When it comes to feeding our livestock on the homestead we have been become very innovative, if I should say so myself. We are always looking for solutions that will help us conserve the feed. Remember the diy plastic drum goat hay feeder as well at the diy old futton hay feeder. The hubby recently experimented with this diy rain barrel hay feeder idea.
This is indeed a really creative way of distributing the feed. As you can probably tell from the picture it is a straight forward project that can be completed within half an hour. If you have any old rain barrels, that may have started leaking. This is a great way to re-purpose them and give them new life. There is really no need to head out to the local hardware store to purchase new materials for this one.
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Here’s What You’ll Need:
- old plastic rain barrel
- square fencing
- sharp utility knife or cutter
- wire or u nails
- marker
- tape measure
- hay or straw
Step By Step Instructions
Step 1.
Use your tape measure to measure 3 to 4
equal panels on the face of the rain barrel.
Step 2.
Trace and mark out the panels with the marker.
Step 3.
Cut out the marked panels using the utility
knife or any precision cutter.
Step. 4
Wrap the square fencing around the outside
of the barrel and attach with wire or nails.
Step. 5.
Your done! Fill up with from the top hay!
Essentially the livestock be it goats, sheep or even cows should be able to pull the hay out of the cut out panels. The square fencing will help secure the hay inside, preventing it from falling to the ground or floor. You can attach this feeder to a pole or barn wall, a few feet off the ground for easy access. We are still testing it, but have seen a considerable decline in hay ‘wastage’.
You can watch the video below on the blue barrel straw/hay feeder…
You can watch the video below on DIY build a plastic barrel hay feeder…
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