Feeding Goats Safely

It's harder than it appears on the surface. So, what didn't work for me? Those spendy galvanized "goat" feeders, that's what! Just imagine what could happen when a bouncy 3-6 month old kid decides to jump on top . . . it's not pretty. I've seen it. All it takes is for one hoof to go through one of the wire squares and at best you have a wrenched shoulder, at worse you have a broken leg. My kid never fully recovered and the injury compromised her entire shoulder assembly. I do have friends who use these successfully, but they put lids on top. I'm too busy for that and lack the requisite skills. So, what worked for me?

There is no perfect solution. I've also used the (also spendy) poly hay feeders from Caprine Supply. They worked great, up to a point. There were some logistical problems with the goats knocking it off the fence, but nothing major. Until one particular doeling became a yearling (approximately). She had been used to sticking her head all the way into the openings, but the day came when she wasn't able to get it out again. I still use them in my kidding pens, where there are fewer logistical problems and no yearlings who can stick their heads all the way inside. 

For a while I threw in the towel (which happens periodically, I'm human), and fed hay on the ground. But, cocci is a constant worry when doing that, not to mention the inevitable horrendous waste of hay. So, that didn't last long. Then, one holiday season, my local feed store stocked up on all sorts of fancy products, including the intriguing Health EZ Feeder. It was love at first sight! This baby has a clamshell design that makes it possible to break it into two pieces, ziptie the individual pieces to panels, and voila! Two (safe-ish) goat feeders. Then along came a first freshener who got her head stuck in the opening. The good news is, I was able to manipulate the poly's shape to allow the head to escape. So, they stayed on the farm, and I even bought some more. Several years later and they are ratty looking with breaks here and there, but still usable. I've recently discovered that one of my polled bucks can get his head stuck (multiple times . . . stoopid, beautiful, but stoopid). Today I'm using most of them in my creep feeder pen, for weanlings. They were too time consuming to fill every day. I have a day job as a teacher and have to be at work at 7:15 am. Filling a bunch of clamshells every morning did not fit my schedule.

Today's Solution

First of all, this is absolutely NOT my idea. Onaqui in Utah posted a picture of a similar design on their FaceBook page and I promptly stole it. So, credit goes to them. What I added was a roof. Both bunkers are convenniently located near the haystack so I can toss flakes of hay over the fence into the feeders. In general, they work great. 

What I don't like is that the kids get inside the bunkers. So, what is the problem with that? There are two problems. First, the littles can still get head butted by the mature goats. Second, coccidiosis. All it takes is for one kid to develop a bloom of cocci, poo in the hay, and then the rest of the herd is infected. Cuh-raaaaap. 

The Creep Feeder
So, my solution, which isn't perfect, was to designate a pen as a creep feeder for the kids. The kids still get into the bunkers, but it's becoming less of a problem as they realize that the creep feeder pen is available 24/7. How did I create a creep feeder? I took a 5' long scrap of cattle panel and used carabiners to attach it to one of my 5 x 15 kennels as a new door. Voila! Five minutes later I had a creep feeder for kids up to 4 months old that I outfitted with a medium dog house, mineral feeder, water bucket, and three feeders made from Health EZ Feeder clamshell halves. It only took me 10 years to work through this problem. Hopefully my story will cut down your learning curve. :)