#Goat hay feeder plans how to
#Goat hay feeder plans full
#Goat hay feeder plans free

This works pretty well, particularly with the top to prevent the hay from getting wet. I usually don’t put more than half a bale in there though. Our dog crate likely holds one bale of hay, although I probably would need to separate the flakes out a little to get it in there.

#Goat hay feeder plans how to

This is probably best for folks with no more than a few goats.Ĭheck out the video tutorial on how to make a feed bag hay feeder. You might be able to avoid this if you add a few holes to the bottom of the bag for drainage. It’s not ideal for rainy days and I don’t like how the wet sits at the bottom of the bag. The main downfall to this method is that the hay gets wet. It’s great if you have a pet sitter coming though because if you make enough bags, you can ready them all in advance. It’s more time intensive to feed them this way, however.

#Goat hay feeder plans free

It was free to make them so the price was right too. It also meant goat poop is distributed more evenly around the goat area. This forced the goats to move around, not stand in one place all day.

I would rotate where on the fence line I placed the hay bags and usually would put out several each day. If you’re new to goats, they are not going to weed whack for you. This means I have to do less weed whacking. The benefit to this is that any waste that falls along the fence line tends to build up around the fence line, preventing grass from growing up there. The bags also don’t hold more than a flake of hay easily. This actually works pretty well but I didn’t like trying to clip it onto the fence. I used feeder bags and cut holes in them to hold hay at one point.

#Goat hay feeder plans full

I would never do this full time because I want them to have access to the mineral and this is the ONLY method I’ve found that keeps them from pooping in their bin of minerals. It works, but you obviously need to clean everything out regularly. There is still a lot of waste but it ends up in their bedding. On rainy days, I will keep the headstand open and shove a few flakes of hay on top of the mineral feeder. I like this option because I wanted the younger goats to get used to standing on this stand for when they’re in milk or when I need to do healthcare for them. The goats are forced to put their head through the head piece (left open) to eat their mineral. I also used the grain feeder on the milking stand for giving the goats access to their loose mineral. This made it more convenient for me to clip their hooves and do other maintenance. Once our doe wasn’t in milk anymore, I moved our DIY milking stand into a corner of the goat house. It was just a bad area to have the hay fall. If I keep the hay off the ground and use wood chips instead, that doesn’t happen. As you can see, plenty has spilled out over time.Īlso the hay that went into the soil tended to get kind of yucky which required me removing the hay into the compost bin every once in a while. But here are some of the options I’ve tried. I still haven’t found the perfect solution and I think you’ll always see some waste. Over the year we’ve had our goats, I am forever trying to find a better way to store hay so it doesn’t go to waste. Needless to say, the one thing that can make a goat person cry is seeing hay spilling onto the ground, and trodden into the mud. Goats are prone to issues with worms and you’ll see an increase in those issues if you feed on the ground. Goats were made to browse off branches high above their head, not necessarily to eat grass from the ground.Įating above their head means they’re not also eating their own poop or soil, like they would if they were eating grass.

This is actually a good move on their part. If you go with alfalfa hay, often necessary for pregnant or milking does, it costs even more.Īnd for what it’s worth, goats generally will not eat hay off the ground. If you buy at the wrong time of year, it’ll cost more.

Buying from the local farmer, second cutting orchard hay runs about $7.50 a bale where I’m at. They will eat everything you don’t want them to.īut in terms of hay and other treats, they can be very selective. If you’re new to goats, you may not be aware that goats do not actually eat everything. One of the biggest issues for most goat people is that goats waste a ridiculous amount of hay. Please read the whole post so you don’t miss any important information! As an affiliate for Amazon, Cricut, xTool, Home Depot, and other sites, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links which may earn me commissions should you click through them and take certain actions. Ideas for goat hay feeders and how to DIY a goat hay feeder! These are some methods for storing your goat hay so they waste less of it.