$50 No Spoil Sheep Hay Feeder

Being rather tired on account of all the work clearing up after our disastrous Gippsland storms/floods I first typed ‘sheep hat feeder’ which sounds pretty good too – maybe I should have left it like that?

During the ‘lean’ times of late winter/high summer stock will always ‘do’ better if they have access to some nutritious and palatable hay/silage particularly if they can help themselves, as it is so hard to judge when they actually need supplementation.

Like small children they will always eat ‘lollies’, but we almost never feed any grain save a handful sometimes to a very old ewe who is really down in the mouth but whom we really want one last lamb/s from because she has been just such a champion.

The big round bales are definitely the most economic source of hay but there is much wastage if they are not feeding enthusiastically so this is the way around that problem:

I cut a 2.4 metre (8′) piece of concrete reinforcing mesh (about 6 mm or 1/4″ steel diameter and in 8″ or 20 cm squares) in half with the angle grinder or the bolt cutters – whatever is to hand. They cost around $60 each for a 6 metre or 20′ length so this gives me two feeders. I overlap the squares one or two spaces depending whether feeding out silage (which is smaller in diameter) or hay and simply join them with lots of cable ties.

They make good shelter too!

A simple 8’ x 5’ tarp works fine too:

As soon as it rains they get stuck into it:

I source used pallets for free from behind local stores (asking first of course) to sit the bale on, then I cut down a 6′ diameter (if I can get it) beach umbrella to use as a roof and cable tie the ribs to the outside rim of the weldmesh feeder so that the hay does not spoil from rain if the sheep are not feeding very enthusiastically. Umbrellas cost from about $15. I bought these ones from Oztrail. The pallets prevent spoilage from wet ground. Over time the sheep eat pretty much all of the hay. There is very little waste.

Every now and then two sheep will manage to get their heads through the one hole and you have to cut them free with the bolt cutters before they die of thirst etc. Just watch out for immobile sheep. Otherwise you will definitely have happier and better fed sheep who will have more and bigger lambs which they will be able to feed more adequately in the cold weather.