# Hay-Wool saver bunks by request



## jerryf (Apr 1, 2006)

First sheep like to be near the ground. Goat bunks are design for goat that like to reach up to eat.

I always feed grain in the barn in the "V" on the bunk. In bad weather I feed hay in the barn and lock my ewes inside.......-20 degree days they stay in till its nice. Always locked in at night. Our Minnesota winter weather can change in a hurry. I don't let snow get on their backs....its causes ice that can stay on for days if we don't get sunny/warm weather,








1) VKV Feeder Pic- I started with a VKV Boer goat feeder that I had --after I sold my Boers to concentrate on my sheep. I had it cut in half longwise and attached to a plywood wall in my barn--I have a walkway so I can feed hay from the outside the pen 9 over the plywood wall.......so I don't sprinkle hay on the sheep as I feed them








2) pic 'bunk on wall' note the open design of the 4 inch by 4 inch mesh.......the sheep would pull the hay out high up and get hay on each other.








3)Bunk with plywood hay saver- I placed plywood with 6 inch board "legs" so the plywood would leave a good 6 inch gap at the bottom See the hay 
4) I stuff the hay down tight in the feeder so as the sheep eat the hay continues to slide down on they can eat the whole slab

In good weather hay is feed outside during the day in wooden bunks. I put the hay in the bunk and a grate goes on top of the hay, Sheep must pull out small mouthfuls. As they eat the grate slide down the rods or posts as the hay in eaten.








1) Small feeder..."hay box"....2 ft wide x 4 ft long..made out of scrap wood. It does have a wood floor.








2) the blue grate was purchased with instructions for the hay box design. Hay is placed in bunk and grate is put in place. Note the rods on the ends so the grate can slid down as the hay is eaten.








3) Long wooden bunk 2 ft wide and 8 ft long. No bottom.








4) I made a grate out of a cattle panel, cutting the panel up with a bolt cutters The hay grate is small than the inside of the hay bunk so it can slide down - approx 20 inches by 7 ft 6 inches.








5) Grate posts I took two small garden posts and pounded them in the ground. I slide the grate over the posts...so the grate stays in place and the posts act like a hinge when I put the hay in.

Sheep eat down, need access to only mouthfuls of hay at a time. I have cut my hay usage in half--Given the chance sheep can pull out whole slabs of hay walk on it and not eat it- waste a lot of hay.

Hope this helps you Any more questions just ask

Jerry


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

Thanks for the pics! We have wasted lots of hay this year, tossing it over the fence. I can see a new feeder in line.


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## Rosepath (Feb 18, 2011)

Thanks! that's a great (no pun intended) system to keep the hay out of their fleece.
Mine sometimes look like they've rolled in it, but that's due to their propensity to manuever themselves directly under the panels when hay is put out. This would help a lot!


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## Mrs. Homesteader (May 10, 2002)

Thank you for the pictures and explanations.


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## VA Shepherd (Dec 26, 2010)

Wow, great designs! Thanks for the info. I've been gradually modifying my feeder over the last month or so, it's a recent project; I was just feeding small square bales but the round ones are SO much cheaper. I found this shed on craigslist, for FREE, and even though it was supposedly a woodshed, it holds two large round bales perfectly. I found plans for the fence-like sides on another site; they are hung on lateral rails so they move in as the sheep eat their way in. It seems to be working pretty well, the hay stays where it's supposed to (the hay you see on the ground is there because I took the panels down temporarily for a few modifications), but the problem I have is the same as with any feeders I've used, they drag it over each other's backs. I coat my sheep until shearing, so it's not a huge deal, but there's always room for improvement! You mentioned that your feeders force them to only take small mouthfuls: does that take care of my dragging problem? I used the picket design because two rams and ewe have heads too large to fit through a cattle panel, but it sounds like in your experience, that would be a good thing? This is definitely not lamb proof, they have a different setup, but do you think the cattle panels or something similar would keep more hay off the adults' backs? Thanks!


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