Feeding sheep for a fiber producing enterprise is not an easy task. Sheep have an uncanny way of getting a lot of hay into their wool, which can cause the shepherd hours of "picking" to get the VM (vegetable matter) out of the wool before it is sold or processed. We went through three styles of hay feeders before finally trying the Grate Bale Box Feeders that were designed by Dane Melvin. These feeders are WONDERFUL! Pictured at right is a custom designed feeder made from a Grate Bale Box Feeder kit. My father-in-law Willie Gisch designed the roof so that rain will not spoil the hay and so the sheep cannot jump on top of the bales. There are many benefits to using this style of feeder: 1) Hay savings - the sheep eat the entire bale, with barely any loss of hay; 2) Time savings in terms of chores - just keep the feeders filled and depending on how many feeders to sheep and the size of the bale, you no longer have to go out and "feed the sheep" daily; 3) Time savings in terms of CLEAN wool - I can skirt an entire fleece in about 10 minutes. Contrast that to working tediously on fleeces I've bought in from other farms that are full of VM, and can take hours to pick through - it's amazing how clean the sheep stay using these feeders; 4) Healthier sheep - they are no longer dragging their hay on the ground, and eating contaminated food and the hay is truly FREE CHOICE. With full feeders, sheep can "graze" the hay when they are hungry. The style of the feeder mimics their natural grazing, by eating "down" and the slower eaters can graze all day, no longer losing out to the faster, more aggressive eaters; 5) Money savings - the sheep are consuming almost the entire bale, instead of wasting upwards of 50% by pulling it on the ground. Do I sound like a commercial? Probably, but I think of it more as a testimonial. For more information click on Grate Bale Box Feeders.
			Addendum: While we have really liked bale box style hay feeders, we found that horned sheep (particularly lambs) could get their horns caught in the small "holes" of the grates. So we had to stop using the grates on top of the bales. This does lead to more wasted hay, as the sheep pull it out easier. It's not bad for polled sheep, or older sheep with larger snouts and horns, but it did become problematic when horns were getting caught.