intro & hay feeder question

[Kristi]

Hi all, I'm new, have learned a lot reading on these forums. I had planned on buying a couple of dairy goats this morning, but it didn't work out, so I have time to reevaluate my preparations. My first questions are about the hay feeder I built yesterday (thanks to pics & ideas you all have shared! . I used old pieces of my kids' crib...(pic attached)
1. Are the openings between the slats too narrow? I could remove every other slat.
2. Will it be harmful to the goats if they nibble the paint/varnish off the crib pieces? I'm assuming they'll do that.
3. I built it thinking I'd be getting alpines or sanaans. If I end up with Nigerian dwarfs, will it be too big for them? The legs under the catch tray are about 15 inches tall.
Thanks!

 

[elevan]

Way to reuse what you have lying around!

Welcome to BYH

1. I would probably remove every other slat. But you could try it out and see if that's necessary before you do it.
2. If the paint was safe for a baby then your goats will be fine. Mine nibbled on the barn walls at times.
3. It would definitely be too high for kids, but then they would probably learn to jump onto the catch tray. Adults would stretch to get hay. You could lop off about 5 inches from the legs and be more comfortable for NDs if you end up going that route.

 

[Seth]

@Kristi - I love your reuse of materials!

1. If you are going to have goats with horns, you'll want to make sure they can't get their whole head in there. If no horns, then no worries.

2. You could take a wire brush drill attachment (like this one, for example) and get rid of the varnish pretty quickly. I don't think you want your goats eating it. It looks like it was an older crib - it may be old enough that manufacturers were not careful about what materials were used.

You'll also want to consider blocking the ends off - otherwise the goats will just climb right in!

Is this going to be outside? You might want to consider putting up some weather protection. Or, at the very least, drill some holes in the catch tray to let water drain out.

 

[Kristi]

Thanks for the feedback, great ideas. I threw it together in a hurry, so I figured it would need some tweaking. The paint/varnish is peeling off, since the crib has been out in the garden for a while, waiting to become a trellis for something. I think I'd feel better if I got it off of there. Plus, any excuse for a new tool attachment

My 7yo helped me build the little mineral box. The kids were as disappointed as I was about getting scooped on last weekend's goat sale. (Hubby not as much, lol) So we're stalking craigslist to see who else is selling. I don't want to pay too much, and am not interested in registered animals or perfect conformation. Just solid, friendly, good milkers. Our first foray into goats or milking animals.

We currently have chickens and meat rabbits. Tho we've raised and butchered pigs, turkeys and meat chickens as well. Goats are next on my homestead bucket list

 

[Seth]

Good luck finding some nice goats!

 

[elbesta]

The feeder in my avatar is tall so I put a couple log rounds on the ground, that's what Butter is standing on. Also it would be good to put a roof on it.

 

[Kristi]

I like that, elbesta. Seems very compact, small footprint. I think I definitely need a roof on mine. Since I posted this, I did end up getting two alpine does, pg and already used to hand milking. Yay me Right now they don't have names, I just call them Goatie Mamas.

They're doing well with the feeder, w/o removing slats. I think they mostly eat from the ends where there are big openings. Very little waste, which is nice.

Of course, now that I actually have goats, I'm drawing up plans for a permanent yard/milking shed, lol. Right now they're in my garden, but that can only last a few more months. Plus they never leave the rabbit cages alone, looking for spilled pellets.