrigated yard?

Anywho...

I could not find the hay feeder my baby sis made... or of the one I made..

But grabbing off the giant google machine, this is a good design:

My baby sis made hers of all wood... so instead of the metal wire hay basket, she used plywood sheets with keyhole cutouts for the heads..

I made something in-between what you made, and these photos... so pallets, but I layered a deep-sea net over the pallets to reduce the hole size.

But pretty much you keep tweeking the design until the silly goats are only pulling out and tossing onto the floor a bare minimum.

And yes, the on the ground hay needs to be used for something else... not put back into the feeder.

 

[Augie]

4 inches a year? 4 inches a month?

The growth in the background of that photo looks like way more than a 4 inches a year kind of place... but maybe that is your irrigated yard?

Anywho...

I could not find the hay feeder my baby sis made... or of the one I made..

But grabbing off the giant google machine, this is a good design:
View attachment 80852View attachment 80853

My baby sis made hers of all wood... so instead of the metal wire hay basket, she used plywood sheets with keyhole cutouts for the heads..

I made something in-between what you made, and these photos... so pallets, but I layered a deep-sea net over the pallets to reduce the hole size.

But pretty much you keep tweeking the design until the silly goats are only pulling out and tossing onto the floor a bare minimum.

And yes, the on the ground hay needs to be used for something else... not put back into the feeder.

Thanks for the recommendation. Yes 4 inch per year. The shrubbery is on the neighbors side so it could be irrigated.