# How do you feed your hay?



## Abra (Aug 11, 2012)

I was wondering how you guys were feeding your hay to decrease waste.
My girls drop most of what they bite off on the ground, and once it's on the ground, they won't touch it.... They honestly waste more hay than they eat.

Does anyone have a better solution?

I would LOVE to see some photos of your hay feeders...

Thanks, and here is mine!


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## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

We give our wasted hay to the horses lol! I am not sure how to decrease the amount of wasted hay. I thought about putting a tray under the feeders, but our outdoor feeders are like that and they just want to stand in the tray all the time, so get poo on the hay anyways.
Just wanted to ad, we had feeders like the one you have and switched to homemade wood feeders. That did help with waste because they can't pull out as much on the ground. I will see if I can find the picture of it on my computer.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Yep with those hay feeders you will always have a lot of waste.

For the young goats my kids showed in 4-H, I just tie a horse feeder up and put hay in it. Works GREAT. My husband got them from the farm he works at, they were going to throw them away! Nothing wrong with them at all! In the pic below, the girls are in this lil makeshift pen at night and in a grassy pen during the day, so I can untie and move the hay into their other pen. You can use two headed clips and put something on the wall to clip them too, but since I move mine around so much I just tie them through the fence on a post, or anything solid, not directly on the fence.










This is the one we use for adults, it's ugly lol but my husband put it together in about an hour using old scraps/pallets.
However, they were wasting it from the bottom, so he cut every other board off, and put thin pieces of OSB around the bottom, so they can stick their head in to eat. I don't have a picture of what it looks like now, but again it definitely works, little to no waste at all.









Basically you need something under it to catch the hay. IMO unless your girls fight/fuss, I'd just make something they can put their head in, but something tall enough kids can't get in - maybe have a creep feed area for your kids with an easier feeder, sure you'll get waste, but not as much as with adults. Just my opinion


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## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

Found them!
We have ones like this inside, we have several of varying lengths. They are made for furring (sp?) strips that are pretty cheap to buy in a bundle and scrap wood from past projects- we have a lot of that! You can adjust the strip width for smaller noses or wide buck noses. No there isn't normally a goat inside  








These are the outside ones with the same naughty goat. There is plywood on the top to keep snow out, but I really should have made it wider as it doens't work real well.


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## fd123 (May 29, 2012)

Abra and Maggie...Yall have some beautiful goats for sure!! I made one exactley like HoosierShadow and i made it so a whole square bale will fit without tearing it apart..IT WORKS GREAT will little waste..
NOTE>>>>When i 1st built it, i made the bottom exactly like the sides and all of my goats got pink eye from eating the hay from underneath the feeder and the hay dust getting in their eyes..
So BE SURE TO MAKE THE BOTTOM SOLID!!! For some reason all of my goats ate from the bottom until i put a solid piece of wood in it..


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Try looking here viewtopic.php?f=13&t=31475&start=15&hilit=hay+feeders for more ideas, quite a few pics from members


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

The best way to reduce feed waste is to get a good quality hay that is soft and leafy. If you get too much stem especially...they'll eat all the leaf off and waste all the stem. I've done daily feeding and free choice. They wasted the same amount either way so I just do free choicing...leave bales in their pen and they eat on it as needed. You just have to be really careful about bloat if you free choice...especially with a hot type hay.


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## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)

I am not feeding much hay. Thank God we got some rain!!! Plus looks like more on the way. 

I do give a little bit of alfalfa in the evening so the girls can have something first thing in the morning.

I have a large, old galvinized tub. Maybe 30-36 inches across. Because it is very old, it has a lot of pin holes in the bottom of it, so water can not collect in it and it is under a large tree. I have it on top of three pallets. I wired it to the pallets so they can not knock it off nor spill it. 

So far, it has worked ok. It is to small for them to get in, but big enough for 4 does to feed around it. That way one animal can not dominate the food.


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

Kylee, How do you define hot type hay? I have first cutting alfalfa and the boers eat all of it, but my NG only eat the leafs and waste the rest. I'm going to try and get my tons split between 1st cutting (since my supplier has plenty of it) and 2nd cutting.
Also, question for you all. I've not had goats in more harsh climates, and I'm wondering if they will still go out to their feeders in the winter? There isn't room in the stalls to hang feeders really. Harsh is variable here, summers like this one- last 3 weeks have been about 97-102, winters vary with the worst being a few feet of snow (rarely though) but still cold and wet. I'm close to sea level but still kind of high desert ( just along the columbia gorge). 
thanks


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## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

I only have 3 ND does, two adults and a baby, so they don't eat a whole lot of hay. I only feed them orchard grass. It has the same protein % as alfalfa, but its grass, so there are no stems and what not that I hear about that goats waste so much. ITs really soft and leafy, and while they do waste some, they are pretty good about eating most of it. I just throw a big handful on the ground in the stalls (they have run of 2 stalls, both have stall mats). I keep my stalls very clean, I scrape and then sweep them out 3 times a week or so. I will gather up the loose hay bits and pile them up, and they will eat on that pile again for the rest of the day. I tried to feed my girls regular grass hay, and they won't touch it. I do keep a bale in their pen, and they will nibble on it sometimes, but mostly they just sleep on the bale lol.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

I got this feeder for $40 from my hay supplier. Before that, I was just throwing in bales for them to eat off of. There is still plenty of waste, but not even half.as much, and yes, kids will sleep in the catch bin, but they.still eat it.


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## Shellshocker66 (Mar 19, 2012)

I finally broke down and got a pre-made. It's out in my main pasture and it's saved a lot of hay from going on the ground and being wasted.


I also use the 5 gal bucket with a hole saw used to create an opening for pens as they are pretty good about keeping the hay from being wasted. And my traveling bags are the feed bags with small openings cut out. Also works in a pinch if you need a quick feeder.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

clearwtrbeach said:


> Kylee, How do you define hot type hay?


Basically, premium, dairy quality type hay...alfalfa especially. Not rained on...not bleached...usually very leafy and soft. Fresh hay out of the field that hasn't stored also can be considered "hot."


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

I have one of these horse feeders and one of these. There is dang near no waste at all. I also feed twice a day once in the morning once at night. If I free fed there would be so much waist it wouldn't be funny.

I also found the instructions on how to build your own similar to the ones I use. You can also change it to use your existing rack. Page 1,2 ,3 & 4


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## Abra (Aug 11, 2012)

fd123 - Do you have a photo of yours? I would LOVE to see it!
And you guys all ROCK! I LOVE all the feeders!
And thank you SO much for your photos and links! Definitely gave me some ideas!
It can get rainy and muddy here, so the less waste the better...

I would LOVE to be able to give any wasted hay to the horses, except I don't own any. 
If I lived in the states, I would probably have some, but being in Alaska, I have no interest in them, up here, they basically stand around and eat money most of the year. LOL


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## Iwantgoats (Oct 3, 2008)

I have a feeder like TheMixedBag but I lined the inside with small square hog panel so that less falls through. I also have a homemade one made of black rail fence and I have it lined with small square wire as well.


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## GoatsLive (Jul 1, 2012)

I feed in a small galvanized bucket, that sits on custom built mount to keep it from tipping over. 
My girls tend to be dainty eaters, so I only seem to have about 10% waste right now.

Using the smaller bucket means of course that I must fill it more often, but it gives me an excuse
to go play with my girls


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

Thank you Liz. My next question is I will be feeding and watering on a Friday morning and returning on Sunday afternoon. I know they will have more than enough water, but I'd like to leave a large amount of hay (more than I know they would normally eat) would this be safe? I do have the neighbor who will stop in at night just to check, but I'd prefer to know they will have more than enough for the little over 48 hours. 
thanks.


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## fd123 (May 29, 2012)

I would post a pic of mine Abra but.....I have MAJOR PROBLEMS trying to post pics on here...and when i used a resizer on my avatar pic it made my goat look deformed and on crack!! lol....it looks almost exactly the same as HOOSIER SHADOWS feeder..


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

We have wasters here! Someday we'll invest in a manger that will catch what they don't.


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## michael (Jul 23, 2012)

I have bought a couple used commercial ones with the black tubs on the bottom, my goats do climb in it and leave droppings. i decided to buy a new one just like shellshockers my goats can't climb in it and it has saved me a ton of hay.


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