# Need New Hay Rack



## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

I need to make a new hay rack for my bucks. My first one was just some fencing across the the support beams in my barn and a board on the bottom. The have caused the wire to break from pushing on it so much and it is becoming a problem. The holes were always a bit small too so I am glad it has come to this. Here is what it looks like now:









I'm thinking about doing some sort of thing with wooden dowels. Maybe something like this:







I think that putting a lip on the bottom of the board would maybe help catch some of the waste. That's what the green arrow is pointing to. How far apart would I make the dowels? How thick should they be? Would square of round dowels be better? Would some horizontal bars be a good idea?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Be sure that there is no way to get a head through and stuck. It is amazing what they can get their head through.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

How did it turn out?

Belatedly, I think round dowels would be best with 3" between.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

SalteyLove said:


> How did it turn out?
> 
> Belatedly, I think round dowels would be best with 3" between.


I'll show you a picture of it when I can. I ended up using some left over trim from another project and it worked out great. I ended up going with my guess of two and a half inch spaces and it seems to be working really well.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Whew, Sorry guys for my delay. To say that I have been ridiculously busy is an understatement. Putting up new fences, building a new shelter, finding orphan baby mice and hand raising them, not to mention my computer had a massive failure that kept me away from the forum. I have had more to do than I can ever remember! Here's the picture of my hay rack that was requested like two weeks ago. It's been working really well.


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## Iluvlilly! (Apr 6, 2019)

MellonFriend said:


> Whew, Sorry guys for my delay. To say that I have been ridiculously busy is an understatement. Putting up new fences, building a new shelter, finding orphan baby mice and hand raising them, not to mention my computer had a massive failure that kept me away from the forum. I have had more to do than I can ever remember! Here's the picture of my hay rack that was requested like two weeks ago. It's been working really well.
> View attachment 161601


:goodjob: Looks like it turned out really good!!!


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Nice-looking!  Too late now, but it seems you are not planning on babies, so those 6-7 cm will do fine. With youngsters I prefer 5 cm between bars.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Trollmor said:


> Nice-looking!  Too late now, but it seems you are not planning on babies, so those 6-7 cm will do fine. With youngsters I prefer 5 cm between bars.


This is in my buck barn. I don't plan on ever needing to have babies in there, but that's good to know for the future.


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Looks good!


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## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

ksalvagno said:


> It is amazing what they can get their head through.


Yes, it is amazing what they can get their head through, but not out of!!!


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