Feeder for a goat - how to make it yourself: instructions, photos and drawings

The biggest expense when running a goat farm is feed. To increase the efficiency of their use and minimize costs, you need to make goat feeders in your barn with your own hands. Their shape and design should ensure safety, better feed consumption, and provide free access for all livestock. Feeders for goats are divided into types depending on the type of feed - hay, root vegetables, concentrates, so each type should be installed in kosher feeders. The goat's hay feeder should be spacious and prevent the animals from throwing away grass. Grain is poured into troughs or special automatic feeders for goats. Requirements for feeders, drawings, photos and videos are presented below.

When feeding goats, it is of great importance to use easy-to-use feeders for feeding roughage, ensuring maximum palatability and minimal losses.

In dairy goat farming, extensive technologies for feeding and keeping animals are mainly used, ensuring milk productivity at the level of 450–500 kg of milk per lactation. The use of an intensive goat breeding system, which includes advanced technological methods of keeping, feeding, milking, raising young animals and targeted selection work, will allow an average milk yield from one goat of 1000–1200 kg per lactation.

Purpose

Goats are one of the cleanest pets. This is why some picky eaters won’t eat food if it falls to the ground. In addition, to maintain good health of goats, it is necessary to feed them high-quality, clean and healthy food. This is precisely why goat feeders for hay and other types of feed were designed.

All food should be kept high above the floor level in the barn to prevent dirt from getting into it. The feeder should be spacious (so that the animal can easily stick its head between the bars) and safe. The goat will not have to bend down and look for food; equipping the barn with a feeder will provide comfort to the livestock. At the same time, the food will remain fresh and beautiful for longer, which leads to secondary savings - a reduction in feed costs.

Feeding the young

For small kids, you will need a separate feeder or immediately provide a special tray for young animals, since the kids spend a certain period of time near their mother. In this case, the feeding does not look like hay, but vegetables.

It is advisable to create a structure that looks like a plywood box. You will need a mesh for covering. The back wall is recommended to be made of organic glass. This is necessary, first of all, for the farmer, as food remains must be tracked.

To prevent the kid from scattering food, the opening is made slightly narrowed towards the bottom. The same condition will also help when designing a feeder for kids who are already grown up and weaned from their mother. A plastic barrel is used as a manger. A cut is made in it in the form of a zigzag and the edges are cleaned so that the young animals do not get hurt.

Attach to the foundation tightly and thoroughly. Use a wire mesh to separate the sections. This option is suitable for feeding one or several kids. The bottom has a hole that serves as an opening for removing food debris. The positive aspects of such a simple container for feeding goats are:

are not damaged by goats, as plastic is unpleasant to the taste;
the material is waterproof. Therefore, it is allowed to use it outdoors without removing it during rain;
Light weight, minimal footprint.

It’s easier to choose the right option for a goat feeder if you use several options at the same time. This way you can make a winter and summer version of the nursery. If there is a large number of livestock, it is recommended to make a row (along the stall) with individual openings.

Requirements for feeders

Food safety

Some feeder models are unable to hold food tightly, causing it to fall to the floor and mix with manure. In this case, the goats will not even pick up their favorite treats. Therefore, you can put a clean trough under the feeder: food will fall into it, and it also makes sense to put feed and concentrates there. This two-level feeder saves a lot of space in the barn.

It is necessary to protect the structure so that the goat does not climb into the feeder with its feet and does not throw food out of it. Therefore, it is necessary to make cracks in the body that will only allow the animals to stick their heads through. For adults, you can place the “dining room” at a height of about 1.3-1.5 meters. This option is unacceptable for kids: low “baby” feeders should be equipped with small holes.

Simplicity of design

An unspoken law of technology: the more complex the device, the faster it will break. Oddly enough, this rule also applies to arranging a goat barn. The feeder should be simple to ensure low labor intensity in manufacturing, ease of operation and cleaning, and convenience for the animals.

At the same time, a simple design is more reliable, so you don’t have to waste time or money on repairing existing equipment. The most affordable and ergonomic option is a hanging manger. In this case, goats will use their teeth to get straw or hay, with almost no contact with the bulk of the food with their muzzle.

Safety

Ensuring the safety of livestock is the most important requirement when setting up a barn. The animal should not get stuck between the bars, scratch or hit the sharp corners of the structure. In some cases, a goat can even suffocate in a tight hole, so it is very important to make the feeder the right size.

Each animal must have its own place for feeding, so that there are no conflicts, and food is taken at the same time. On large farms, it is difficult to equip large hay barns, so you need to strive for the ratio: build 78 feeding places for 100 animals.

It is also necessary to ensure safety for humans when cleaning and operating feeders. Do not allow protruding nails, pieces of reinforcement or large chips that could cause injury. The canteen should be sized to accommodate whole bales or rolls of hay to minimize effort and save time on barn maintenance. This is especially true for large farms, where in some cases it is necessary to introduce complete mechanization of service processes.

For which goats will you need to build a feeder?

In village households and farms, goats are kept because of their beneficial qualities for humans. All types of animals are divided into four categories:

milk producing;
providing both dairy products and meat;
meat;
breeds bred for wool and down.

In Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, those breeds that produce the maximum amount of milk are especially popular. Down types are no less popular, because the famous Orenburg shawl is made from goat down.

But in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, breeds that produce meat and wool are more popular.

Dairy animals

Females of this species are characterized by a voluminous udder and a short coat.

Goats are considered the most productive:

dairy Russian breed;
Toggenburg;
Mingrelian;
Nubian;
Welsh;
Cameroonian breed.

Meat types

These goats have a much larger body weight than other species. For example, a male meat breed can weigh up to 1.5 centners. Almost all the milk from the queens of these breeds is used to feed the young.

They have short and stiff fur. There are both hornless species and representatives with massive, strong horns.

The following types of meat are distinguished:

Boer;
Greek;
Bengal breed;
chance.

Dairy and meat breeds

Keeping such animals is equally profitable from a financial point of view for obtaining both meat and dairy products.

The most popular breeds include:

Nubian;
Cameroonian;
Syrian;
kiko;
German Pied;
Anglo-Nubian;
Kalahari, etc.

Similar breeds in Russia are found on individual farms or peasant farms. These species have not received industrial distribution in the country.

Goats that provide wool and fluff

The group of animals that produce a large amount of wool includes the following species:

Orenburg;
Gorno-Altai;
Tajik;
Pridonsky;
angora;
Soviet wool;
marash

All of them have high-quality and durable wool.

Downy species include the following:

Kashmiri;
Cameroonian dwarf;
Volgograd;
Kyrgyz;
Turkmen;
uulyn bor.

Main types

Depending on the size and characteristics of the livestock and the type of food, feeders also differ.

It is customary to highlight:

Open type. They are most suitable for compressed hay, which animals can easily tear into pieces and eat in small portions.
Low floor design for fresh grass. The shape of the body resembles a basin with frequent crossbars designed for dosed feeding of food. Goats cannot climb into the feeder and scatter its contents, so fresh herbs are not contaminated and are used sparingly.
Hopper type for dry food and mash. The feed is poured into a large hopper, but gradually rolls into a small recess, from which it is convenient for the cattle to get food. This design contributes to economical feed consumption.

It is very important to use different types of nurseries depending on the age of the animals. For goats, the “dining room” should be placed on the floor or suspended at a low height, and for adults, it should be placed as high as possible. It is extremely important not to place toddler feeders in juvenile crates, otherwise the animals may suffocate if their head gets stuck in the crib opening that is too small.

Cot

Goats combine two mutually exclusive character traits. They are very sloppy, but at the same time extremely squeamish. While eating, animals often drop hay on the floor, but will never pick it up. Without a special device, most of the feed becomes unusable, so it is necessary to make a device that will minimize food loss.

An old crib could be a great option. A few additional touches should be made and an excellent feeder for hay, roots and twigs will be ready.

The bottom of the crib should be covered with a mesh with small cells. The dropped food will remain at the bottom of the product and can be reused.

The beds are usually equipped with wheels, and this will allow you to move the feeder throughout the entire area of the goat's coop, and in the warm season, roll it out into the yard and feed the young animals.

Experienced farmers note that the goat herd develops a good appetite in the fresh air, so a mobile structure will be an ideal option for feeding animals. You can equip the mobile feeder with a canopy in case of unexpected rain.

Materials and tools

It is very important to prepare all the necessary tools in advance so as not to be distracted while working.

For production you will need:

hacksaw for metal or wood;
marker or felt-tip pen for marking;
pliers;
hammer;
drill;
roulette.

Depending on the type of manger, you can get by with just a hammer and nails. Also, the materials differ depending on the type of construction and the final purpose of use for a particular type of feed.

The most common materials are:

wooden slats;
pieces of lumber;
old barrels;
net;
cutting pipes or iron fittings.

Most often it is recommended to use the cheapest materials at hand, which are the simplest, most reliable and easy to clean. Wood and metal are best suited for this role, and they cost pennies.

It is equally important that there is enough material to make a “dining room” of the right size - where there is enough space for each animal. Otherwise, strong bullies will drive away weaker relatives, who will begin to malnourish, which will affect their productivity.

Grain and silage feeders

The feeder, which is designed to accommodate silage, as well as crushed root crops and grain feed, has a different design. Wide boards or timber made of wood are most suitable for its manufacture.

Typically, feeders are made in the form of a long, wide trough, the longitudinal walls of which are inclined. This structure makes it easier for sheep to reach the remaining feed. If the herd is large in number, then the trough should be made wider, and in the middle part along the structure it is advisable to nail a long board as a separator. Thanks to the last element, animals can take food from both sides.

When choosing this design, you should remember its instability. Therefore, there is a risk that sheep that are too active may overturn the feeder. To eliminate this situation, it is advisable to attach legs to the trough. If a permanent installation is intended, it is advisable to make the legs long and partially dig them into the ground.

To feed sheep, combination feeders or structures designed for a specific feed - a concentrated or juicy variety - can be used. The material used is one that matches the farmer’s capabilities:

Combined wooden containers are easy to make and multifunctional. They are great for mixing different types of food.
Brick structures are coated with cement; they create a barrier for rodents or water to penetrate inside. True, difficulties arise when caring for them - it will not be possible to clean them completely.
A hanging structure made of plastic or a rubber basin is hygienic and easy to clean. Therefore, they are suitable for both concentrated and succulent feed. The disadvantage is the possibility of one individual eating at the same time.

Experts say that concentrates and succulent feed should not be mixed. At the same time, for hygiene reasons, feeders are washed after each meal.

Nursery type

Step-by-step instruction

You can make a manger for goats with your own hands from the cheapest material - wooden slats or boards. It only takes a couple of hours to make, and this design will last for years.

Manufacturing consists of the following stages:

Make the bottom frame from wider boards. The dimensions of the frame are determined by the livestock. It is necessary to attach the legs made of bars to the lower part.
The bottom is made of boards tightly adjacent to each other and nailed to the main frame. It is better to take chipboard or wooden panels rather than plywood. It is applicable as a material only if its thickness reaches seven millimeters or more.
The top frame and side slats must be connected by cutting well and blunting the edges of the nails so that the animals do not get hurt.

This feeder is most suitable for hay or slightly withered herbs.

From reinforcement

Nurseries made from reinforcement will last longer than wooden ones and are more reliable. In addition, capricious or disobedient goats will not be able to turn over and throw even an empty feeder off the wall due to its significant weight. However, to make a manger of this type, basic skills in working with a welding machine are required.

Step-by-step instruction:

The tray is made of galvanized sheet two millimeters thick - food will fall into it. The legs for the frame are made of metal rods 18-19 millimeters in diameter.
The side walls of the manger in the shape of triangles can also be made of a sheet of metal; the dimensions of the triangle are chosen depending on the number of animals and the expected volume of food.
Two upper and one lower slats, forming the basis of the lattice part of the manger, are made from metal pipes with a diameter of 12-13 millimeters. The cells themselves should consist of soft wire or reinforcement no more than eight millimeters thick.

You can weld all the elements in any order, but it is often recommended to “go” in the direction from the bottom: download the frame, then the legs, the base for the grille and the grille itself.

How to make a feeder yourself?

Simple circuits

The construction skills of all goat breeders are different, and most do not have the money to buy ready-made feeders. In this case, the goat definitely needs to put hay and other products somewhere. You can whip up a few simple models.

If you have purchased goats, then a feeder made from a plastic or metal barrel is perfect for you.

What we need:

PVC barrel with a volume of 100 liters;
hacksaw for metal;
masonry mesh, cell size 10 cm - 2x1 m;
marker and tape measure for marking.

We mark the barrel into two equal parts across the circle. Now we retreat 20 cm from the lid and bottom and make radial marks on the side surface for half of the barrel - they should be diametrically opposed at the top and bottom. All that remains is to cut it with a hacksaw to make two feeders, as in the photo below.

A simple diagram of a barrel feeder

Another model is suitable for a barn. This is a manger made of chain-link - we fix the mesh on a wooden frame. Now we attach the chain-link to the wall and get a simple manger in which you can give hay or straw. To reduce waste, place a box under the feeder. You will get this do-it-yourself goat feeder, photo:

Chain-link mesh feeder for goats

Stern passage

This scheme is common in livestock farming, when feeders are not used, and feed is placed directly on the ground. This is especially convenient with a large population and automation of the food distribution process - the feed dispenser simply drives through and evenly distributes concentrates and mash along the paddock.

This method has its own characteristics:

the floor must be perfectly clean - no foreign objects (especially crayons) or oil stains should be allowed on it;
The dispenser can be used to transport only bulk products (not suitable for hay);
you will have to move the feed after the tractor and as it is eaten;
The pen needs to be made with bars so that the goats can stick their heads through.

Special models

When you also keep young goats along with adult goats, you will have to constantly drive the kids out of the feeders - they easily crawl through gaps of 15-20 cm. This leads to contamination of the feed, trampling and scattering. The easiest way to avoid this is to keep the kids separately, but this possibility is limited by the area of the barns and the technology of keeping them.

But you can easily modify your existing feeder. All you need is to build the nursery correctly. For this we need wide boards (20 cm or 2 x 10). We replace old slats with them at intervals of 10 cm.

Now you need to make a cutout in the upper part - we widen the openings for adult goats. On each side of the gap we cut another 5 cm to a height of 30 - 40 cm from the top bar. Thus, adult goats can easily stick their heads through the upper window and lower their necks through a narrower gap of 10 cm. But young goats cannot crawl through the gap.

Ready-made drawings - how to make a feeder for goats

Drawing of an outdoor wooden feeder

Small metal feeder

Outdoor feeder for concentrates and mash

Drawing of a combined feeder

French

The French type device is compact and highly ergonomic for service workers. This is due to the historical characteristics of goat breeding in the mountainous and forest-steppe regions of France.

This “dining room” resembles a nursery, but due to the design features, much less material is consumed. French nurseries are universal: you can fill them with various types of feed and coarse hay. Food is spent very sparingly, because the animals stick their heads through special windows and cannot spill the contents of the manger.

Sometimes playful kids can jump inside the nursery. In this case, the structure must be equipped with a lid or the side walls must be increased to such a height that the kids can no longer overcome.

Manufacturing consists of the following steps:

Make a box from DPS, plywood or sheets of wood. If possible, it is better to make the bottom from a stainless steel sheet to increase the strength and reliability of the structure.
Instead of legs, you can use solid wood blocks on which the box is installed. You can make recesses in the bars to easily move the entire structure.
You need to cut holes in the front and back walls, having previously marked the windows with a marker. The edges of the holes need to be sanded to remove any sharp edges.

Recommended dimensions of a French nursery: 60 centimeters in height, the depth of the base should be the same, in the upper part the depth should increase to 80 centimeters. The length must be chosen depending on the livestock.

The principle of making a simple wooden feeder

Wood is still considered the most popular material used for making feeders for farm animals. Some farmers do not have to spend a lot of money on such structures at all, because such boxes can even be built from old wood, or trees can be cut down on the farm’s territory.

Table 1. The process of creating a wooden feeder

Illustration	Description
Cut the pallet so that only one part remains with slats.
On one side it is necessary to remove all the boards to create a structure in the shape of the letter “P”.
Next, you need to cut the feeder to the required size, and then process the wood with a plane.
Prepare two boards in advance according to the height of the finished product and secure them to the wall. It is important to correctly calculate the distance between them.
It is necessary to prepare two more boards, which are half shorter than those already mounted on the wall. They should also be secured to these boards from the outside. And then insert part of the feeder from the pallet.

Simple budget options

From a plastic barrel

You can make universal feeders from unnecessary plastic containers. It is very important to follow safety precautions. It is better not to take containers that contained flammable substances, chemical compounds, or paints and varnishes. The ideal option is water containers. Also, the barrel must be intact, without cracks.

If the plastic is thin, you should first check its strength. You can stack several tanks one inside the other to increase the strength characteristics.

The barrel can be placed vertically or horizontally. Depending on the location, the order of steps during manufacturing differs slightly.

Horizontal option

This orientation is suitable for feeding large numbers of animals.

Making a “dining room” is very simple:

The barrel should be placed on its side and the top 15-20% of the container should be sawed off. If desired, a lid can be made from the sawn-off part.
Cut round holes in the barrel and process the edges, dulling them thoroughly.
Make legs for wooden blocks and bricks. It is advisable to attach heavy legs so that the light plastic container does not tip over in the wind.
You need to drill small holes in the bottom of the barrel so that all the liquid flows down and does not accumulate in the tank.

The disadvantage of this option: from one barrel you will get only one manger for a maximum of three goats.

Vertical option

The design is less stable, but allows you to save plastic containers.

Making a manger is even easier than the previous option:

The barrel is divided into two L-shaped halves. The height of the lower part with a round tray should be at least twenty centimeters. All edges are sanded.
The vertical plane of the cuts is covered with a large mesh into which the hay will be placed. Goats will carefully reach twigs and blades of grass through the mesh.
This “dining room” is unstable, so even the heaviest legs will not help. Instead, you can attach the structure to a wall or other reliable support.

The obvious advantage of this type of product is the ability to make two mangers at once from one barrel.

From pipes

Large-diameter plastic pipes can be used to make convenient containers for supplying bulk feed. You can only take a new, clean PVC pipe with a diameter of at least ten centimeters. The optimal height is 1.5 meters. You will also need plugs and a tee of the same diameter.

Manufacturing steps and description:

Divide the pipe into four sections: 20, 60, 10 and 70 centimeters. The cuts are processed to remove jagged edges. The middle section, 60 centimeters long, is inserted into the lower hole, the longest into the upper compartment, and the shortest into the side. It is from the side hole that the animal will eat, so cuts in this part need to be processed best.
The lower and upper parts must be equipped with plugs, and the lower part must be very strong in order to withstand the weight of the poured feed.
Attach the structure to the wall using clamps.

This option is very simple and helps to effectively save bulk feed compared to feeding in troughs.

Sennik made of boards

This option is the most budget-friendly, and production is so simple that even a child can handle it.

You can build a hay barn for goats in this way:

In the corner of the shed you need to nail several boards one above the other.
The third board is attached from above at a distance of 80-90 centimeters, forming a frame.
From small slats of the same length you need to make a lattice that resembles a fence. It is not recommended to increase the distance between the slats by more than seven centimeters so that the contents do not fall out of the feeder.

This option is a good space saver in the goat house.

Step-by-step instructions for building a goat house

In accordance with the requirements, a design for the goat house is drawn up, then you can begin to build a room for keeping goats with your own hands. The building is made as follows:

The foundation is being built. For a wooden shed, a columnar version is suitable, but if the structure is made of brick, you will need a strip base, deepened into the ground at least 50 cm.
Support pillars are placed and the walls of the room are built. The construction of wooden walls was mentioned above, but the brick needs to be covered with tarpaulin to protect it from moisture and lined with plywood from the inside of the goat house. On the south side, window openings are made in the wall at the rate of 1 m2 of windows per 20 m2 of room area. They must be done at a height of at least 1.5 m from the floor.
The flooring is being laid. It is done on logs, which are laid on the foundation pillars and fixed with anchors. The optimal size of the floorboard is 50x150 mm. The top surface can be covered with plywood to protect it from moisture and wind from under the floor.
The roof of the goat house is being erected with your own hands. It is recommended to make it a gable roof, covered with slate or galvanized roofing. A canopy should also be made over the walking pen to protect the animals from the sun and precipitation.
Doors that open outward are installed, and glass is inserted into window openings.
Artificial lighting is provided. Such arrangement of the goat's rue is necessary during short daylight hours; From mid-spring to mid-autumn there is sufficient natural light. The light bulb is suspended high from the ceiling.
Ventilation is being done. Natural air circulation is sufficient, for which you need to install two pipes - a supply and an exhaust pipe of 140 mm in diameter. The first one goes down almost to the floor, the second one goes up to the ceiling. The height above the roof is done the other way around - the supply pipe is almost close to the roof, and the exhaust pipe is higher.
A heating system is being installed. The best option is a gas system, the boiler of which is installed in a neighboring building. Stove heating cannot be used for fire safety reasons.
Stalls, mangers, shelves are placed, flooring is poured onto the floor - the room is given a finished look.

Other models

Row feeders for pens and stalls

There are designs that provide access to food for three or four animals at once. For feeding large livestock, it is recommended to use folding hay barns. The option is suitable for a whole herd; after feeding hay or grass at a certain time, it is very easy to fold back the structure and remove the barn. In this case, there is no need to carry heavy boxes or troughs of food. The double-sided option can be installed in a summer paddock or even in a pasture in winter.

The product is manufactured as follows:

As in the previous versions, a simple canopy is made from a wooden base and slats.
You should add rectangular wooden trays in which you can place vegetables or fresh food. Attach the tray using reliable metal slats.
Make the upper support stick removable - attach it to a large self-tapping screw so that you can remove the rail from the wall. To do this, you can make a special metal ring.
Attach door hinges to the bottom so that the base of the feeder can be assembled and disassembled.

It is advisable to use hinges and other metal elements made of stainless steel so that rust does not corrode the iron and damage the integrity of the entire structure.

It is recommended to build a goat barn that is spacious: there should be at least one and a half square meters for each individual to sleep at night.

For goats and kids

Box for dry and granulated food

This scheme is suitable for feeding young animals and pregnant goats that need increased nutrition.

Manufacturing stages:

Make a box from plywood or OSB. One of the walls should be covered with a mesh, the opposite wall should be covered with a layer of plexiglass in order to easily check the level of the mixture in the “dining room”.
Attach the top cover with rubber hinges. The glass can be made removable (with screws) for easy cleaning.
There should be an open part at the bottom of the box for the cattle to stick their heads through.

This feeder looks very aesthetically pleasing and is durable.

Metal dispenser

A cone-type metal feeder consists of two steel sheets welded into a wedge shape.

Stages and features:

The connection angle should not exceed 15-18 degrees.
The hopper is installed on a frame made of steel angle. The legs and axle for the removable wheels should be welded to the pallet.
The lower part should be equipped with a tray where excess feed will be poured out.

The product is relatively expensive, but very durable, and is also suitable for all types of feed. The feeder can be disinfected with water and steamed during outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Keeping goats on deep litter.

We, seeing the inadequacy of keeping goats on boards, transferred them to deep bedding. I tore out the boards and deepened each cell 30-40 cm into the ground. This cavity is filled with straw and then, as needed, straw is added to the cages to keep them dry.

The wife milks the goats in street slippers. Straw is added two to three times a week. Over the winter, the litter grows by 30-40 cm and the total layer of litter becomes 70-80 cm. In the summer we throw it out, leaving 20-25 cm and everything repeats all over again.

On such bedding, goats are not afraid of any frost.

Warmth comes from the bedding below, and a fur coat helps the goat from the frost from above.

During all the time we have been keeping goats, we have never encountered a case of udder mastitis. This only confirms that the animal is more comfortable on deep bedding than on plank or (God forbid) concrete floors.

Our goats go to the toilet “small times” in one place. To a certain corner of your cage. From there, litter is often selected and fresh is laid. They sprinkle peas anywhere, but, being dry, they do nothing terrible for the comfort of living.

In winter, when the temperature outside is below minus 15 degrees, the temperature in the goat's house stays at least minus 5-8 degrees. At this time, goats look like inflated balloons. Their fur spreads out to create a thicker layer of their fur coat and, thus, lose less heat.

Our winters are not harsh or long. Minus 15-20 degrees occurs no more than 10-15 days during the winter. I believe that such “vernalization” is even beneficial for them. Any organism must be able to deal with such natural phenomena. This will only make your immune system stronger. On frosty days, goats have a higher appetite.

We have no experience keeping goats and kids at very low temperatures, because... We live in a fairly mild climate zone. I can say that the lower the temperature, the less milk there will be and the growth of the kids will be slower.

“How much milk does a goat give?” —

“Proper feeding of goat kids means high milk yields in the future.” —

Goat drinking bowls

Drinkers can be wall-mounted or floor-mounted. In the first case, the water remains clean and fresh for a long time, and its overflow is prevented. Floor drinking bowls are easier to manufacture and more convenient to use.

You can make a simple drinking bowl with your own hands from a bucket, bottle, basin or other plastic container. The basin can simply be attached to the floor to prevent the animal from turning it over. In more complex designs, it is necessary to make a hole for the goat's head and securely attach the drinker to the wall. The main thing is to prevent water from spilling and the bedding in the shed getting wet.

You can make a complex automatic waterer for goats, but you will have to spend a lot of time and money studying drawings and purchasing special materials and components.

What is the amount of hay for a goat?

If we take 2-2.5 kg of hay per day as the norm, then it is not difficult to estimate the required amount for the winter for one goat. Each region has its own stall period and each barn has its own feeding ration.

It's better to have some hay left than not to have enough hay. In the spring, on lush grass, goat hay is simply necessary to balance the fluid ratio and prevent diarrhea from excess water in the body. A violation of the liquid coefficient is also observed when a glass of flour is poured with three liters of water and the goats are fed with such swill. For the sake of flour, the goat drinks all the water. The kidneys cannot cope with the removal of such an amount of fluid and the goat constantly has a liquid mass floating from under its tail, which should come out like peas. We don’t eat only first courses, washing them down with compotes. We also need a dry component in our diet. For spring grass, hay for a goat will be very useful.

“What to feed a goat in winter? Harvesting hay. Photo of the butcher shop.” —

Closer to spring, even if there is plenty of basic hay, we slowly begin to feed the hay that was on the ceiling of the goat barn. It does not have any repulsive odor, because... It’s dry in our goat house.

Goats are not particularly afraid of frost if they are in a dry room. This is the reason why we keep goats on deep litter.

How to remake unsuccessful models

If the distance between the slats in the manger is very large, and the structure itself is located low, the goat can scatter the food and spoil the hay, which will lead to irrational use of food products.

It's very easy to remake a failed nursery:

Attach strong legs 30-40 centimeters high to reduce the risk of the product turning over.
Pin more slats, increasing their frequency.

Such measures will help save up to 30-35% of previously lost feed.

In a cell type design, the goat can turn its head to one side and get its horns stuck. As a result, such a nuisance can even lead to suffocation and death. To ensure the safety of livestock, convenience for the farmer, and not take up a lot of space, it is recommended to reduce the depth of the feeder by increasing the width of the openings.

The boards must be spread to a distance equal to the length of the snout of the largest animal in your herd. This number should be equal to the distance from the tip of the nose to the edge of the horn of the most massive goat, 7-10% should be added to this number to leave a margin for greater confidence. To be on the safe side, it is recommended to study all the drawings of the feeder in advance.

Errors and methods for eliminating them

Most often, shortcomings in the manufacture of goat feeders lie in incorrect calculation of dimensions. For example, this is an excessively large gap between the slats or, on the contrary, narrow cells. Also, the main mistake is placing the device in close proximity to the floor surface.

To eliminate the shortcomings, you need to raise the container higher by attaching legs. Then the distance between the slats is narrowed, increasing their number and decreasing the frequency of placement. In addition, it is recommended to use wide boards.

To determine the appropriate hole diameter, you need to measure the length of the muzzle of a large animal in the herd. In this case, the distance from the edge of the horns to the nose is measured. An error of 8-10% of the original value is also taken into account.

Frequently used material

To feed adult animals, feeders made of wood material - beams, boards, plywood - are used. This material is available, not too expensive, and making a container with your own hands is quite simple. However, with all the advantages of such designs, there are also serious disadvantages:

when using wooden feeders made from poorly dried elements in high humidity conditions, cracking and damage to the entire structure are likely;
it is impossible to treat boards with paint or other paints and varnishes, since animals often chew boards and can be poisoned by toxic substances;
It is not recommended to take blanks from spruce or pine when making them, since sheep react negatively to the aroma of resin and essential oil.

Metal feeders and drinkers have a longer service life. The design itself is more durable. However, the cost of the product is higher, although during production you can use objects that are on the farm - barrels, fence sections, mesh. In this case, the cost of the structure is reduced. At the same time, there are obvious disadvantages of this option:

despite great durability, metal elements begin to rust over time;
the weight of the entire structure will be much greater compared to a wooden product.

Important!" If you want to save money on making a feeder, you can use an unnecessary playpen. It is usually made of plastic or wood. This design is quite convenient for animals.

There are also more expensive options - making a stationary feeder from bricks. The farmer will not be able to move it from one place to another, but at first it prevents water and rodents from getting into the food. True, brickwork usually protects only during the first period of operation, and cleaning it is problematic.

Farmers' mistakes

It is important not only to correctly make a feeder or drinking bowl with a design that is convenient for animals, but also to accurately monitor their use. Experts identify three typical mistakes of novice farmers:

Refusal to install a drinking bowl near the feeder in winter. Some novice farmers are confident, for example, that there is enough snow for sheep, but this is not the case. During this period, the herd needs water to a lesser extent, but this need must be satisfied at least 2 times a day.
No drainage. Sheep often spill water, which is not completely absorbed and, when mixed with excrement, leads to the formation of slurry and dirt. Such an environment is a breeding ground in which putrefactive bacteria quickly multiply, which is dangerous for the health of the livestock.
Insufficient hygiene. Leftover food can often get stuck in the cracks of wood structures and begin to rot. When a farmer does not clean or does it poorly, gastrointestinal pathologies are likely to develop.

To ensure the health and growth of sheep, it is necessary not only to monitor the quality of feed, but also to ensure proper feeding. This is especially important from the standpoint of choosing the most comfortable design of feeder and drinker for animals.