Right now I am using bent cattle panel hay feeders however there is a lot of wasted hay from them. Anyone have hay feeders that help lower the amount of wasted hay? My idea for the new doe pen will be cattle panel feeder with wood along the bottom (I have used this in the past, it's a pain to clean out though)....unless someone else has a better idea that keeps the waste down. I need to have plenty of hay feeder space because I will have Saanens and Nubians together and the Saanens I am getting are nice big girls. lol Thank you!
Here's a really good thread with some ideas on it: https://www.thegoatspot.net/threads/brainstorming-for-hay-feeder-ideas.206607/page-2 Are you looking for an interior hay rack or exterior?
I don't know if there's really a way to stop hay wastage. I think it just comes with owning a goat. We use the "good looking" hay that they waste under the feeders for bedding when we clean the barn. That's been our best idea for how to utilize wasted hay. But, here's a hay feeder we made that is low cost if you can find the IBC's free (which we did searching craigs list). https://www.thegoatspot.net/threads/cool-low-cost-hay-feeder.204909/
We built this one still some waste but not awful. I use a shovel to clean out the fines that fall into the bottom. The biggest issue is the goats noses rub a bit on the 4x4 panel so they have some bald spots. I tried one of the cages off the water tanks but my buck got his head stuck a few times so I had to retire that one.
I build mine like this. This was to first one I made and in the second one I added a larger piece of wood at the bottom to catch wasted hay. I used furring strips from Lowe's. It works pretty well, but they still do waste quite a bit. (By the way something else I learned from this hay rack is that it is a terrible idea to put a mineral feeder that close underneath the hay rack because they spill hay into it all the time.)
I gave up on the trays underneath because someone invariably gets up in it. I just rake before I hay and the loose stuff goes in the mulch pile. I am not feeding alfalfa which has little leaves which should have a tray. I am feeding Bahia in my hay feeders right now.
Our homemade hay feeders are made from sections of leftover wire fencing. You can see one of them here on the wall (sorry about the night vision). However, if your goats are really choosey and wasteful with hay (which most are - the word "capricious" comes from "capra," goat) I really highly recommend the slow feed hay bag with 1.5'' holes, which is absolutely perfect for goats. It really slows them down. https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/smartpak-slow-feed-hay-bag-13939
I have one a lot like bisonviewfarm. And have the same problem on the nose rubbing. These slanted ones with no tray I only use in my kidding Pens. About 2 flakes of hay so they don’t make a huge mess then they seem to be alright. The bigger one I put in my weaning pens for the babies. The barrel feeder is what I use the most and love it!!!! It catches about 75% of the droppings and when the barrel is full of droppings I can leave it there and my goats will clean it out.
