Many of you may already know about these however I figured I'd post some pics in case you didn't. These are 250 gallon totes I have had laying around for years .
I was reluctant to cut them up since they make good water storage tanks. But hey after just taking up space for several years I figured I'd better put them to good use or get rid of them
For the cows I cut the openings wider and higher. It helps with bullying for food since they are kind of stuck in their own trough and have to take their head out of the food if they want to bully the cow next to them lol. Its not perfect but works pretty good.
For sheep or goats just leave them thinner and cut the plastic tote about chest high or a little lower and you can leave two rails on top.
It also helps lose less hay then throwing it on the ground. Tilt it a bit so the drain end is a little lower and it helps keep the hay dryer. One tote can accomodate 7-8 cows and 12 or so sheep. I have 7 cows and its a bit crowded when they are all there but works ok. I am thinking of getting another one for the cows to allow them to spread out a bit.
Enjoy and hope this is useful to some of you. ;)
We thought of doing something similar for our cattle, but we are currently using them as stock tanks instead. They have been using them for a couple of months now and so far so good. Its amazing how many uses one can find for an IBC tank.