Mineral Feeders

What type of mineral feeders (loose mineral) does everybody prefer?

My favorite feeders that we have are the Sioux Ground Feeders.  http://www.siouxsteel.com/index.php/product-detail/ground-mineral-feeder
We got ours from our Vita Ferm dealer (they have the VF logo on the side).  The cows can't flip them over and they hold 150 lbs of mineral easily.

Plastic 55 gallon drum, cut hole in side, hang from tree on rope. Practically indestructible.

We have the same type that Lightnin4 likes (maybe different company - ours are blue with black flap).  We've had them for several years virtually indestructable, ran over one with tractor - didn't hurt it a bit.  They don't rust, break, or tip  over which is the problems we had before.

You guys ever had trouble with those ground feeders ripping ear tags out....?  I've heard comments on that before. 

My favorite is the easy-way....have had our first one for 12 years now, insecticide tank cracked, but like new other than that.

http://easywaycattlecare.com/mineral.php

Have never had one tipped over.

We've got several of them now.

We have a 6 foot by 2 foot wood bunk, made by my FFA kids years ago. It can hold probably 500 pounds, but we usually just put in 100 pounds at a time.

I am liking the 55 gallon drum idea. The cheaper the better. I found this video on youtube.  Make a Cattle Mineral Feeder

husker1 said:

You guys ever had trouble with those ground feeders ripping ear tags out....?  I've heard comments on that before. 

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No. There's nothing on these feeders to catch an eartag on.  They don't have a metal frame like some of them do.  Just a solid plastic bottom, with a short rod in the center that holds the rubber flap on.

lightnin4 said:

My favorite feeders that we have are the Sioux Ground Feeders.  http://www.siouxsteel.com/index.php/product-detail/ground-mineral-feeder
We got ours from our Vita Ferm dealer (they have the VF logo on the side).  The cows can't flip them over and they hold 150 lbs of mineral easily.

Click to expand...

same as me!

We use old tires flipped inside out and bolted to some boards, cheap and sturdy, but aren't the greatest at keeping it dry.

regarding using the plastic barrels for mineral feeders - the problem is that bulls will butt them like a punching bag and spill that $25 per bag mineral all over the ground - we took all of ours down and went to the ground models with flaps - use a LOT less mineral these days - the commercial feeds soon paid for themselves -

I'll 2nd Easy Way. Made right here in my home town. Have had one for 8 years, legs been buried in manure in a yard and she still solid. Face flap works great never have to worry about pink eye and if a bull could get it tipped over her needs a bullet anyway!