If you have ever raised goats, you will know how wasteful they can be with hay, once it's on the ground they rarely want to touch it, and in the process of eating it they tend to drop three times the amount they eat on the ground.
We dealt with this problem for a while, until we built a hay feeder based off the free plans Premier 1 Supplies sends out with the purchase of one of their feeder panels.
Now we have a sturdy hay feeder that saves us money by significantly reducing the amount of hay our goats waste.
So, What Makes This Feeder Better?
There are two things that make this hay feeder work better, small openings for the goats to pull hay through, and a tray in front to catch most of the fallen hay.
The small openings mean that the goats can't pull out much more hay than they can eat, so they don't drop as much. The tray then catches most of what does fall, giving the goats a second chance to eat it.
What Hay Should I Feed?
For dry does up to the last two months before kidding, kids older than 6 months and bucks, any kind of grass hay is fine. For milking does, does in the last two months before kidding, and kids under 6 months, you can feed alfalfa.
We are unable to find a good source of alfalfa here in northeastern OK, so we feed a wild grass hay and make sure our does receive enough grain to maintain their weight.
Should I Feed Round or Square Bales?
Square bales are better for animals since the way they are baled lets the hay breath, reducing the chance that the hay will be moldy. Round balers can also bale wet hay, which you don't want. It isn't common to find round bales that contain no mold.
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