# Show us your Hay Feeder



## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

There have been a number of hay feeder discussions lately, so I thought it might be interesting, entertaining and educational to many if we post pictures of our hay feeders. Please add what you like and don't like about your feeder and what improvements you would make next time. Also give us an idea of the size of your heard as that will influence feeder design.



























Made with 1"x1.5" slats with 3" space. Enough space to get their noses in to select the perfect piece of hay. The feeder is about 3' tall and mounted a foot off the ground. The top is about 14" wide.

I have 3 of these feeders in the barn because one of the does is a bully and thinks she owns all the hay. I'm quite happy with the way they work. I have thought about putting a shelf under to catch some of the waste - but thinking about it is as far as I've gotten on that.

We presently have 5 San Clemente Island goats. Basically pets with some blackberry clearing as a bonus.


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## bisonviewfarm (Apr 2, 2015)

This is mine. My husband built it and for the most part I really like it. I do wish it was a bit higher up and Id like to find a way to keep babys & smaller breeds from using the shelf that catches hay as a bed. It currentlly feeds 5 full size does.


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

I just use milk crates


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

First feeder.lol round bale on pallet with cinder blocks and boards for a walk around platform. Tarp on t-posts to keep it dry. It worked good. Tarp wasn't large enough to keep blowing rain off of hay, and I would peel it off and throw it away.
That idea was a lot better than what I am doing now. I stood a round bale on end inside their "barn". One month so far and barn knee deep in hay, while round bale is only about thirty inches in diameter.


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## elvis&oliver (Jun 28, 2018)

Sir Elvis is showing you ours. It's just a feeder from TSC with a large rubber made bin drilled into the wall under it. Their large bed that I made from a recycled bookcase is what they stand on to eat. They never get into the bin. I reach in every day and put all the hay that's fallen out of the feeder, fluff it and put it back in. So far it's worked great!


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

I hope the pics upload right! I have so many kinds of feeders it's a little ridiculous! The one that wastes the least hay is the first picture. It's a black plastic concrete mixing tub screwed onto a wooden frame made of 2×4s with welded wire fencing in between to hold the hay. The downside is that you can't really feed alfalfa in it because the sticks won't easily pull through the holes. Hence, the other types I have. The others are various horse feeders and a "V" shaped feeder that I zip tied some scrap plywood to the sides so that one of my goats couldn't jump into it. She's now big enough to jump over it anyways....... time to go to the next solution!


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

bisonviewfarm said:


> This is mine. My husband built it and for the most part I really like it. I do wish it was a bit higher up and Id like to find a way to keep babys & smaller breeds from using the shelf that catches hay as a bed. It currentlly feeds 5 full size does.
> View attachment 139607


Thanks for sharing.
Is that 2'x2' wire mesh?
To keep the kids from sleeping on the shelf, you can put some wood (1"x2"s or 1"x4"s) across the shelf in a way that will make laying down uncomfortable.


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

NicoleV said:


> I hope the pics upload right! I have so many kinds of feeders it's a little ridiculous! The one that wastes the least hay is the first picture. It's a black plastic concrete mixing tub screwed onto a wooden frame made of 2×4s with welded wire fencing in between to hold the hay. The downside is that you can't really feed alfalfa in it because the sticks won't easily pull through the holes. Hence, the other types I have. The others are various horse feeders and a "V" shaped feeder that I zip tied some scrap plywood to the sides so that one of my goats couldn't jump into it. She's now big enough to jump over it anyways....... time to go to the next solution!
> View attachment 139687
> View attachment 139689
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> ...


You do have an eclectic mix of feeders ... and other structures. I love it.


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## bisonviewfarm (Apr 2, 2015)

Mike at Capra Vista said:


> Thanks for sharing.
> Is that 2'x2' wire mesh?
> To keep the kids from sleeping on the shelf, you can put some wood (1"x2"s or 1"x4"s) across the shelf in a way that will make laying down uncomfortable.


Its a utility panel with 4x4 squares. Ill have to try that everyone to big right now but babys will be coming so I need a plan


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

In my experience, @bisonviewfarm, hay feeders are never too big. Goats are gaseous, and expand to fill the area.

@NicoleV your goats are gorgeous. If I had to settle on a single colour, yours would be it.


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## bisonviewfarm (Apr 2, 2015)

mariarose said:


> In my experience, @bisonviewfarm, hay feeders are never too big. Goats are gaseous, and expand to fill the area.
> 
> @NicoleV your goats are gorgeous. If I had to settle on a single colour, yours would be it.


The feeders not to big the girls are to big to climb up in lay on the shelf that catches hay lol. The feeder could use a few more feet though I suspect theyd still fight over spots.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

Valley Vet Supply two in one feeder. Works great! (2 goats)


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

Mike at Capra Vista said:


> You do have an eclectic mix of feeders ... and other structures. I love it.


Ha ha! My goats live in Scrap Wood City!


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## Maureen (Jul 6, 2012)

We have smaller feeders in the stalls (you can kind of see it in the background of one of these photos) our outdoor rack is one of the horses hay racks. When our goats and horses pastured together I saw how the goaties had to struggle to get the hay out (but preferred these racks and the struggle to their own small racks inside) I thought it was rather helpful to slow them down and be more of a "browse" feeder. Seems to work pretty good! So when we separated them the goats got their own feeder way about their heads! It's especially helpful because my milkers can reach but the Nigerians have a hard time so it equals out the "who needs how much hay" issue on its own


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## anawhitfield (Jun 9, 2013)

After much trial and error, we learned that what works best for our destructive goats is a steel wall-mounted Square Bale feeder.


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## Flyingfurr (Jun 1, 2018)

I made this today. I cut and bent a piece of Hog/cattle panel. The Nigerians & Nubian can put their heads in and eat. They don't pull it out to eat they keep their heads in and keep on eating. Should be less waste


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

This is a GREAT thread! Our original outside feeder was made of random found items. It finally has been retired due to its instability. My youngest child and I will be building a new one before Spring. I LOVE seeing all these ideas before we settle on a final plan!


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## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

The barn hay bunk and the 2nd one is a stall feeder


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## Redbarngoatfarm (Jul 8, 2015)




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## Redbarngoatfarm (Jul 8, 2015)

This feeder is almost no waste, fits 4 square bales well, can stack up to 6. The sideways squares make it slow feed for the horses too, I run heard of 8 goats, 2 horses, 2 alpacas....4 bales last me 7 days.

This is made from 4 x 4 heavy steel grid panels, old store fixtures. They are amazing. Set them over 2 patio stones, no cutting, just wired them together. Bent a piece of cattle panel over top with a tarp for rain protection, just moved it into my run in shed for winter protection as shown in pic. 

Best feature, I can move it (by my self) up against a fence or wall,leave a gap and it becomes an instant creep feeder for kids - best feeder I have ever had in 15 years of goating!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Redbarngoatfarm said:


> View attachment 140089
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That's pretty much what most of my feeders look like just not so pretty lol. I have Tpost that are on each side of the side panels and i just tied it all together with hay strings. I actually really like it because the panels I used are 4X4 squares and it seems whatever their little mouth gets ahold of they eat so really not much waste even not having a catch tray.
I made a few of these








I do like these too, same idea with the small holes. One of my bucks did destroy it this year though throwing a tantrum because another bucks doe was in heat and he couldn't get threw the hot fence. It lasted 3 years before that and I probably could have gotten 2 more out of it. The 2X4s are still good I just need to get another sheet of plyboard to fix it. The only thing I don't like about these feeders is it rubs the hair off their nose and I have to explain to everyone why their nose looks like that. You can see here what it does









I want to make a fence line feeder, were it's basically a fence and they stick their heads threw to eat. I planned on making it this year but decided to spend my money on cameras and some semen instead :/


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

Jessica84 said:


> I want to make a fence line feeder, were it's basically a fence and they stick their heads threw to eat. I planned on making it this year but decided to spend my money on cameras and some semen instead :/


Lol! Most non-goat people would think you're weird spending your extra money on semen! This made me laugh!


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Jessica84 said:


> decided to spend my money on cameras and some semen instead


:funnytech:
OHHHH Jessica. WHY do you make this so irresistible to me???? You KNOW my sense of humour! Completely evil you are...


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Oh I LOVE posting things like this on FB because a lot of my friends are people from back in school, total city people, and a good chunk are my husbands coworkers also very city. I posted that I was going to take a AI class and Keith's (husband) captain asked ok what is AI? I'm thinking it's not artificial Intelligence lol I told him nope I'm going to learn to knock up my goats lol
Mariarose at least I used the right words lol let me tell ya 2019 is going to be a fun year lol


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## Redbarngoatfarm (Jul 8, 2015)

Jessica84 said:


> Oh I LOVE posting things like this on FB because a lot of my friends are people from back in school, total city people, and a good chunk are my husbands coworkers also very city.......


:up:

Around here we call those people "citidiots" just not to their faces...

:clever: :heehee:


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## FoxRidge (Aug 26, 2016)

@Redbarngoatfarm that is a very neat idea


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## William&Keisha (Apr 7, 2018)

After trying a couple different things my husband built this one. I only have two boys one is Nigerian and the other is fainting.


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## Stonewall (May 28, 2018)

Redbarngoatfarm said:


> View attachment 140089
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Thats pretty nice! I hope to build something like that with some chrome wire shelving that I scavaged.


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## Tim White (Apr 9, 2018)

Here's what I built this fall. I have 2 of them.

View media item 2931


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## Stonewall (May 28, 2018)

Tim White said:


> Here's what I built this fall. I have 2 of them.
> 
> View media item 2931


I'm not able to see your pics for some reason.


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## Nicole Lydia (Mar 16, 2018)

Here is the feeder we built our babies. All out of scrap wood and extra 4x4 square sheep and goat fencing. It goes in the middle of our barn to act as a divider for stalls.


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## Stonewall (May 28, 2018)

I really like that! I hope to convert an old cattle manger into something like that. I’ve revised it twice already but the Nubians are still getting in. I’ll get there!


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## tdfitz86 (Feb 1, 2016)

Fence line feeder under cover, even though I extended the roof out a little further to give more protection, it works great.


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## anawhitfield (Jun 9, 2013)

What a great idea !!!
My goats always mug me when I go to feed them (whether hay or feed). But this way I can just pour the feed or put the hay in from the other side of the fence without them crowding me.


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## 21goaties (Mar 13, 2018)

tdfitz86 said:


> Fence line feeder under cover, even though I extended the roof out a little further to give more protection, it works great.
> View attachment 141239
> View attachment 141241


Would you mind sharing how you built that?


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## Stonewall (May 28, 2018)

My neighbor had an old metal bed that was getting junked. The spindles were to far apart so I combined them on one end and used about everything else as back and sides. I made it Saturday so I'll wait and see how much waste there is.


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## Shannon Horner (Dec 27, 2018)

Hay feeder I designed and my husband and I built about 3 weeks ago.


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## Stonewall (May 28, 2018)

Shannon Horner said:


> Hay feeder I designed and my husband and I built about 3 weeks ago.
> View attachment 141865


I really like that! I hope to do something like that for mine on the hill.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

All nice.


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## Robinsonfarm (Jul 17, 2015)

I prefer to feed outside, keeps the barn cleaner and drier. I do feed inside if its a horrible blizzard.
My favorite feeder is a metal bunk feeder with a hinged roof. I can fill it and it stays covered from the snow and rain. I also have 4 fence feeders hung around the pen, they have 4"x4" welded wire panels mounted inside the keep the goats from pulling so much out at a time.
Inside the barn I have the hanging fence feeders and one bunk feeder.

The green bunk feeder also has 4"x4" wire panel inside the bars to keep them from pulling too much out at a time. You can see the hanging feeders on the fence in the background. 




  








Feeder




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Robinsonfarm


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Dec 31, 2018











  








Feeder 2




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Robinsonfarm


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Dec 31, 2018


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Temporary feeders. Those dog kennels work well. I will mount them when I get floor plan figured out.


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## elvis&oliver (Jun 28, 2018)

Hey @Dwarf Dad that's pretty cool! I like it!


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

elvis&oliver said:


> Hey @Dwarf Dad that's pretty cool! I like it!


I saw all of the feeders made of welded wire and thought of these. I had the larger openings, the bottoms, facing out but had a lot of wastage and an ND head stuck inside. Turned the large holes back to bottom and had more wastage and two ND heads stuck in cage. Turned bttoms toward each other, doors up, and it works well.
When I figure out permanent I will angle like the wall mounted feeders.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Sorry that I have no photo to offer!

I measured my goats, and found a horrifying small difference between the width of the nose of a grown-up male (especially if he was a ram not a buck) and the head of a newly born kid or lamb. The former should go in easily between the bars, the latter should not go in at all! I decided that 5 cm should be the space between bars.

I also found that if there is a "sun ray pattern" (like in Feeder 2 by Robinsonfarm), a foot or - help! - a head could get stuck. In the feeders I made that allowed the whole head to go in, more than one got stuck with her horns - a true nuisance to get her free.

My goats preferred vertical bars rather than horizontal. "Gunnebo fence" (45°) was not good.

I have also learnt that it is very practical to be able to load the feeder from outside, if possible even with a tractor carrying a round bale, and to have a good roof over it, to protect not only the hay, but also the animals from rain. Their hoofs keep healthier if they walk on dry ground.

It is true I never owned a tractor that big - but my friendly neighbours did! 

Long ago I had a feeder that was open upwards to the - do you call it barn attic? - where I stored the year's supply of hay and straw. Just climb the ladder and shove down as much as would go into the feeder. No heavy lifting!

A few times my goats managed to get entangled in the strings of small bales, so I always removed the strings.

The leftovers were used for bedding, no real waste! Except for ONE naughty goat, who pulled out a mouthful, sniffed on it, and pulled out another mouthful. I was irritated then, but now I think that she maybe had an extra sensitive rumen. Against such behaviour I have no cure.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Great idea's.


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

Double wide feeder(2 bails)


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

New style of sheep feeder it is nearly finnished. It will hold round or 4x4x8 foot bails


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

These are my round and 4x4x8 foot bail feeders for sheep and goats.the goats climb on top so I put a tarp on top. To my surprise the goats stopped dancing on top. they don't like the tarp


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Love them.


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## Fresh Paint Farm (Jul 1, 2018)

NicoleV said:


> I hope the pics upload right! I have so many kinds of feeders it's a little ridiculous! The one that wastes the least hay is the first picture. It's a black plastic concrete mixing tub screwed onto a wooden frame made of 2×4s with welded wire fencing in between to hold the hay. The downside is that you can't really feed alfalfa in it because the sticks won't easily pull through the holes. Hence, the other types I have. The others are various horse feeders and a "V" shaped feeder that I zip tied some scrap plywood to the sides so that one of my goats couldn't jump into it. She's now big enough to jump over it anyways....... time to go to the next solution!
> View attachment 139687
> View attachment 139689
> View attachment 139691
> ...


I have the one like your last picture. BUT my boys waste so much hay. I would love to find a way to make the holes smaller.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

And, if possible, up from the ground. Moist from underneath destroys lots of hay.


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## Mmhyronimus (Sep 8, 2017)

I have different feeders for different pens.















In the barn, I have 2 V-shaped feeders. 1 has a barrel catch under it and the other doesnt. Sorry pics aren't the best. The barrel is supposed to catch the loose hay but 90% of the time the younger kids just use it as a bed. These are in my bigger pen.























Outside with the big herd, I have a 12ft line feeder. It was empty at the time of the pic. It is loaded from the outside of the pen. I also have an 18ft double sided feeder. It loads from the top.

All of my feeders are great for squares. The bars are vertical and spaced about 3-4 inches apart. All of my feeders except the 1st one pictured, I got from BarronBuilt. They mainly build for sheep but they have been getting more into goats. I love their stuff. They work great with farmers to figure out what you are looking for in terms of feeders.

I already know my next big purchase from them. Its probably going to be a new version of the line feeder that will attach to the outside of the barn for feeding. Or possibly a new 18ft doublesided with wheels and hitch attachment to move from place to place! I also got my kidding pens from them!


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## klee6150 (Jul 9, 2018)

Gracie, our wee little silkie, has taken to laying her eggs in the catch bin of our metal hay feeder! She obviously likes the feel of hay on her fluffy bum-bum feathers!!!!!
It's hard to see the feeder, but it is a typical wall hanging metal feeder. Flacks of hay are inserted in the top and the boyz eat between the slats.


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Mmhyronimus said:


> I have different feeders for different pens.
> View attachment 143655
> View attachment 143657
> 
> ...


Wow. That is for moving hay at a fast pace. I am one of the re-purpose goat fixture people. I don't have a lot for my goats to keep themselves occupied, so, small gaps in the dog kennels will keep them busy all day.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Nice feeders.


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

I built this feeder a little while ago because the barn was getting too busy with the new kids. A few days ago, the kids started jumping onto the shelf and squeezing their head between the bars. This seemed like a dangerous situation. I could just see one slipping off or being pushed off with his head caught in the bars. Yesterday, I added the triangular dividers. This makes the spaces on the shelf too small for the kids. Have not seen one jump up since.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

A very nice feeder! Am I repeating my 5 cm between bars, and no top-down triangles?


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Trollmor said:


> A very nice feeder! Am I repeating my 5 cm between bars, and no top-down triangles?


His triangles are walls dividing the catch tray, not triangles formed by the bars. He even has the end semi-capped to prevent "V" shape head trap.


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Dwarf Dad said:


> His triangles are walls dividing the catch tray, not triangles formed by the bars. He even has the end semi-capped to prevent "V" shape head trap.


Jupp, I saw it, and I liked it!


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