# Feeding through cattle panels



## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

I know some on this forum have setups where the goats put their heads through cattle or similar panels to eat their hay. This year, we decided to put most of their hay tubs on the outside of the cattle panels to keep the babies from laying in the tubs and pooping there. I'm trying to stop hay wastage. What is happening is that some of the girls push harder on the panels and are wearing the hair off their necks by their collars. Some just have the hair loss, but a couple of them must be irritating the skin and it's getting infected. They get these little scabby bumps with what looks like a staph infection. I've been keeping their necks clean with chlorhexadine to heal the bumps. Is there anything you folks do to keep the goats from getting this problem? They also stretch through the panels to eat grass on the other side.


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

wow!!!

mine eat and drink exclusively thru the panels, after the first week of soiling hay & water in the pen, I was so done with that... plus its convenient to be able to feed the (darling) monsters from outside the pens.

I've never had any trouble with them rubbing any hair off. I wonder if its a size thing? Mine are mini's and can easily fit thru? I don't think so, as depending on what feeder and how it arranged, they will turn their head 90 degrees sideways to fit thru. I have had to experiment a bit with the right heights for different kinds of food and feeders, maybe try moving yours up or down depending on where they are rubbing? I guess I'd start by observing them carefully and seeing exactly where they are rubbing and if it looks like you change the angle will it change the rubbing? 

I'm thinking that's the case cuz the breeder I bought my goats from in 2008, 2 of them came with bare skin patches on their necks that she said were from rubbing on something the way she fed them. The hair grew back quickly after being here and its never been an issue since.


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

I made cattle panel hay feeders and I like them. I've had no rubbed areas but I don't have collars on my goats. I had collars on them when I first got them and the collars did rub the hair off on top of the neck. I think the combination of the collar and sticking their head through the opening made extra rubbing.


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## BrokenHalterFarm (Feb 16, 2010)

I have a cattle panel wrapped around a round bale for my goats , thats worked pretty well.
But my best feeder is the one I have in with my babies. I used an old chain link gate and placed it against the fence and attached it with twine. So they can only get their mouth in to eat the hay!


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

I would try to find some way to get the hay closer to the goats,so they don't want to reach.


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

We use Livestock panels and t-posts. It makes a hay crib the goats can get their heads in but not their bodys. So far they are working with the littles (nobody has gotten stuck in the feeder). We put the smaller grid down and the wider grid up. Decreases climbing on the feeder. We use collars and the only rubbing they get around their necks is during the winter when their hair is long. Tam


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## SherrieC (Oct 26, 2007)

hmm,, I have used Stock panels for years and hate doing it because none of my goats have hair where the neck rubs the panel.


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## Fiberaddict (Jun 4, 2009)

Our hay feeder is made out of a cattle panel - but we made it so that the hay is held right up against the panel. They don't stick their heads thru (well...the kids do, but not the does :lol ), just their noses. No rubs!


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## Theresa (Oct 26, 2007)

I use cattle panels with the feeders on the other side and rarely have the goats rubbed off their hair. You might try moving the hay closer. Otherwise I would recommend getting the utility panels so that the holes are smaller. Then they will not be able to stick their heads, only their nose.
Theresa


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## nightskyfarm (Sep 7, 2009)

Perhaps there is not enough feeder space for the number of goats, so they feel the need to compete for the hay by pushing aggressively. I would increase the feeder space if you can to give them a bit more per goat. I do not use cattle panel, I have wooden hay feeders and with 10 feet of feeder I can only feed around 15 does without competition for feeder space. Maybe the hay should be closer to the panel.


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## luvzmybabz (Sep 15, 2008)

Caprine Beings said:


> We use Livestock panels and t-posts. It makes a hay crib the goats can get their heads in but not their bodys. So far they are working with the littles (nobody has gotten stuck in the feeder). We put the smaller grid down and the wider grid up. Decreases climbing on the feeder. We use collars and the only rubbing they get around their necks is during the winter when their hair is long. Tam


Not necessarily the other day I had to take down 1/2 of our hay holder to get one of my yearlings out. Have no idea how she was able to get in there..................and no idea how long she had been there, hubby did not see her the night before but assumed she was out hanging with her llama buddy.


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

This is so interesting how so many of us do something that sounds the same "feed thru cattle/stock panel" and yet get different issues crop up. These are the "context & condidtions" variables that interest me, why does it work for one, what do they do slightly differently in the details that makes their result different? 

For those of you who keep trying to label me :bigggrin, I guess I'm a bit obsessive scientist, wanting to figure out what makes one result different from another, when they look/sound similar on surface description, but the devils in the details as they say...

Variables so far: collars or not, distance of hay they have to reach thru to get, and angle they reach.

I use collars and get no rubbing. The feed is very close, even up against the panels in some cases so they are reaching thru and can't soil their food, but not straining to reach. I did experiment with the height of the feed, changing the angle they reach thru.


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## mulish (Apr 26, 2009)

Our hay feeder is configured like a chute, so that the hay presses directly against the cattle panel. The girls push their noses in sometimes to go after a tasty stem, but don't need to put their heads through.


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

Would any of you folks be willing to post pics? Hint, hint


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## Qvrfullmidwife (Oct 25, 2007)

Ours have eaten at times through cattle panels. Many of them do have bare patches where they hit the panels when reaching through. I think it is because of this--"Perhaps there is not enough feeder space for the number of goats, so they feel the need to compete for the hay by pushing aggressively" OR in our case, with the # of goats that we have, comes an increased desire to be competitive for feed so they push harder. We are working on adding a lot more hay feeders so there is ample feeder space but goats being goats, I suspect we will always have some issues, as they seem to prefer the jostle of the crowd over elbow room.


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## luvzmybabz (Sep 15, 2008)

I also get the grass is always greener on the other side thing going here. My hay feeder has plenty of room I have cattle panels wrapped around a covered round bale. Only 3 does with 3 babies and 1 dry yearling in that pen But at least they keep a 1 1/2 foot walkway around the pen mowed down.


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## Faithful Crown Nubians (Dec 5, 2007)

Some of my goats have a rub spot but it's not raw, cracked, dried out, or anything so I am not concerned about it.


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## lorit (May 10, 2010)

Yes! Pictures or descriptions (sizes) would be great. Feeding hay and making sure they get enough and yet trying not to waste so much is a HUGE frustration of mine. I have tried hay bags, building my own hay crib, big barrels, small barrels, etc. What may work for one animal doesn't work for another. Some are "sloppy" eaters - get a big mouthful and then chew and let half fall on ground - that really gets my goat.  

I am going to assume that this type of feeder is for outside - what do you use in your barns? We live in the rainy northwest where literally from October - May the goats need to be able to access shelter and eat inside due to rain.

And semi-related - do you feed straight alfalfa or an alfalfa/grass mix? I was told by some locals that the mix is best but my girls prefer the alfalfa and when I feed them the mixed they pick through and around leaving the grass behind.

Some people advocate feeding certain amounts at certain times of day but I tend to lean towards free choice feeding - any opinions on that?
Thanx!


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

Qvrfullmidwife said:


> ...but goats being goats, I suspect we will always have some issues, as they seem to prefer the jostle of the crowd over elbow room.


Oh yes, didn't you get the email? What "they" have is "always better" :rofl

Mine are hilarious, they have AMPLE feeding stations and room, spoiled rotten, and they are just so SURE that what another goat has is "better" LOL. I'm almost convinced that for stuff there's enough of, just put in in one place, let the leaders eat, the others wait their turn, but there'd be less jostling and chaos.


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

I have several styles of cattle panel feeders. My buck who lives in a slide lid rubbermaid shed has a little feeder. Panel wrapped around a square rubbermaid short container about 24" wide, he has to stick his head in and there is slanted panel inside that so he has to pull hay out of that. Then that is lined with smaller wire fence so the hay doesn't all fall to the bottom. It holds two flakes at a time. It's very handy to slide the lid back and put the flakes in. Another is panel circled around a kids small plastic swimming pool about 3' wide. Another is about a 2' x 3' wood box, with panel around it. My favorite is a mesh livestock gate, 2" x 4" mesh, pressed against a wood wall hinged at the bottom, unlatch from top and lay flakes on it and press under pressure against the wall. They then have to really pull on the hay to get it out, since it is so squished against the wall. So there's no dragging loose hay out. That one really saves space since it's just flat against the wall. All of my feeders are inside sheds.


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

lorit said:


> Yes! Pictures or descriptions (sizes) would be great... Some are "sloppy" eaters - get a big mouthful and then chew and let half fall on ground...I am going to assume that this type of feeder is for outside - what do you use in your barns? We live in the rainy northwest where literally from October - May the goats need to be able to access shelter and eat inside due to rain...Some people advocate feeding certain amounts at certain times of day but I tend to lean towards free choice feeding - any opinions..


Ok, lots there... pics would be good, I posted a plan view sketch of my set up awhile ago, I have no idea how'd I find it now. The point of it now would be the "eat under cover" bit. I laughed outloud and startled the dog when I read "rain Oct-May" as you are down in OR and up here in Seattle, its more like the need to be able to eat under cover Sep-July, LOL, maybe 6 weeks end of July thru August is reliably dry. So I have those plastic corrugated panels over a significant area where it keeps their food and them dry when eating.

"Sloppy eaters" LOL, they are so funny. I have 2 that are very delicate eaters for goats, one really will just not get in there with the "Monsters" at all, she just waits and then takes her time "dining" at leisure. The only thing that makes that work is that they have free choice hay and almost free choice alfalfa pellets which they only run out of once in awhile, so I'm in the "free choice" camp.

The funny "sloppy eater" doe, she takes the biggest mouthful of hay and then walks and chews and dribbles it around. The other goats should thank her for the extra bedding, lol. Yes, it annoys me! Her kids are always so funny cuz they start out eating the hanging bits from her mouth. Its a family trait with them, one of her 7 week old kids had a full length strip of banana peel that a friend gave them today, and the dam was trying to grab it as it dangled from her mouth...


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Kathie- we have used 2 panels set on posts at a width that only accommodates a flake.
They do not put their head inside. The hay is pressed up against the panel and so they only eat with noses in.
Premier1 has some great models for feeders. And I think Rose and Vicki both have posted pics here in this discussion before. I hope this link still works because it has some great plans for reducing waste.
http://www.premier1supplies.com/img/instruction/128.pdf


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

My hayfeeders do have panels on them but I don't use livestock panels I use utility panels, they can only get their noses into them, not their head through, not even babies. Now Birdy and Red with their super agressive roman nose and their daughters both have bald spots on the bridge of their noses from eating through the panels. I use alot of cattle panels for fencing but the does do more standing on them to look over, I have strange animals who can not see through panels or board fencing! In the barn I have corral board fencing the girls put their heads through to eat, I feed in the wooden troughs attached to the boards on my side of the barn.....smaller together in the kid pen, further apart in the yearling pens and slatted up and down in the milkers pen. Once milkers I also have a solid wall above their feeder slats so they dont' stand on it looking over. I am super happy with the way I feed now, but it only took about 20 years to figure this all out. And there is still wasted hay, but nothing like before, but very little if any poop in alfalfa pellet feeders. 

Be very careful as you get some age on your bucks, or some of our big nubian does, they simply can't fit through cattle panels without all their extra wrinkly skin getting stuck as they try to get back out! A panicing buck and a cattle panel is a disaster! Vicki


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## BrokenHalterFarm (Feb 16, 2010)

^ I can vouch for that. A rescue buck who's still not 100% health wise (hence still being a buck) managed to get his head through a panel (my avatar picture is the buck) he definetly made the panel look like an art project!


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

BrokenHalterFarm said:


> ...he definetly made the panel look like an art project!


another vote for mini's :biggrin

but some MM's kids locally have gotten their heads stuck in the one with 4x4" openings, I think they call it horse panel?


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

I think that's utility panel, horse panels are 2 x 4.


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

The bucks aren't fed through panels. They have a tub I put their hay in. The bottle babies have a small horse hay feeder. The panels are in the doe pen. I have a tub in there for the dam raised kids to eat from, so they don't feed through the panels with the adults. My friend got some other type feeding panels from an auction and may sell a couple to me. I still haven't seen them yet, but they may work.


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

I was having the same problem. I cut one of the horizontal bars out with bolt cutters. I no longer have those ugly places on their neck that has all the hair rubbed off and scabbed. The only problem with this is if you let young kids in with the older does - they will go through it.


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## Qvrfullmidwife (Oct 25, 2007)

"but some MM's kids locally have gotten their heads stuck in the one with 4x4" openings,"

I have had a MM/alpine cross kid get out of the 4X4 opeining in utility panels daily.


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