New Hay Feeder!

[Nanno]

Phil has been helping a contractor friend who is clearing out his place so he can move, and the other day he brought home this funny little thing. I'm not sure what our friend used it for, but Phil thought it might make a good hay feeder and I agreed. I tacked some wire around the outside to help contain the hay and so far it seems to be a big hit! The goats mostly allow each other to eat from it, and most of the hay goes into the goats now instead of so much of it getting trampled into the ground and used for beds and toilets. It's not super sturdy (it was not built with goats in mind), so I don't expect it to last more than a season or two. However, if it works well then I may use the design to build a sturdier one in future. 
   

Happy headless goats! 
   

[Taffy]

Looks like they like it!

Check out this feeder and goat hut a friend made out of old tanks.  The tanks are available on Craigslist here.  Pretty ingenious!


  Goat feeder.jpg (Size: 41.89 KB / Downloads: 84)


  Goat hut.jpg (Size: 36.22 KB / Downloads: 83)

[hihobaron]

Hello Nanno
Good Goat feeder (Wood One) I did things with crate wood for livestock on my farm in Wisconsin years ago.
You have the point right goats may beat it up in a year or two but for something FREE that is good life expectancy.
Did I mention FREE is always good.

Water Tank Projects:
We have them around down here (Most) Feed stores have a few sitting around for about $40.
So I see some interesting usages around here for them.
Only thing I would add on the top of the shelter one would be some plywood or planks so the goats have another "Mountain" to Perch on top of.
Happy Trails
hihobaron

[Charlie Horse]

I'd be pretty worried about goats getting legs between the metal bars and the plastic and then breaking the leg. I watch for that kind of hazzard. Seems like you'd need to put a plywood top on it to reduce the risk.

[DownUnder Gal]

Nanno, I like your hay feeder.  Recycling stuff for the goats is one of my favourite pastimes.  Why buy something when another item will do the job?  Don't your goats have lovely colours?

Taffy, the water tank idea is terrific – especially the goat hut!  Those water tanks are really expensive here in Australia.

I used to have issues with a lot of wasted hay.  I tried all sorts of hay feeders and ending up using the ones below, as they are the only types that seem to withstand the horn battering my guys give them.  Now the hay wastage has not only been greatly reduced, the goats can build the muscles in their hind quarters accessing it (some of them seem to prefer to put their front legs on the hay feeder).  Two of the feeders also keep the rain off the hay so they can be located out in the common area of the goat village rather than in the sheds during inclement weather.  Unfortunately I had to buy them but they're made locally which I like, and they seem to be quite safe - I've had them for about 4 years and no accidents with horns or legs thus far - touch wood .

[Nanno]

I like those kinds of hay feeders (and your boys are huge and gorgeous by the way--their coats are so beautifully sleek!). I almost bought a couple of feeders like that last year but decided I couldn't afford them at the time. I really like the design with the roof. The ones I was looking at were roofless and I was wondering how I might attach one. My only concern with adding a roof is that we get some pretty terrific winds in spring and my feeders might sail away if I didn't have them staked firmly into the ground.

[DownUnder Gal]

Nanno, the goat village pictured is also at the top of a hill so we get strong winds too (up to 110km/hr - not sure if you would classify that as strong). I think the hay feeders with rooves weigh at least 100lbs. My goats can push them around a bit but they can't push them over, and the wind has never been a problem.

Thank you for your kind words about the goats. The British Alpine came to me 9 months ago with a wonderfully sleek coat so he was well looked after and/or is blessed with good genetics. Atticus, on the other hand, has suffered numerous health issues; we got him at 8 weeks and we were his 4th owners which I think is very sad. He had all sorts of issues as a kid and then he came good. Then about 6 months ago his coat went south - it had the classic singed, sunburnt look that is typical of copper deficiency. Although that wasn't the problem it took 6 months to work out what the issue was - perhaps a topic for another thread. Anyway, he seems very well now at 4 years of age and yes, he's huge. Marley, the long-haired goat on the right is 120lbs and you can see how much bigger Atticus is! Suffice to say he's the herd boss.

[Nanno]

Poor Atticus. I'm glad he ended up with you. His current good health is testament to how well you look after him. How tall is he at the withers? He looks enormous!

I'm glad to know that the roofed feeders don't blow away. Sounds like ya'll get heavy winds too! Our typical windy day is only about 30 mph (50 kph?), but we do get the occasional blast like you describe. It's good for the roofers and window repairmen but not anyone else. Now that my goats are no longer penned on top of the ridge I could probably get away with roofed feeders. Something to think about!

[DownUnder Gal]

Nanno, I hadn't measured Atticus for a while, so your question prompted me to set off this morning with my measuring stick and tape. Here are a few stats:

Height at withers: 41 inches
Withers to tail: 42.5 inches
Nose circumference: 16 inches
Front hoof circumference (at ground level): 11 inches
Base of horns circumference: 9 inches
Length of horns: 18 inches
He wears a collar that had to be specially made at 27.5 inches. Hoegger couldn't supply a larger harness for driving so I had to get the standard Hoegger one modified locally to have a longer cinch and wider saddle and the driving halter completely re-made in a larger size. Sadly Atticus went lame not long after so I haven't yet had a chance to get him back to the ground driving. But he is on the mend now so I must hook him up. He still appears to be growing.

Koby is 34.5 inches to the withers at 14 months. He is chunkier than Atticus and I think will end up a larger goat at maturity.

[Nanno]

Wow, those are big boys! My "big guy", Cuzco, wears a 24" collar and is only 38" at the withers! I've seen collars that large in the big dog shops where they sell stuff for Mastiffs and St. Bernards but it can be hard to find.

If you ever buy a different harness, think about getting one made for miniature horses. Cuzco is almost at the largest holes on the Hoegger's goat harness I bought for him 10 years ago, and in anticipation of possibly one day having bigger goats than Cuzco, I bought a miniature horse harness last summer that should be big enough for anyone. I'm hoping to buy a miniature horse cart eventually too since the goat cart I bought from Hoegger's all those years ago is *almost* too small for Cuzco. We could definitely use longer shafts. In the meantime, it all fits my younger boys just fine.