Our new sheep feeder! What's your thoughts on this?

[Latestarter]

As for treating the wood, yes, goats are known to gnaw on wood of all sorts, but I don't think sheep are so much... Goats browse (woody stuff) and sheep graze (grassy stuff), although as we all know, there are always exceptions. What I would consider doing instead of chemical treatments of any kind would be to buy some boiled linseed oil (or similar) and give a couple of good coats/wipe downs with that. Obviously the wood will need to be dry first. Maybe do the new one you've almost completed then put it out and bring the 1st, wet one in to dry for a bit. Will aid in water proofing and still be natural should the sheep decide they need a little wood in their diets...

 

[Bossroo]

As for modifications to your practice feeder ... I would place 2x2s at the end to the wire panels and attach them to the plywood for added support. Add another 2x4s onto the top of the 2x4 above the feeder section as an aid in containing loose hay and grain ( if and when grain is needed for flushing the ewes as well as added nutrition when lactating ). Or replace that with a 2 x 6s on both sides. I would remove the bottom 2x4 to make it easier to retrieve any loose hay that may accumulate under the feeder. Install 2 triangular pieces of plywood at the middle 2x4s and the steel mesh supported by 2x2 at the steel mesh. Drill a few small holes in the steel plate for water drainage at the corners and at the middle sections . Also I would replace the 4 x4s at the 4 corners with some longer ones to extend 3-4 feet above the feeders to act as supports to the steel roof pannels that you will want to expend to at least 2 feet ( or preferably longer so that the draining water doesn't hit the sheep on their backs while eating ) so that the all around as an overhang so that the feed stays dry. I would also recommend that you treat all wood with linseed oil as a preservative .

 

[goatgurl]

i think the feeder looks great! if you want to just use this one as a prototype to design one that the ram won't get his horns in you can certainly send it to my house. my goats and sheep don't have horns, lol. seriously i agree that you might have a problem with those horns but a quick fix by putting in the divider in like the others said should work quite well. be sure you post a pic of the new and improved model.

 

[babsbag]

I have a feeder just like that that my goats use and I LOVE it; will be building two more of them for the new barn. I actually had plans from Premier One for mine. I put more of the wire on the ends where you have plywood so a few more goats could eat there, and they do. Plywood on the bottom ends is good as my goats have learned to slip under there to get out of my reach.

 

[promiseacres]

Looks good

 

[Baymule]

Nice feeder, I am impressed by the quality work you have done. Be sure to post pics of the next one too.

 

[norseofcourse]

Great job! I have a similar style feeder - I took Premier1's design for the single-sided version and also modified it a bit. I made the angle of the wire panel quite steep, for less chance of hay contaminating their wool. But yours look like hair sheep? So that wouldn't matter to you.

The only other thing I can think of is that I didn't fasten the wire panel in place, I just tied it to the top 2x4 with plastic baling twine. Some of my hay last year was stemmier than usual. They usually pull the stemmier stuff through as they're eating, and leave it in the trough part. I take it out and give it to the ponies, who eat at least some of it. Last year, the stemmier stuff built up in the bottom part of the V, and I finally cut the twine, lifted out the wire panel, and cleaned it all out. A handy thing if you're not tall enough to reach in to get the hay out

 

[babsbag]

I tied mine too, and the goats untied/chewed it. Brats... So I screwed a couple of pieces of 2x4s to the top 2x4 and sandwiched the wire in between. I can take it apart if I need to.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Good news so far...no sheep have gotten hung up or stuck in the new feeder. This feeder is working far better than I could have ever imagined.

I would like to give credit where it is due...

Special thanks to all the people at premier1supplies. I downloaded the sheep feeder plans from their website.

Happy New Year to all!

 

[soarwitheagles]

I tied mine too, and the goats untied/chewed it. Brats... So I screwed a couple of pieces of 2x4s to the top 2x4 and sandwiched the wire in between. I can take it apart if I need to.

Great job! I have a similar style feeder - I took Premier1's design for the single-sided version and also modified it a bit. I made the angle of the wire panel quite steep, for less chance of hay contaminating their wool. But yours look like hair sheep? So that wouldn't matter to you.

The only other thing I can think of is that I didn't fasten the wire panel in place, I just tied it to the top 2x4 with plastic baling twine. Some of my hay last year was stemmier than usual. They usually pull the stemmier stuff through as they're eating, and leave it in the trough part. I take it out and give it to the ponies, who eat at least some of it. Last year, the stemmier stuff built up in the bottom part of the V, and I finally cut the twine, lifted out the wire panel, and cleaned it all out. A handy thing if you're not tall enough to reach in to get the hay out

Nice job! I saw at Premier1 that they had challenges with sheep and goat pushing the center panels out. They recommended using barbed staples. I chose to use galvanized metal on the bottom, plumbers tape on the top. It is solid so far, and no sheep are able to dislodge the center panels, and I can easily take it apart if we ever need to do it.

Oh, I also routered a slot in the bottom wood for the panels to fit into. That way they can't be easily bumped and moved...

Last question: should I paint this feeder? Has anyone here painted their feeder and if yes, do the sheep eat the paint off of the wood?

Thanks!

Soar