I got my starter kit. Then once our goats began eating just certain minerals, I ordered the 2lb bags to replenish just the minerals that seemed to be missing from their diet. Our goats are looking great and after the fall kidding season, the mom's bounced back alot quicker than usual. I've been told the buffet system is just a "gimmick", well, I am here to say, the goats select what they need. I'm interested to see which ones they consume during our winter.
Although it looks a little obscene, this toy cracks me up! It's smaller than the regular rubber chickens...about half size. My cocker spaniel likes it when I squeeze it but doesn't play with it.
My goats love the mineral buffer. The one tha5 is away naked has got her hair back so I’m going to breed her this year and prayers that she doesn’t go naked again.
My boys are no longer bald in spots with flaky skin. No more flaky pink around eyes. Back to butting heads! They sure let me know when they're out of a favorite! Quick shipping!
I bought a set of these to use in my mineral buffet for my herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats. The buffet lasted less than 5 minutes before the goats had ripped out all of the feeders and scattered all the minerals on the ground.
These may be suitable for some other purpose, but they should not be advertised in or near mineral buffet products as they are wholly unsuited to use with anything else mineral buffet related.
The Stainless Steel Mineral Identification Tag screws poke through to the inside of the feeder bowl and presents a hazard (there are 2 sharp pointy things inside each feeder bowl).
The feeders are not big enough to hold a whole bag of minerals in some cases--I had lots of leftover minerals with just a little leftover after filling each bowl.
The feeders are flimsy. The plastic breaks easily. Goats will rip these off anything to which you try to attach them.
I wasted $250 on these (for the set of bowls and a set of minerals which was wasted).
Maybe these are suitable for small animals, but this is extremely misleading to suggest it is suitable for goats.
I am sorry to hear that you had a negative experience with the feeder trays! Perhaps I can share some tips for better success, so that if you wish to try again, you can, or perhaps a different set up would work better for you. We do have lots of really good ideas compiled here for you to browse suggestions: https://theholisticgoat.com/mineral-buffet-feeder-ideas/. These are submitted by users and work in their herds. In the third photo, you'll see the EZ crock trays in use, and that particular setup has worked for a few years now without being broken. Alternatively, we recommend a shelf over the top of, or an enclosure around each tray to keep more climb-prone herds off the trays. If the goats are able to actually climb up on them, well, they aren't designed to hold the weight of an entire goat for sure! The tags aren't designed to be screwed into the plastic either, for the reasons you mentioned. Most of us screw them into the wood on the wall behind the feeder. If you wanted to attach them to the feeder tray, I would recommend searching out some type of bracket or wiring it to them instead of using the included wood screws. The 10 oz size EZ crock feeder trays work for most smaller herds, many of us prefer to not put out the entire bag contents at once in case of spillage or rain. If you have a larger herd, larger trays might fit your preference to avoid refilling as often. We do carry 3.5 quart black feeder trays you might prefer, or larger feeders can be sourced elsewhere online, many suggestions are in the Feeder Ideas link I shared above. Some even use PVC pipe, which might be a good choice for you. Thank you for letting us know about the difficulties you had. We are always only an email or message away, and very willing to help you with setup ideas that will work for your herd to avoid disappointment and waste. Please do not hesitate to reach out directly to us, or in the FB group, for collective suggestions to goat-proof your next setup should you choose to try again.