I’ve seen folks who just toss out the flakes of hay and let the animals have at it, others who make fancy wooden boxes with cattle panels weighing it down, overhead feeders, and hay nets.
My first year I just threw it on the ground and had a lot of waste so this year I had to think of something else to help save $ on hay. I really didn’t feel like sawing, nailing, screwing, cutting yadda yadda yadda to make a hay bin, nor did I feel like spending that kind of $$$ to make one either. My solution had to come from items I had already in the house or barn with minimal out of pocket expense.
The solution? Rubbermaid pink tote hay bins! Who doesn’t have a ton of Rubbermaid bins hanging around the house? It turns out 2-3 flakes of hay fit beautifully into these tubs and you can still put the lid on.
COOL!
Trials:
1. Put hay in bins without lids. – Resulted in just as much hay waste, the alpacas thought it was a game to dig all the hay out of the bin. The bin also became a toy and was kicked around.
2. Secure bins to stall wall with screws and washers. – This solved the kicking around the bins but didn’t slow the hay waste down.
3.Cut a hole in bin cover and line the opening with duck tape (hole size ~10”x~12”. Voila! – The alpacas can easily get their head in the bin and the lid provided a lip so they couldn’t rake all the hay out of the bin with one mouthful.
Total out of pocket cost? $0! I had everything laying around that I needed. However I’m sure I’m now going to want 2 more bins for something else but at $5 ea. I think I can manage that cost.
I know what you’re thinking, but their heads will get stuck! Actually, it hasn’t been a problem. Because the bin is screwed into the wall it’s not moving anywhere and the lids snap on pretty tight. I guess the worst case scenario would be an alpaca manages to pop the top off while they pull their head out of the bin. In that case, they will be wearing an interesting necklace until you catch them and take it off. I’ve been monitoring mine via AlpacaCam and so far no one has even struggled getting their head in or out of the box. 2 alpacas seem pretty comfortable eating out of one box too.
Some other cool things about these hay bins. Easy to load, pop the top off add 2 flakes of hay and snap the top back on. Should they get really dirty on the inside, 2 screws/washers hold them to the wall. Unscrew, hose out, dry, and screw back onto the wall.