The design of this hay feeder is very simple. The feeder I built is 4 ft tall, 8 ft long, and 7 1/2 inches thick. It holds 100-200 pounds of hay depending on how tight I pack the hay in. It is a top loader and is gravity fed like most feeders so the kids don't run out. It took about 2 hours to build and works great for me and my goats. My goats only waste 50-100 pounds of hay per round bail, compared to half a round bail sitting on the ground. Clean up of the wasted hay is a breeze. About once a week I rake out the stuff on the ground in front of the feeder and burn it or put it in the garden. Also, the fact that it is inside the barn means the hay doesn't get wet. It works good for all sizes, ages, and breeds. A word of caution though, small goats and goat kids can get their heads stuck in the feeder when they dig into it to find that perfect bite of hay.

One of the interior walls of my barn is 6 ft tall and made of 2x4s with hardwood flooring planks on one side to make a solid wall. I cut a 4 ft wide section of the hardwood out. Then I cut 4-4 ft long peices of 2x8 and nailed them to the existing 2x4s. This made the wall 7 1/2 inches thick. I then used the fence staples to nail a cattle panel to the side the goats have access to and with 8 penny nails the plywood went on the opposite side. Since I used a 12 ft cattle panel, I nailed the remainder of the panel to the solid wall to create a back scratcher. This also works good for hanging grain feeders on (feeders of the Keith Smith variety). Those grain feeders work great by the way (Should I wipe my nose off now?). This was not part of my plan, I really just didn't want to cut the panel. But it works out really good as a bonus.

The design of this feeder can be easily altered to suit your needs. It can be built as a 2 sided feeder, up against a fence, or put some feet on it to make a free standing feeder (my next project). The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. If you have feedback or questions contact me at oasisranch@msn.com.