Horse feeder - automatic hay dispenser

In order to be as close as possible to the natural way of eating of the horses we have to feed them many times a day.
For this we have build some automatic feeder that will give a ration of hay three times. In order to feed them 8 times per day we just feed them by hand in the morning and reload the feeding boxes at the same time. Then the box will open during the day according to the timer. In the evening we also feed them and reload the feeding box. During the night they will also get three times food.
The system runs from a 12 volts battery and in case the power would go off the food drops automatically so the horses don't remain without food.

[@loriirwin9357]

What mechanisms do you use for the latches? How long does the 12 volt battery last?

[@matthieuagniel8699]

Hi, I used some electromagnet that is used to keep the doors closed in some buildings. The battery is plugged into a small charger, so we never had any problem with it. The magnet drains very little amount of energy, and also only when it's closed, so most of the day, it does not drain any. I have then used some micro relay programmers to schedule the opening times. If you are interested, let me know, and I will find the link toward the magnet and programmer I used. Have a nice day!

[@ccunni3812]

@@matthieuagniel8699 Hi - any possibility you can send the links for the magnet an programmer?