Anyone built a round bale hay feeder for goats?

[crowbar032]

I have 4x4ish round bales that I feed my goats. I do round bales because I can't find the army of teenagers to do square bales. Either way though, goats are notorious hay wasters. I've been looking for some sort of pattern or plans for a bale feeder. Anyone every built one that helps with the hay wasting and keeps them from wallowing good hay into the ground?

 

[ferrari99]

What about something like this. Slow Feed Hay Nets - Thrush Eze Powder - Natural Hoof Care - GutzBusta? Round Bale Nets

 

[quicksandfarmer]

This design looks good, if you have a tractor to load it: Generation Farm Kiko Goats: Hay feeder part deux

I've kept goats but I'm not an expert. One thing about goats is that they can be quite rough on each other. If you have the style of feeder they have to put their heads into they are vulnerable when their head is in and another goat can and will butt them in the side. They butt hard enough to break ribs, and a bully goat will keep another from eating. So I like this design where the holes aren't big enough for them to put their heads in. You need the feeder to be big enough that one goat can't keep another from eating which is good too.

The other thing about goats is that they get bored if they don't have enough to do and they get mischievous. The more you can make them work for their food the better. Ideally they would have to spend all day at the feeder to get enough hay. So I like this design where the bale is off the ground and they have to pull one bite at a time through the wire.

 

[DJ54]

Here's a couple pics of one I built a few years back. It's actually in another thread here in the B-I Y section... Built for horses, but a person can make it as tall as you want. I did have a few goats, and they had no problem eating from it.

Built from conduit reels, some angle iron, square tubing from the centers of the conduit reels, expanded metal for the bottom, so as to not hold water, and later on the bottom sides to keep the horse from reaching underneath, and sheet metal top.

Got part of the idea from a cradle type feeder for sheep, but I wanted it covered. Then saw a "Big-O" round bale feeder at the Qtr. Horse Congress, but still no top. And theirs mounted on 6 X 6 posts, where I wanted mine portable, so as to move to clean the paddock. So..., made skids on the bottom from 4 X 6's.

I'm thinking I built it in '05 or '06... I still use it, and it has held up well. At the time I built it, I had approx $100 - $125 in materials. Actualy, I spent more time building a tubing bender to get the 8' radius reels, down to 6' radius.

The ends are removable on each end, so as to load from either direction.

You wil note all the wasted hay on the ground, due to my particular gelding... I now just put enough in the feeder for a feeding, and make them clean it up.

I have had several people want me to build them one... Have most of the materials, just no time as of yet, and new shop not set up yet.

 

[weldingisfun]

We have been building and using these for years. They hold the bale high enough off the ground that the goats can't climb on top of the bale but low enough that they can eat the hay. We put a tarp over the top to protect the bale from the rain and high winds. The tarp is on top of the bale and tied to t-posts placed at the four corners (that is not shown in the pics). We cut our hay waste from 40% to 10%. If you are interested in this PM me and I will send a copy of my drawing. They are easy to build, if you weld. We also build and sell them for $495, steel is expensive.

 

[crowbar032]

I know this is late, but been busy at work. I appreciate the ideas. Unfortunately I don't know how to weld. It's always been on my list of things I wanted to learn. Maybe I'll use this as motivation to learn/take a class.

What I currently have is sorta working, it's taller than I would like though. I wanted to see what "good" looked like. And the pictures posted are very very good and have given me ideas. I took 6' ft treated 4x4 posts and notched them like lincoln logs so they would fit together to form an "X". Then I used 2x4's to make three of the X's one unit. I had to stake it to a couple of T-posts as it was top heavy with a full bale. As the goats eat the bottom of the bale, it doesn't slide down very well unless I go shake it. I threw it together last year in an afternoon last year as weather, work and various other priorities were pushing me so the build quality is adequate but not something to be proud of.

 

[weldingisfun]

Definitely follow through on your plan to learn to weld. You will never regret it and it will save you lots of $$ in the long term.
Here is another idea to use when feeding round bales to goats. Pick up a welded wire panel Feedlot Panel, Sheep/Goat, 16 ft. L x 48 in. H - Tractor Supply Co. and some snap links Hillman Safety Snap Link, 5/16 in. - Tractor Supply Co.. Cut the panel into 3 or 4 foot lengths and place them around and against the hay bale. The goats cannot climb up onto the bale and can eat the hay through the openings in the panels. As they eat it down, move the panels in closer to the bale until it is gone. If you have a pallet handy, set the bale on the pallet to keep it off the ground.

The wooden bale holder you described and are using now sounds just fine. If it is working for you and the goats why change?

 

[crowbar032]

The wooden bale holder you described and are using now sounds just fine. If it is working for you and the goats why change?

Just trying to understand best practice. I thought someone might have a better/easier idea. Sounds like I'm not far off with what I built. I also tried the wire panel, but didn't care for that. The goats turned the bale into swiss cheese which made it difficult to tighten up the panels over time.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Crowbar, I think that mesh panels are not satisfactory for goats. I do like them for cattle, but not for goats. The general goat feeder in places where goats are the main livestock in the area is made of vertical plain rods not mesh. It is a different set up here to other countries where I have lived. Absolutely everybody (except me) has useless dogs that are just allowed to wander, and so it is necessary to shed stock at nights. Consequently the sheds have hay racks. The rods (I will convert to the nearest Imperial measurement) are 1/4" to 3/8ths" set at 3" centres. There is always a trough underneath, because as you well know and have posted, goats are very wasteful feeders.

I cannot give a link because I printed off the info and do not have the website, but I found a Nepalese site a few years ago and it was an article in the Nepal Agric. Res. J. Vol. 6, 2005 with some basic plans for feeders - using natural materials, or bought in metal. The title of the article is "Development and Evaluation of Improved Feeders for Goats Suitable to Stall-fed Management System". A lot of good ideas come out of these countries where they still operate a peasant based agriculture - as in southern Europe.

You would need to make your own to suit your bales, but the wastage is minimised with a big trough right around the raised feeder and with a 4" high lip to prevent hay being pulled out unless the goat actually has a mouthful and purposely walks away and drops it. Which, of course they do as you well know, but only on odd occasions.

Now for the important part - the feeder is raised enough that it is necessary to have a platform around it so that the goats rest their front feet on the platform (a plank of wood) in order to eat from the rack. This is the way they would browse taller bushes, stick their feet into the lower branches and eat as high as they can reach. It works, the feeding system suits goats and the feed wastage is minimised.