# How do you not waste hay any feeder ideas



## pwesthuis (Aug 7, 2015)

How do you not waste hay any feeder ideas what do you folks use to not waste
our goats waste 2-3 fakes a day


----------



## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

There really is no way to have zero waste of hay. Our goats waste a good bit, as I'm sure all do.
It sounds weird but I think we've have the best luck with (horse quality only) round bales. Yes, our goats poop a little on the hay, and climb up and lay down on it, but still somehow they don't waste a whole lot! We do have two 2 month old calves in with them now that help eat the hay, but in my experience calves like to poop and pee on the hay more than the goats do (they climb through the metal ring).  But even without calves in the pasture our goats still do best with round bales...

That may or may not be the most economical choice depending on how many goats you have - we have around 12 right now.

A couple of our goats enjoying their hay...


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

I built my hay feeder using the premier 1 plans. It's designed so that the tray catches what they pull out and don't eat. Several times a day I scoop up what's in the tray and put it back in the feeder.


----------



## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

pwesthuis said:


> How do you not waste hay


Tell me and then we will both know.


----------



## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

This is one of the big mysteries of the universe! (Another is: why and how do goats only poop in a full bucket of water when you are in a hurry and the bucket is hung just a hair higher than their tails). 

Goats pick through the hay, eat a good piece and ignore the rest! My goats waste an incredible amount of hay. I need a cow to clean up the uneaten hay!


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

The best luck I have had is feeding less, if need be more often, and have smaller holes to only get their little nose in. I use panels with 4X4 squares and they have been great. Two cons though. I have does with missing hair on their nose and kids can get their heads stuck.
I see a lot of dairy people AKA Goats with no horns make feeders or a section of their fence where their heads can go threw and they eat what’s on the other side. I think that is a wonderful idea and then whatever is left after they pick threw it then they can get tough love and not get more till it’s
Gone. That’s kinda what I’m doing now with mine, no more till everything in the catch tray is gone but they still pull a good amount and drop on the ground which I can’t expect them to eat that :/
I am though going to try and make a feeder for heads to go threw even though I have horned goats. I saw a picture of a metal feeder that was for sale (for a arm and a leg) that had horned goats using it and I REALLY want to try this out. I just have so much on my plate to make right now it will take awhile to make a small one and test it out


----------



## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

_I use the tough love rout, it seams to work nicely once they figure out they wont get more tell its gone, any small scraps left over Diesel gets, (he will eat anything, I call him my piggy)_


----------



## cathy page (Nov 16, 2017)

The hay I use is large square bales, cheaper than the easy little ones, when I do feed hay outside I have panels attached to the fence and drop in the fleeks along fence, and when they are stalled inside for kidding, each stall has a small panel attached to the side easy for me to reach, and with any hay feeder any hay that drifts out on ground is wasted, but it is not too much


----------



## Viki (Oct 29, 2017)

I used a 50 gallon plastic barrel and just cut holes in it big enough for them to put there nose in. Works great and whatever seems like waste or if they dont eat it i use it for bedding next time around and give them freah hay in barrel. Seems to work good that way and i have alot less waste.


----------



## cathy page (Nov 16, 2017)

I have seen those 50 gal barrel feeders I was thinking I might do a few of these I will keep them inside the barn, and keep using my panels outside, I am not feeding yet as we have plenty of graze, we have several cross fences for moving the goats to different fields.


----------



## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I lined a feeder with chain link fencing. It helps a lot, but they do end up with naked noses. Better naked noses than wasted hay.


----------



## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm still working on this one. We rake up SO MUCH HAY. Oy...


----------



## CrazyDogLady (Aug 9, 2014)

I found a different grower and my waste was cut by probably 75%. They just like the new hay more.


----------



## billiejw89 (May 7, 2014)

Ours waste a lot also. Even with a nice feeder... little stinkers!


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

lottsagoats1 said:


> I lined a feeder with chain link fencing. It helps a lot, but they do end up with naked noses. Better naked noses than wasted hay.


I agree! I get sick of people asking what is wrong with their nose but it is what it is and they can look stupid while I can still afford to feed them lol


----------



## top_goat (Sep 16, 2014)

I've started wrapping my round bales in a cattle panel. Goaties can get their heads thru, burrow their funny little tunnels to get to the "best" hay, and my waste has been cut down dramatically. Unlike a conventional ring, they cannot climb in/on the bale, so there's no soiling. I built a "carport" which I put the bale under. This both protects the bale from rain and offers the goaties alternative shelter as well. I also set the bale on pallets which sort of keeps it off the ground so moisture wicking from the ground is minimal. So far that's been working pretty well for me. There is some waste from moisture wicking at the bottom of the bale which I scatter in muddy areas or the chicken coop. Then I bring in a new bale and repeat the process.


----------



## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

CrazyDogLady said:


> I found a different grower and my waste was cut by probably 75%. They just like the new hay more.


. I totally get this. I just loaded up with hay from a guy I used to buy from. The girls still get excited (Hey, it's HAY!!!!!), but they pick through this batch a lot more than what I used last year. They are wasting maybe 1/2 of it! Unfortunately, my former supplier switched to the giant round bales and I have no way to transport or store those.


----------



## pwesthuis (Aug 7, 2015)

Suzanne_Tyler said:


> I built my hay feeder using the premier 1 plans. It's designed so that the tray catches what they pull out and don't eat. Several times a day I scoop up what's in the tray and put it back in the feeder.


I think I going to try the premier one it looks it works


----------



## pwesthuis (Aug 7, 2015)

lottsagoats1 said:


> I lined a feeder with chain link fencing. It helps a lot, but they do end up with naked noses. Better naked noses than wasted hay.


What keep of feeder?


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

pwesthuis said:


> I think I going to try the premier one it looks it works


The only problem I've had with it is they sometimes pull more out than they will eat. It piles up in the tray and then starts overflowing. I just scoop it all up and put it back in the top. Of course this might just be cause I spoil them with free choice


----------



## Kath G. (Jul 13, 2017)

Still trying things out, always. Best result so far, in the barn: create hay feeder cube shape with bent cattle panel. Put pallets at bottom to keep off ground. Put old drop-side crib inside of hay feeder about 10" from sides & fill crib with really nice, soft hay. They still pull out their B.R.M.'s, (Big Rude Mouthfuls, some are worse offenders than others) but what they don't eat immediately gets dropped into the hay feeder space instead of the ground. Then they come back when the crib's looking empty and make their little premium-hay-tunnels, etc. I feel it also keeps the girls higher up in the herd order too busy to pester lower members. I use another cattle panel cube with no crib to feed out flakes from large squares where it's not as nice and I'm anticipating taking my bedding hay out of there after they've "fluffed" it for me, lol.
For outside, we made feeders out of cattle panel and 2"x4" welded wire fencing, with catch basins underneath made of 35- or 55-gallon drums. I'll try to attach a picture tomorrow when I have daylight. Much easier to see what we did, and I'm sure many of you can add improvements upon the idea... I like what the crib did for waste, so I'm sure I'll overhaul those feeders next year.


----------



## TexasGoatMan (Jul 4, 2015)

I built a hay feeder using angle iron and 3/8 inch rebar rod. Built it in the V shape to hold the hay flakes and with horizontally sides under the V shape to catch the waste. It has a flip up top to allow the hay to be put into the V and then let back down to keep out any visitors. The rods in the V are spaced wide enough to allow the goats to reach in and get the hay but small enough their heads can't go through. I closed in both ends to keep waste down also. Still the side trays fill up and hay spills out onto the concrete. The hay manger is under the goat shed so they use the spillage for bedding which works out fairly well. I don't think it is possible to stop hay waste. However I like some of the ideas I read here. Especially the round bales sitting on pallets with panels around them.


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Viki said:


> I used a 50 gallon plastic barrel and just cut holes in it big enough for them to put there nose in.


Would you have a picture of that? I can't quite visualize it.


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

TexasGoatMan said:


> I built a hay feeder using angle iron and 3/8 inch rebar rod. Built it in the V shape to hold the hay flakes and with horizontally sides under the V shape to catch the waste. It has a flip up top to allow the hay to be put into the V and then let back down to keep out any visitors. The rods in the V are spaced wide enough to allow the goats to reach in and get the hay but small enough their heads can't go through. I closed in both ends to keep waste down also. Still the side trays fill up and hay spills out onto the concrete. The hay manger is under the goat shed so they use the spillage for bedding which works out fairly well. I don't think it is possible to stop hay waste. However I like some of the ideas I read here. Especially the round bales sitting on pallets with panels around them.


Yours sounds amazing. Any pictures?


----------



## Viki (Oct 29, 2017)

mariarose said:


> Yours sounds amazing. Any pictures?


It looks like alot of waste around it but thats what i put down on the floor around it cause thats where they use the bathroom the most lol


----------



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Thank you. That certainly helps the whole "visual" problem.


----------

