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

[babsbag]

I will be cutting the feeders we bought with the trays at ground level and using them for the top part of feeders like the Premier 1 ones. Or else I will just give them to my bucks to use and just deal with them sleeping in them. I think that once I line the feeders with the 4x4 squares I won't have as much hay falling through into the trough which will help too. I wouldn't care if the goats slept in the tray if it wasn't full of wasted hay. Just goes to show though that sometimes the best designee are homemade.

These are the feeders I don't like. The bottom tray is just too low for a goat; goats like to reach up for their feed.

 

[soarwitheagles]

I will be cutting the feeders we bought with the trays at ground level and using them for the top part of feeders like the Premier 1 ones. Or else I will just give them to my bucks to use and just deal with them sleeping in them. I think that once I line the feeders with the 4x4 squares I won't have as much hay falling through into the trough which will help too. I wouldn't care if the goats slept in the tray if it wasn't full of wasted hay. Just goes to show though that sometimes the best designee are homemade.

These are the feeders I don't like. The bottom tray is just too low for a goat; goats like to reach up for their feed.

babsbag,

I like your idea of raising the feeder trays higher.

Premier suggested 21". I think I cut ours to 18" because I hope to eventually install a couple of 2"x4" runners on the bottom and then either attach wheels or use the 2"x4" runners as props to move the feeder with two hand truck dollies. I am kinda leaning toward installing 4 of the six inch wheels that are found at Harbor Freight. We may need a couple of axles too.

My thinking is it would quite a job trying to carry this feeder to each of the rotational pastures we recently planted. I would much rather "roll" the feeder to each pasture as the rotation takes place...

 

[babsbag]

I just use mine in the barn so it doesn't get moved except when cleaning the barn out. I am hoping that in the new barn there won't be a build up of straw that I use to now to give the goats some "dry" bedding every few days in the winter. The new barn will have a decomposed granite floor and a lot of space so should stay drier . I just pick the feeder up with the tractor when I need to move it. My DH would like your idea of wheels; I might have to think about that when I build the next feeder. I have some of the wheels that we bought for another project and didn't use. HMMMM. Thanks for the idea.

 

[soarwitheagles]

I just use mine in the barn so it doesn't get moved except when cleaning the barn out. I am hoping that in the new barn there won't be a build up of straw that I use to now to give the goats some "dry" bedding every few days in the winter. The new barn will have a decomposed granite floor and a lot of space so should stay drier . I just pick the feeder up with the tractor when I need to move it. My DH would like your idea of wheels; I might have to think about that when I build the next feeder. I have some of the wheels that we bought for another project and didn't use. HMMMM. Thanks for the idea.

Bagsbad,

I like your ideas. I have never heard of decomposed granite floor. Can you elaborate?

Unfortunately, we are presently unable to move our feeders with our tractor. We are presently in the midst of a mighty El Nino storm cycle where it has been raining 2-3 times per week since Jan. 1st. and may continue all the way until May. I do not dare move our tractor out of fear of sinking it in the mud.

Tractor is on time out until things dry out and that may not be until June.

 

[Baymule]

We had that crazy wet winter and spring last year. I am glad you are getting rain.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Yes, we desperately need the rain. So no complaints here. How about you? Isn't El Nino hitting Texas this year too?

 

[sadieml]

@soarwitheagles - You can always use wheels from a broken lawn mower. Mama had lots of old mowers around, and before I took them to sell as scrap metal I took off all of the wheels. Those things sure do come in handy. I keep tools in my van so if I see things on the roadside waiting for the trash truck I can stop and take off wheels and anything else that might be useful. You might be able to pick-up a couple of wheels from local mower repairmen, etc., too. They often have extra mowers around for parts and might let you have the wheels cheap. It never hurts to ask.

 

[soarwitheagles]

@soarwitheagles - You can always use wheels from a broken lawn mower. Mama had lots of old mowers around, and before I took them to sell as scrap metal I took off all of the wheels. Those things sure do come in handy. I keep tools in my van so if I see things on the roadside waiting for the trash truck I can stop and take off wheels and anything else that might be useful. You might be able to pick-up a couple of wheels from local mower repairmen, etc., too. They often have extra mowers around for parts and might let you have the wheels cheap. It never hurts to ask.

Sadieml,

Nice post! Yes, I am now doing my best to keep my eyes open for good deals and such. The best deals I have been receiving involve attending the large local monthly auction. I was able to pick up all the wood for the feeder for pennies compared to what the big box stores would charge. Last month, believe it or not, the auction had new 8ft. t posts for only $2 each and they had pallet after pallet after pallet. So now, I no longer have any shortage of t-posts. TS is selling these exact t-posts for $6.59. Earlier last year, I only paid 50 cents per 7 ft. t-post and I purchased an entire pallet of them. Next time I will purchase several thousand and then sell them on CL for a dollar more than I paid at the auction....then, all my fencing will be free.

I also picked up 250 sq. ft of brand new 18g galvanized sheet metal for only $5. Normally this type of metal sells for hundreds of dollars. So as you can see, I love finding really, really good deals.

Regarding roadside recycling...I do not dare take anything from stuff laid out in front of people's homes for recycling...here in super over-regulated California, it is a major crime if you are caught taking even one Coke can from anyone's recycle stuff. Imagine that!

 

[Latestarter]

But of course the police or any govt official really can rifle through your trash and take whatever they want on the grounds that you "might" be a criminal. Some kind of country we've become...

 

[soarwitheagles]

But of course the police or any govt official really can rifle through your trash and take whatever they want on the grounds that you "might" be a criminal. Some kind of country we've become...

Whoops...I should have been more careful. I did not intend to divert the thread from our new sheep feeder to the horrors of America's slide toward socialism. My bad! I suppose there are different forums for that. Personally, I am thankful for most police officers. I think things could be much worse without them and I believe many of them are risking their lives on a daily basis to protect us from some really bad people and things.

Well, back on track...the sheep feeder is still working wonders. My greatest surprise is the ram with the big horns has never had his horns stuck and I never did do the triangle mod that was mentioned earlier in the post.

For me, Premier 1's feeder plans have worked marvelously for our given situation. I would still like to try the 30 gallon half barrel plan with the vertical rebar, but first must find a good deal on an arc welder and Oxyacetylene torch...