deer feed

1S1K

Well-Known Member
Hi all

I have got round to build my deer feeders but i am having probs getting dried maize is there anything else that is good to feed them?? I also have molassesa salt block but dont know what to put in feeders any help please.

craig

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seem to eat the carrots and apples i put down readily but never seen which species it is as have roe muntjac and fallow in same wood
 
I,m guessing it's feed as a suplement for roe ? If so , unless they are used to raiding pheasant feeders it can take a long time for them to twigg that there's grub available especially if the feeders are a shiny new arrival in the wood. I have had good sucess with flaked maize/rolled peas/rolled oats and either sheep rough mix or a general ruminant pellet in larger hopper mangers. As our deer were used to stealing from pheasant feeders i used these to draw them to the new mangers.
Probably best not to fill to the neck initially and just put out a small amount untill your certain it's deer, not pheasants,squirrels ,brock or wee birdies ect ect having a nosh at your expence. Unless your feeding herds of fallow it shouldnt be too expensive to buy a bag of each of the straits mentioned and mix a few pounds each week you can always double up on the cheaper oats to make a mix go further.
As a general rule i would initially site a feeder at a point where deer are likely to have to pass quite closely to it, near a gap in fence or wall ect preferrably where it will get some shelter from the worst weather ( saves trying to feed a soggy mouldy mush)and at a suitable hieght for the desired species. It may be worth giving it a camo spray just to keep general public from aquiring or messing with your handy work. Good luck and i'd be interested to hear how quickly deer strted to use it.
 
Definetly start them slow if your feeding them high energy/ protein feed as you can poison them with the sudden over load, but once they start picking away it won't do them any harm, we feed Brock tatties (miss shaped or split potatoes) along side our pheasant feeders along with salt licks to keep them going over the winter months.
 
Thank you for the info all I dont have massive numbers as most of the deer I get come from the estate next to me farm. And they are very used to pheasants feeders. But the few I do have I know where they visit and hold up so will place them around those areas.

the pipes are a great idea but not cheap 2 cost me £46 so must be better ways

​Craig
 
Why are you feeding them this time of year? Rolled oats work well. If you are feeding them over the winter you need to start in the late autumn so there gutts get use to the food. Build a feeder out of ply , much cheaper.
 
II am not going to start feeding untill the autum I am just trying to keep a few more deer on my side of the fence so I thought of using feeders to see if it would work. Also by putting them out now my hope is the deer will get used to them instead of them just turning up full of food. mdf is cheap but surely will rot very quick the pipes will last for years. I may even put down some pheasant feeders as well to see if they will work.

and I never even thought about rain collecting in the bend yes there is always that but they will be in a wood i think i will just have to put some more thought into where to locate them with the salt licks I have.

thank you for your input
Craig
 
Craig, why not use Mangers.
When I was trying to get some pictures of activity in a particular wood a while ago I made some mangers from ply and of course they have roofs so are safe from rain, and just put wheat in the food cradle.
Just off the ground to deter Badgers, mice or rats but they still got at the wheat but not enough to worry about, mind you wheat at the time was less than £100 a ton then.
 
EMCc not heard of this don't really know what you mean, have you any photos they sound interesting as I loose a lot of wheat to badgers.
 
Craig, why not use Mangers.
When I was trying to get some pictures of activity in a particular wood a while ago I made some mangers from ply and of course they have roofs so are safe from rain, and just put wheat in the food cradle.
Just off the ground to deter Badgers, mice or rats but they still got at the wheat but not enough to worry about, mind you wheat at the time was less than £100 a ton then.
Thats the way to do it. Build in a hopper so you don't have to fill every day. Pressure treated wood and a sheat of ply and your sorted.
 
That's the sort of thing but maybe not quite so elaborate size wise.
The trough is just right from the ground but maybe the top shelter needn't be quite so high
One of the things to consider is, to make sure the trough isn't too wide.
If it is too wide it can't feed to the middle from both sides and could try to mount the trough to get to the middle and tip it over.
 
Not a bad idea them eddy I might have a go got to be cheaper

thank you for the info

​Craig
 
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