Feeding Equipment

[Homesteadmom]

We bought the galvanized water troughs for the cattle & the ram has one too(they drink alot in the summer here). The feeder dh made from wood for the cattle, hay bunk too & a stanchion. The ram's feeder is half an old barel with welded on legs his step dad had made. My chicken pen has a galvinized waterer & feeding pan we bought. My roosters have an old dog dish for feeder & a bucket for water. Ds's pen has a galvinized waterer & gravity feeder we bought & the bottom of an old plastic barrel will be for the duck to get into for water playing. The hog pen(empty right now) has a feeder dh made out of a plastic barrel & a waterer he made from pvc pipe & a water nipple it is U shaped & works great! Cat drinks out of a bucket when he is outside.

 

[queen of the barnyard]

We have a combo of items too. The chickens eat out of feeders made from PVC pipe cut in half. Hung between 2 trees with bailing wire. Some of the goat feeders are halves of 4 in pvc screwed into the walls of the goat house. The main herd of goats eats out of feeders/hay mangers we built. The wood and pvc pipe were leftovers from other projects. All the animals drink from water troughs that came with minerals in them -the big blue tubs. These work great and are very durable. Living in East Texas, heated waterers aren't really needed.

 

[smithx9]

Hi all, it has been a while since I posted on this site..been a little busy with homeschooling at the asylum! (*I have 7 students...all mine..)

Anyway, I was reading this post had just wanted to share some of my feeders....I found a play set for free in the paper...went and picked it up, it had seen better days (much to my kids dissappointment), so we cut off the legs and the top part became a hay station for my goaties. They can eat from all four sides, and usually do not waste much with this.

My husband also built be a hay feeder out of a piece of fence panel and attached it to the side of the goats shelter. The graduated sizes in the fencing make it easy for the goats (and the donkey) to eat their hay without pulling it all out on the ground. the only draw back to this design is not all my goats have been dehorned...so of course I usually have to rescue Karmaletta (she's a bit of an airhead!)

We helped a friend of my husbands a couple of weekends ago, and lying in the grass, all neglected and forelorn, was the top part of a bird bath. I has one little chip out of the edge. This has become my new waterer for the chickens when they are rangeing about.

I LOVE finding new uses for FREE stuff! (It kind of drives my husband crazy....he is NOT a packrat at ALL!)

A local day car was refurbishing their storage systems for their kids coats, diaperbags, etc. I snagged two of these out of the trash for future nesting boxes.....

OH the things people just throw away!

 

[Beekissed]

To you both! Great ideas! I love making something out of nothing also.....hmmmmmmmm.....I do believe that's why I got married to my ex!

I had a galvanized chicken waterer that someone gave me, but it was older and started leaching from inside....rusty water. I switched to a porcelain wash basin I have until I can buy the black rubber feeder pans. I like adding ACV to my waterers, so galvanized doesn't work for me anyway.

Smith, I like your idea about fencing for a hay rack....its an excellent idea. I was going to try to find an old children's toy net but I think the fencing will hold up better to sheep. At least they won't nibble fencing apart!

Queen, I have a pvc chicken feeder but it tends to cake up in the summer when I use laying mash, so I switched out. I did like the idea of using the pvc pipe and it was a great feeder except for the caking.

 

[Cybercat]

I also use inexpensive dishpans for assorted animals- rabbits, chickens, etc.

We have several galvanized washtubs for the llamas and miniature horses.

The larger animals actually just prefer the food on the ground, and rarely leave anything behind when I pour feed onto a long length of groundskeeping weed barrier.

For my large flock of chickens and geese, I asked my hubby to build the following trough feeders...

Use a length of rain gutter attached to a framework of wood for the base. Its about 6 feet long. Then we made a roof framework out of lighweight wood a couple of feet above the gutter and stapled tarp to it. One side of the tarp frame is moveable so I can raise it, fill the guttering with grain and keep it dry for the birds. We use a couple of these for 40 day range chickens and 10 day range geese.

My biggest problem with the feeding is that a large flock of wild pigeons have discovered breakfast at our house!

 

[Beekissed]

I have to feed inside the coop....I have a very, very bad dog who loves to eat anything that doesn't move and most things that do. He would eat every scrap of chicken feed if I fed outside!

 

[Cybercat]

I have a dog like that too, however...she's elderly now and doesn't make the effort (of course, she's too fat as well)

I still put a little food inside the coop for the shy birds, but with 40 chickens and 10 geese, there just isn't enough floor space for all to eat.