How to Design a Hay Feeder

Designing the proper hay feeder for your animals can save some serious headaches down the road. If your design does not take into account what animals will be eating from the feeder, you can end up with more hay on the floor than hay that ended up as food. Luckily, building a hay feeder that fits your needs is not only easy but also inexpensive.

Things You'll Need

  • Ply wood
  • Hammer
  • Nails
  • Hay
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Instructions

  1. Building a Hay Feeder

    • 1

      Start this project by using the proper material to build the hay feeder. Ply wood is one of the best materials as it is both non-toxic to animals and inexpensive. You could even use any extra ply wood you have to build a hay feeder. If ply wood is not readily available to you, any other non-toxic and sturdy material will do.

    • 2

      Build the hay feeder so that the dimensions are slightly larger than the dimensions of a bale of hay. To do this, your hay feeder should be 40 inches long, 22 inches wide, and 18 inches tall. This will ensure that an entire bale of hay can fit in the hay feeder without overflowing. These dimensions mean that each side of the hay feeder will have the following dimensions:
      Floor - 40 inches by 22 inches
      Right and Left Walls - 22 inches by 18 inches
      Front and Back Walls - 40 inches by 18 inches

    • 3

      Hammer the sides of the hay feeder together using a hammer and nails. You should use enough nails to ensure that all sides are sturdily attached to each other since the animals using the hay feeder might bump into it a few times.

    • 4

      Place the feeder at a level your animals are used to eating at. For example, if you are are using a hay feeder for grazing animals, the feeder should be placed as low to the ground as possible. This will ensure that the animals are comfortable with the feeder and will actually eat the hay as opposed to rustling through the hay.