What type of hay feeder do you use?

[dianneS]

I'm trying to set up my barn to make feeding time more convenient. I'm looking at new hay racks or hay feeders.

What type do you use? Are there any hay feeders I could build myself?

 

[freemotion]

I built three so far, and scrapped two. I'll start with what is working.

I only have 5 goats, so what works for me would be too much work for a bigger farm. What works for a bigger farm didn't work for me.

I made wooden frames with scraps of 1x2's and lined them with scraps of wire fencing with 2x4 openings. I hinged the bottom with two scraps of nylon for some, rubber for others (what I had lying around) and used screws and washers. On the tops, I put two medium screweyes, and two more screweyes in the wall. I use ball bungees (a loop of stretchy cord about 4" long with a plastic ball at one end, available in hardware stores) through the screweyes to hold it shut.

To put a flake of hay in it, I just unhook one bungee and slide the flake in, then hook it up again.

In nice weather, I have a large sheet pan (I got a bunch for $2 each, used, at a restaurant supply warehouse) in a similar way. I bungee'd (regular long bungees with hooks at each end) a pan to the outside of each gate and put hay in it. The gates are lined with the same wire fencing, so it becomes an instant hay rack. The pressure of the elastic bungees slows the goats down, so they have a harder time at first pulling the hay out. A LOT less is wasted now.

This solved the problem I had of a smallish communal stall with one very Alpha doe, two pygmy-x's, and a doeling sharing it.

I had a free-standing large hay rack that I built on plans linked by someone here. It was a thing of beauty. They could pull all the hay out and turn it into bedding within minutes.

I built a classic wall hay rack, the style traditionally used for horses and sold in feed stores made of metal. Mine was of wood. One night I was working outside late and heard my doeling SCREAM. I ran in to find her hanging from it by one foot. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not been out there. Evil hayrack.

The first thing I used, successfully for a long time, was an oversized rubber ground feeder. Then my doeling got flipped over into it one day, and again I found her by chance and was able to save her. Evil tub.

Years ago I used a hay net when I had two rescued goats as companions for my horse. I went in one day to find the larger doe with her leg through the net, and she had turned around a few times and the cords were very tightly wound around her leg. It was quite swollen. I think I found her just in time. Evil hay net.

I love my new racks. No one has yet found a way to injure themselves on them, but it has only been a few months. Evil goats.

 

[AlisonJ_SFW2]

Freemotion - If you get a chance, can you post pics of your current hay feeder(s)? It would help the less handy among us to put the words with pictures.

Great post!!

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Freemotion - If you get a chance, can you post pics of your current hay feeder(s)? It would help the less handy among us to put the words with pictures.

Great post!!

Ditto - Sounds like what I need. Pictures would be awesome.

 

[dianneS]

I figured that the horse style hay racks could be hazardous. Most of my goats have horns. I used a hay net one day and of course a goat got her head stuck in it.

A design that is injury proof would be great!

 

[lupinfarm]

I currently use one of the horse metal wall-mounted hay racks for my two polled Pygmy's. However, when my girls move to the big goatie house they'll be getting a wall mounted wood feeder likely.

I saw in my Horsey magazine this month what looked like a small plastic suitcase with oblong holes in it and it hung from the wall, it was like a plastic hay bag lol... Kind of cool actually.

 

[SweetDreams]

Pictures????

 

[aggieterpkatie]

There was a thread about this a little while back. A few of us put pictures in there.

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3028

 

[freemotion]

I have to get the camera out to the barn for other stuff, so I will try to get my racks posted. Remind me if you don't see them within a week, as we will be working over the weekend and won't likely have time until next week. Then the danger of forgetting by then is really, really high.

 

[DonnaBelle]

Forgetting?? What's that?? How does that happen??

Uhhhhhh what were we talking about??????

I make notes, then misplace my notes, I make a list, DH makes a list, then we lose the lists.

DonnaBelle