Location: Fenceline Forage Feeder

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Wildridge
Wildridge
Fenceline Forage Feeder
Jun 3 2009, 4:56 PM EDT | Post edited: Jun 3 2009, 4:56 PM EDT
Great idea for a fenceline feeder Tangledmanes! I've been pondering your idea for a while now & just can't come up with how to construct this one. Care to share any ideas you may be pondering? I would just love to try one myself & very well may if I can come up with a "how to". If we did one, we'd have to do it along our electric fence & that may be a problem depending on how it is constructed. I've been thinking wood with drainage holes, but there must be a better way! I keep looking around in my travels trying to come up with something some one is discarding that I could reuse for this use (even if I had to collect them for a while...or even add on to the fenceline forage feeder as material became available.
Ann Do you find this valuable?    
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tangledmanes
tangledmanes
1. RE: Fenceline Forage Feeder
Jun 30 2009, 1:11 AM EDT | Post edited: Jun 30 2009, 1:11 AM EDT
I'm waiting for the feeder toy box to get down here with the Nose-Its to see how loud they sound here. My neighbors are a little bit closer here, so the sounds of drum-playing horses *may* not be appreciated here -- we'll see. Still thinking about materials and construction, but am in the thick of moving-in mayhem. :-)

JoAnn Do you find this valuable?    
tangledmanes
tangledmanes
2. RE: Fenceline Forage Feeder - Polymax
Oct 13 2009, 9:12 PM EDT | Post edited: Oct 13 2009, 9:12 PM EDT
What do you think of the possibility of using this Polymax material along the bottom of the Fenceline Forage Feeder?
http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft1_building_material-ft1_polymax_wall_rolls;pg106854_108410.html
At an eighth of an inch thick and 32 inches wide, it costs $3.79 per linear foot. It is sold in 50' rolls. That's kind of pricey -- $189.50. But it's 50 feet of smooth high-density polyethylene (HDPE) without a seam. Rainwater would run right out of it with just a slight tilt.
Its feeder frame would be 50' long (obviously) by about 18 inches wide. That's about the depth of a laundry basket. The Polymax would wrap up onto the sides of the frame to about the height of a laundry basket. The frame could be made taller if necessary. My feeder toy boxes have 24" high sides and my horses don't step over that.

JoAnn Do you find this valuable?    
tangledmanes
tangledmanes
3. RE: Fenceline Forage Feeder - cow tech
Oct 13 2009, 9:35 PM EDT | Post edited: Oct 13 2009, 9:36 PM EDT
I also started looking at construction methods for building long cow barn mangers. I came across this info:
"Providing a comfortable eating position for your cow should increase
feed intake. When grazing, a cow will stand with her forelegs apart with
one foot in front of the other. This stance lowers her shoulders, neck and
head to a comfortable eating position. Since this position may be
difficult to achieve, the manger surface should be 4" higher than the cow
platform. If mattresses are retrofitted in old barns, mangers often end up
too low, and will require work to raise and refinish.
Manger surfaces should be smooth and easy to clean. Ceramic tiles are
effective, but pre-formed tile manger sections with very few grout lines
are preferred to bathroom tiles. These are less slippery, reducing risk of
injury to farm workers. Most applied surfaces, such as epoxy coatings,
have not stood up well despite high cost. Newer concrete surfacing agents
applied to wet high strength concrete can create a very durable manger
surface at less cost than ceramic tile." at

What that tells me is that if someone were able to find a cow manger to re-purpose as a super-long horse feeder toy box (for rolling the "Nose-It!" along the fence line like grazing), we would need to sink the cow manger up to four inches because they are built up above ground level for cow barns.

Just trying to look at several options...
JoAnn Do you find this valuable?    
Wildridge
Wildridge
4. RE: Fenceline Forage Feeder - cow tech
Oct 17 2009, 8:49 AM EDT | Post edited: Oct 17 2009, 8:49 AM EDT
Great research JoAnne. I haven't forgotten PP or your idea about a fence line feeder. Seems as though you may be on to something with the cow manger & the Polymax material. I need to check out the Polymax ! Ann Do you find this valuable?