Here are the best homemade hay feeders for goats.
How you feed your goats can make a night and day difference in how much feed they consume, and it can make all the difference in their health too. I have been lazy the last few years and have just been feeding my goats out of a rubber tub, which has worked just fine, but these ideas for homemade hay feeders for goats make me excited for what we could do with an “upgraded” hay feeder.
Things that Make Ideal Hay Feeders
Here is a list of things to look for when choosing what hay feeder to use for your goats. These aren’t all absolutely necessary, but the more of these you can get in one, the better.
- Have a cover for the feeder, or have your feeder under a cover to prevent your hay getting wet and goats jumping into your feeder.
- A pan or dish to catch the feed that falls from the main feeder so your goats can eat it later.
- You need the main feeder cage/container. Many feeders use wire mesh for this part, take care that your mesh is small enough that the goats can’t get their heads stuck, 4 inches or less. Consider 3 inches for smaller goats.
- Be careful that there is nowhere on the feeder goats can get their heads stuck.
- Preferably the feeder will be positioned by the edge of the goat pen, or is the edge of the goat pen, so you can load hay from the outside.
- Make sure it is sturdy and can’t be moved or tipped over easily.
Again you don’t NEED all of those things, but try to get as many of them as possible. Now here are some homemade hay feeder ideas that you can use or modify to fill your needs.
The Blue Barrel SPecial Hay Feeder
This is what most things on my homestead look like, a barrel cut in half with a bungee cord holding it all together. This feeder is budget friendly, it cost the builder $30. This hay feeder for goats ticks all the boxes, it has a roof to keep rain and goats out, it has a bottom to catch the dropped hay and a somewhat sturdy frame.
My main concern with this design is that goats could tip this over without some way of anchoring it to the ground. Another thing to consider is that with this design the goats eat from both sides of the feeder, so you’ll need a way to bring the hay into the pen, fend off goats , unlatch the lid and filling up the feeder. Unless you can figure out a way of situating it next to the fence so you can fill it from the outside.
There aren’t a lot of directions that come with this design, but if you are interested here is a link to more details.
The Tower Feeder
I’ve seen several variations on this feeder, some with wire, some with boards in place of the wire. I like this one because if you size it correctly you can put a whole bale of hay into it at a time. On the downside it is hard to load bales vertically, there isn’t a dish or catch for the hay they just pull out and waste.
Blue Barrel SPecial Part 2
Another blue barrel feeder, this one is great for it’s simplicity. I don’t know that it will help save feed, but it will keep feed off the ground.
Crib to goat Hay Feeder
Here is a great upcycle! If you have an old crib on hand this could be perfect for you. These homemade hay feeders for goats tick a lot of the boxes, though I do have concerns about the ease of getting hay into it. But once there it would work amazing! Here is a link from Weed’Em and Reap and from Dalarna Farm Follies outlining how they converted cribs.
Solid Hay Feeder
Probably the most involved homemade hay feeder on this list, this one is perfect, minus the roof on top. It looks sturdy and durable and this website has detailed instructions on how to build it. The downsides I see to this feeder is that the catch as the bottom could be hard to clean out and your goats could also jump inside of it through the top.
No Construction Experience Necessary Feeder
This feeder is simple and looks like it would get the job done, though I question it’s longevity. Depending on the tote and wire you use, a goat could have it’s way with this and mess it up really quickly. I would also be careful in how I attach it to the wall, and where I put it, you want to be able to get hay into it as easily as possible.
IBC Tote Hayfeeder
This homemade hay feeder for goats is an interesting one. If you remove the tank carefully you get a giant tank as well as a goat hay feeder. This one is appealing because of the metal, goats (hopefully) won’t eat it. It is also easy, just take the tank out! Here’s a link to a thread on this feeder.
Pallet Hay Feeder
This one is for all the pallet people out there. This feeder is simple and easy. If you have access to affordable pallets, this could be a great budget friendly option for your goat feeding needs. Here is a step by step guide to building this feeder.
My Favorite Hay Feeder for Goats!
This is my favorite feeder on this list. The place you feed hay from is outside the pen so you don’t have to negotiate gates with your hay, which makes for easy feeding. It helps keep the hay off the ground and is sturdy. A variation on this is instead of the wire, put in individual head gates for the goats. Here are the detailed plans from Premeir1. Note: these plans are made for Premeir1’s panel, it should be easy to replace it with a different one you can find.
Portable Hay Feeder
I’m not able to get a picture of this one, but it makes me excited! We rotational graze on out homestead, but when the grass is done (we live in a dessert), we bring the animals in, but I LOVE this idea for a portable Hay feeder. This guy doesn’t have a step by step on how he built his, but he does have lots of pictures. Here is the link to his article. On to more homemade hay feeders for goats.
Side Wall Pallet Hay feeders
This is the pallet feeder, wall edition. Pretty basic, no frills sort of feeder. Keep in mind that the goats can eat out of the sides of this one, and probably jump inside it too. Here is the tutorial for this feeder.
There you have it! The best homemade hay feeders for goats. May you find or build the best hay feeder for you and your goats.
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