Cattle Feed Trough - Made from Extra Wood & a Plastic Barrel

We added cattle to our land three weeks ago.  Each weekend since, we have visited to check on the cattle and fencing.  Each time we visit, we ride the perimeter of the property on a four wheeler to find the cattle.  We then feed them some cattle cubes and try to get them a bit more comfortable being around us.

I'd like to be able to call the cattle up as needed rather than drive around to find them.  This is certainly going to be a bit of a process.  We have tried calling them and shaking a feed bag with cattle cubes in it but it does little good.  If we can call them up to a pin area and feed them there, we will be in a better position later to care for them by being able to easily call them up to the pin as we have done it so many times to feed them.

I decided to use a spare plastic 55 gallon barrel and some extra 2" x 8" wood to make a feed trough.  This will beat pouring the cattle cubes out on the ground and will work well as a regular place to feed so they know exactly where to go time after time.  

To build the trough, I used a reciprocating saw to cut the plastic 55 gallon barrel.  I was initially concerned I would not cut it straight enough but found a seam line on the barrel which marked exactly the center of the barrel which greatly simplified the process.   

I made the frame surrounding the top of the barrel pieces first (59" x 28").  Once it was built, I cut legs for each of the four corners.  Due to the piece of wood I had available, I cut the legs to 23" to make the best use of the wood.  I then mounted the barrel halves to the wooden surround with some screws from Lowe's. 

I imagine it would be sturdy enough with just the legs at the corners but I wanted some supports under the barrels to reduce my reliance on just the screws to hold the barrel halves in place.  This required some additional wood from Lowe's to add the center set of legs so I could put 2" x 6" supports underneath each end of the barrels.  This made the trough quite heavy and really strong.  If nothing else, this will keep the cattle from turning it over.

I finished the project up by drilling four 1/4" holes in the bottom of the barrel.  These should allow any water which gets into the trough to drain out.  

I didn't have any screws to build the trough so I had to buy those plus two 2" x 6" x 8' boards.  Considering most of the supplies I used were scrap, I have about $20 in the trough.