Homemade Feeder Panel for Cows

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Homemade Feeder Panel for Cows

Рет қаралды 19,810

5 жыл бұрын

We finally got down to the bottom of the main hay stack "pancake" and decided to let the cows feed themselves from one of the hay stack "muffins." The metal feeder gates at the farm store were hundreds of dollars, and so we built one out of wood! It works really well and we like this set up a lot!
Music: Apple iMovie River Walk and Space Log

Пікірлер: 46

@rhondakeller2592 5 ай бұрын

Great idea!

@khingshun 5 жыл бұрын

Always learning something new from ur videos. Thank you

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

khingshun good to hear! Thanks for watching!

@daviddaniken7248 5 жыл бұрын

Good looking cattle. That hay feeder is dandy and looked like it went together slick. Thanks for the video!

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

David Daniken thank you... And thanks for watching!

@dc761 5 жыл бұрын

I love what you 2 are doing. I grew up on a very small family farm. It wasnt enough to make a living on as just a grain farm, my uncle farms it and works at the local Case IH dealer now but I am wanting to start a small farm myself. I plan on just starting with a big garden, all the land I have at this time is my 1 1/4 acre yard. Most of the yard is going to be garden, im going to plant sweet corn, popcorn, watermelons, strawberries, cucmbers, tomatoes, and pumpkins. We will can and freeze some for ourselves and sell the rest at local farm markets and a roadside stand at home. Hopefully we will eventually be able to add some more acerage, my aunt has an apple orchard next door to us , she is getting older and keeps talking about giving it up so I may eventually take it over. I also want to raise some hogs and beef cattle in the future. The end goal is to have our own store where we sell all of the meat and produce that we raise as well as some other things we make such as hand made furniture and seasonal decorations and nick nacks, as well as an old fashioned hardware and general store.

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

Dan Cooper those are some big and exciting plans! We wish you the best and really are glad to hear from you!!!

@oldoldpilgrim7898 5 жыл бұрын

Good old Gene Logston. I used to read his submissions to a back to the land publication or two back in the 70's or 80's. Good times.

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

Gene Logsdon's book "All Flesh is Grass" was a major influence in how we farm today. It was a great loss when he passed. Luckily, his blog is being kept active, and I still check in on it from time to time. Obviously, everything on the blog has been previously published, but a lot of it is new to me. Thanks for watching!

@richwhitaker1506 5 жыл бұрын

Great way let them fend for themselves. Adding a cross member so they lower their heads to reach in for the hay reduces waste. You are all surviving Winter well. Happy Spring.

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

rich whitaker thanks! We thought about another cross member, as well as angling the uprights. I think most of the waste was really due to us piling the loose hay so high behind it. Oh well. The waste hay does give them a comfy place to lay outside, so that was an unintended benefit. Future designs will be refined! Thanks for the suggestion and thanks for watching!

@stevemccoy8138 5 жыл бұрын

Hi, I just love watching your videos, The heifers are really growing, looking Good! 🐂

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

steve mccoy we love that you love watching our videos! Thanks! Yes, the heifers are doing great. Forage based diet, fresh air, and clean dry bedding are doing well for them. Just like us, they’re ready for green grass though!

@farmertylerranch4399 5 жыл бұрын

Nice job guys. Yes store bought fence line bunks are insanely expensive! I looked at buying some to save time but nope I’ll be building them too! If you’re having a problem with them pulling the hay out and dropping it on the ground, stepping on it, and ultimately wasting it, try putting your divider slats at about a 30 degree angle. Enough angle to where they have to tilt their heads to get in there. That really discourages them from pulling the hay out and wasting it! Great video as always!

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

Farmer Tyler Ranch they are definitely expensive. Eventually, we’ll have a couple rows of galvanized steel lockup’s, but in the meantime we needed something cheap and fast to throw together temporarily. We thought of angling the uprights, but that would have slowed me down! On our other feeder, we built it with “V” shaped openings, and that has worked well. One unintended benefit to them wasting hay is now they have a comfy place to lay down outside. They learned quickly to take advantage of that. Thanks for watching!

@DennysCountryLife 5 жыл бұрын

Looks like they took to it good! If it works, you should replace the T-posts with 6x6's. If the hey gets too far away from the feeder, they'll push in on it and bend those post right over. Always nice to see from you guys!

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

Denny's Country Life so far the “t” posts are holding up fine. When they’re done with this stack, we want to move it to the next one, so maintaining portability is key. I don’t even know how I’d set a 6x6 in this frozen ground, haha!

@ajfarms630 3 жыл бұрын

Boy that ain't nothing like a Happy cow to put a smile on your face 🥰How far apart were your centers? I'm wanting to try my hand at building a hay manger.

@vnthomas16 3 жыл бұрын

Hello there! Yes, we love happy cows! If I recall correctly, the uprights were 18” OC. So, close to 15” opening. Probably a bit too wide still. One of our calves could figure out how to climb through when she was little. This was built as a temporary solution... but like so many “temporary” things, it’s still here! Haha! If I were to do it again, besides making the openings a bit narrower, I’d definitely angle the uprights a little bit. This forces the cow to have to twist her head a little to get in our out. They’re less apt to pull hay out and waste it that way. Good luck on your project!

@siebertnutma7631 5 жыл бұрын

Nice video. Cool to see you doing it on your way. Kind regard from Holland.

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

Agrartechnik Und Motocross Hallo, bedankt voor het kijken. (Hello, thanks for watching) in Dutch, if Google translate is right!

@siebertnutma7631 5 жыл бұрын

@@vnthomas16 Yes google did it right! Cool to have a responds from you.👍🏻

@CKD-me8ri 5 жыл бұрын

Neat feeder!

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

CKD1944 Thanks! And thanks for watching!

@chrisbennett1701 4 жыл бұрын

Great idea I've also heard of doing silage same way kind of good job u two r very intelligent

@vnthomas16 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks! That's actually where I got the idea. I saw some old plans for bunker silos where there was a movable feeder panel that moved forward as the cows ate into the bunk. You just have to watch out for undermining. Thanks for watching!

@chrisbennett1701 4 жыл бұрын

@@vnthomas16 yes electric wire will work to

@stevemccoy8138 5 жыл бұрын

Hi, It's starting to get nice here, already had a few 70+ degree days.

@stevemccoy8138 5 жыл бұрын

Yes, I can imagine. It's been a long winter.

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

So long. So. So. long. The spring is glorious and reestablishes one's faith in nature for sure!

@Faithfulfamily Жыл бұрын

Interested to know how well this stood up to your girls? We have a few dexters and are trying to figure out what the best way to feed them is. We have tried a few different diy fence line feeders but non have stood up well to their abuse. Def interested in this idea as it’s similar to what we did with our sheep

@vnthomas16 Жыл бұрын

It’s held up well! We’re still using it in fact! It’s been modified over the years, now it’s more of a standalone unit with a wood manger we built on to it.

@gillydouglas6094 5 жыл бұрын

That's kool. So about 5 muffins should last them for a year.

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

Gilly Douglas that’s probably pretty close. We’d want at least one of these muffin type stacks per cow per winter, plus maybe a little more.

@Steve-ps6qw 5 жыл бұрын

Always nice to see how lively the animals are...love when they jump around....I saw some fancy rope work on the hay feeder...looks like a master bosun was at work! But I do have a question, why are they going to hay in May and June? Also, I have been watching the weather forecasts for Athol, Spirit Lake area of ID and I know this time next week the highs will be in the low 50s!!!

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

Steve they will be grazing in May and June... But we will be Haying! Once the grass starts coming in, it doesn’t take long until it’s ready to cut, as most of our farm is south facing.

@Steve-ps6qw 5 жыл бұрын

Oh, that's right, you grow organic hay as well...I don't know how I forgot that.

@KeithFinkFamilyFarm 5 жыл бұрын

Love it all. Inexpensive/practical is always better. The hay looks great. The heifers look great. It was nice to see that you were able to hammer that T-post into the ground - a bit surprised that the ground was not frozen solid. Hay gate is a good term, too. Is it near the watergate? I've been familiar with that term since the early 1970s. Keith-

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

Keith Fink we were relieved to open that stack and see the hay was in great condition! Right now our 8” soil temp is sitting at 32.5f. Once you punch through the top layer, it’s pretty easy going. Our frost depth is technically 30”, which you might hit higher in the mountains, but we’re on the valley floor. Hay gate... feeder panel... fence line feeder.... we’re still figuring out what we want to call it.

@fionajane56 5 жыл бұрын

The heifers look awesome👍🏼 When are you going to AI them and can you tell us about your bull choice? That is s upper nice feeder set up and your hay is beautiful......Kentucky hay is never that green😳

@vnthomas16 5 жыл бұрын

Fiona C we’ll probably breed them in July... Aiming for an April calving. Haven’t choosen a bull yet. We do intend to stay with the NZ genetics. Thanks for watching!

@virginiajorda4226 4 жыл бұрын

Any issues with over eating this way? I need a way to automate feeding. Mainly so I can run away for a night here and there. I'm terrified if I free feed my girl will bloat.

@vnthomas16 4 жыл бұрын

Our cows are bred as high producing dairy cows, so we try and ensure we have feed in front of them as much as possible. We feed mostly grass though. Bloat can be a concern depending on what you feed them as well as other factors.