[Jacob-list] hay feeders

[Kathryn Shirley]

I am afraid that I do something different.  I bought the sheep round
bale feeders from D&S Livestock supplies.  They were expensive, but I
have used them for four years now and they are still doing a great job.
The also work for the horses and cows, as well.  Basically, I drop a
round bale in the next spot in the pasture that needs humus and
fertilizer (I prefer the long term effects of natural fertilizer).  I
then put the round bale feeder around it (it has four easy to assemble
sides), cut off the strings on the bale and let the animals eat.  Some
gets wasted (10-20% depending on quality of hay).  This wastage gets
trampled, manured, and peed on.  Within 3 months I have composted
humus.  Even in a drought, I have distinctive green crop circles
everywhere a hay bale had been.  I have doubled the carrying capacity of
my land in two years!

Not to be disrespectful to D&S, but I plan to make the same design of
hay bale feeder out of PVC piping.  Lighter and cheaper than buying the
metal feeders.

Kate Shirley
Humbug Farm

dave & katrina wrote:

> We started with the good ol' cattle panel feeder last year (same idea
> as your hog panel...are they different size spaces Linda?) and loved
> the ingenuity of the idea.  We tied the panel along one entire side of
> the barn and the sheep can spread out at leisure.  Worked
> wonderfully! Every once in a while we had a sheep that liked to put
> its head through the panel...then got stuck...which leads me to my
> next question:   What do you do with animals that insist on sticking
> their heads through small openings to eat whatever is on the other
> side or sometimes just to stick their head through????  Help!  I am
> getting frustrated!  We bought a ewe lamb last year that developed the
> habit and now this year her son (wethered) does the same thing only
> more obsessively!  I am talking about getting stuck in woven wire
> fences 4 and 5 times a day.  The ram lamb also taught a pretty ewe
> lamb (unrelated, but a curious girl) and now she is starting to get
> stuck! This is starting to get old.Katrina Lefever, Chicory Lane
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