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Simple Hay Rack For Goats
Weld together a few pipes, attach a wire cattle panel, and you've got a big round bale hay rack for goats.
Gail Truax and her husband, Gary, came up with the idea to feed goats. "We can put 30 to 40 does on it with their babies, and it works real well. It's up off the ground, so the babies can get up under it an
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Simple Hay Rack For Goats LIVESTOCK Sheep/Goats 29-3-27 Weld together a few pipes, attach a wire cattle panel, and you've got a big round bale hay rack for goats.
Gail Truax and her husband, Gary, came up with the idea to feed goats. "We can put 30 to 40 does on it with their babies, and it works real well. It's up off the ground, so the babies can get up under it and start eating early."
The elevated feeder keeps the goats from climbing up on the bale. Since both are professional welders, putting the pipe framework together was not a problem. They sized it to hold their 4-ft. dia. round bales. Four 9-ft. 2 1/2-in. dia. pipes were set in 2-ft. deep holes at the corners of a 6 by 7-ft. rectangle. The holes were then filled with cement to secure the pipes.
Once the cement hardened, 6-ft. lengths of pipe were welded to the uprights on the narrower sides of the rectangle and at about a 5-ft. height. These pipes serve as cross braces for the structure and also support the cattle panel.
At each 7-ft. wide end, two 4-ft. pipes were welded to the corner pipes and to each other to form peaks about 10 ft. high. The peaks were then connected by another length of pipe to form a ridge between the two ends. Brace pipes were also welded in place at about a 9-ft. height at each peak to further strengthen the structure.
"We strung two lengths of chain between the lower cross braces and laid a 4 by 16-ft. cattle panel across them," explains Gail. "Then we attached it to the chains and cut off the excess four to five feet."
The Truaxs added ends to keep the goats out. Heavy rebar was bent to match the curve of the cattle panel, and sections of panel were then welded to the rebar. The new ends were then wired into place.
"To refill the feeder, we simply remove one end, drive in with the tractor and a bale on the loader spear and set it in place," says Gail. "If we use a 5-ft. round bale, we just let the goats eat away the end before we reattach the panel."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gail and Gary Truax, 9250 S 215th S. SW, Clearwater, Kan. 67026 (ph 620 584-6493; email: gtruax@sktc.net).
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