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Pellets in the feeder #10250 11/30/04 10:10 PM
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operationporkchop Offline OP
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Yall tried the deer pellets in your feeder instead of corn? I heard that this protein high fat pellet is real good.I saw some at a feed store and I am just curious. It was about 7 or 8 dollars per 50lb bag.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: operationporkchop] #10251 12/01/04 03:20 AM
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Whatever you do.... DON'T put it in your spin feeder.

First, it doesn't funnel down to the spin plate. It's like Lincoln Logs in there. They just don't fall properly to the spin plate.

Second, they absorb moisture in the air. The ones that are sitting on the spin plate and exposed to the weather will swell with the absorbtion and clog the feeder.

Been there, done that!

Make a protien feeder like I have posted in my TFF ShareAlbum. I'll try and pull up some pictures from it and post on her tomorrow. It's simple to make with a 55 gallon drum and PVC pipe. It helps control the amount that a deer will eat in one visit to the feeder. The bucks sure do love it though!

Well, here is a picture of it. Note the slope on the feed tube. It protects the pellets from rain. The deer bump the pipe to make it feed more. I've watched bucks actually stick their G2's in the hole to rake out the feed. It's a blast to watch them!






Last edited by TheHag; 12/01/04 01:17 PM.

Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: TheHag] #10252 12/01/04 11:58 AM
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Totally agree, Hag. Made this mistake once....a big mess! A gravity-type feeder is definitely the way to go.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: DPD25] #10253 12/01/04 01:06 PM
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WEW BUY A MIX OF CORN AND ROASTED SOY BEANS FOR HIGHER PROTIEN AND IT WORKS GREAT IN MY FEEDER



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Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: TheHag] #10254 12/01/04 03:15 PM
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Tommy, what size PVC pipe is that..4"s? I assume you have a fence around the drop feeder since cows would break the pipe pretty easy. Do you attach the pipe to the bottom of the barrel using a flange screwed into the bottom of the barrel? and the hole in the barrel cut as large as the pipe?
Neat looking setup!! and just may be the ticket for an area I'm thinking about.
Ron



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Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: WileyCoyote] #10255 12/01/04 03:34 PM
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Hag, I tried making the same thing, looks just like it, but I had a problem. When I poured the protein in, it came straight out, there was nothing to stop it at the openings. Do you have something inside the openings to hold the pellets in? I ended up going to just a 90 degree.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: dgilbert] #10256 12/01/04 05:04 PM
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Yeah, that's 4" pipe with a toilet bowl flange for connecting to the drum. Very simple and cheap to make. We have 5 of them on our ranch. We put them toward the center of the ranch, to make the deer go to the middle of the ranch to feed.... rather than them coming from the neighbor's ranch, eating and then going back across the fence to be shot by them.

We don't have anything slowing down the protien pellets from falling directly into the tube. The only thing we have is a funnel that makes every last drop go down the tube. The tube does have to be level or it will cause the pellets to follow the slope of the tube and feed out though. If you continue to have that problem, heat up the bottom of the pipe and bend a lip in it with some pliers.

Yes, we have a 4 wire fence around all our feed pens. Note the mud on the bottom of the pipe. That's from deer pawing at it to knock the feed out of it. The rubbed places on the bottom of the barrel are from the heads of the bucks as they put their horn into the pipe to drag out more feed. Bucks get impatient eating a little at a time, so they drag out a pile and then eat it all at once.



Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: TheHag] #10257 12/01/04 09:49 PM
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Gotta be a hoot watching them work their horns around in the tube!!!
Bro In law used to put out a monster jar of peanut butter by taking some big screws and putting them thru the lid of plastic jar into a tree trunk at Buck deer heights and then screwing the jar into the lid after he had used a jig saw to cut the bottom out of the jar... I saw one buck with his nose inside the jar up to his eyeballs trying to lick the last little bit off the inside of the lid..what a laugh! They liked Jif crunchy the best he said LOL!!!
I used to buy quart cans of sorgum syrup down in deep east Texas and punch one or two ice pick holes in the bottoms of a can, hang them from a tree so that they'd just barely drip when the sun was on the can after the first freeze... makes a great lick area, but I lost my cheap syrup source about 10 years ago and haven't tried it lately. A laugh riot watching bucks bat those cans around like a pinata with their horns!!! You could always tell when Big Daddy was near as the kiddo's would scamper out of the pen like teenagers caught with a cigarette in the High School bathroom!
Ron



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Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: WileyCoyote] #10258 12/01/04 11:39 PM
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Hag I use that type of protein feeder that you speak of and they work great. Cheap to make as well.



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Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: HunterTed] #10259 12/02/04 12:53 AM
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operationporkchop Offline OP
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Hag, sweet set up and thanks for the info. I will give that sey up a try. Since you dont have a timer on your feeder do the deer still come on a schedule or are they feeding at different times.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: operationporkchop] #10260 12/02/04 02:10 PM
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The old bucks feed out of it around 1:00 am to 3:00 am. The young 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 year old bucks will feed out of it when they come up to the spin feeders. The old bucks will come up there with the does and take a few bites out of the protien while the rut is going on. But, then they go back to the business at hand with the does and all.

We have set out the motion activated video cameras and watched them at the feeders for several years now. The bucks with the forked G2's and forked brow tines seem to always be on every single video we watch. We had one buck last year that was only 1 1/2 years old and already had 11 points on a main frame 8 with all his forks. He was at the protien feeder near his haunt every single morning at daylight while in the velvet. Now we can't seem to find him anywhere to get a look at the results of this year's feedings. Hope the neighbor didn't take him down.



Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: TheHag] #10261 12/13/04 02:19 PM
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Hag,

We're thinking about starting protien feeding on our ranch in Rock Springs. It's 4,000 acres and our population is down from the drought/Anthrax outbreak in 2001.

A few of questions to help get me started.

1. How big is your ranch?

2. How much does it cost you/year to feed?

3. How did you get the deer to start eating the protein? What brand of feed do you use?

4. Have you ever tried whole cottonseed? I read something about it on the TTH forum.

5. How long before you saw any results.

6. What months of year do you feed the protein?

Sorry to be so long winded, I'm just really interested in selling this concept to the other guys on the lease and need to get down to some $ figures.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: Whitey] #10262 12/13/04 04:18 PM
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[1. How big is your ranch?] Just over 1434 acres on the main ranch and just under 500 on our other one.

[2. How much does it cost you/year to feed?] We feed out of 5 protien feeders on the main ranch (2 on the other one) that we locate in the middle of each pasture. You don't want to feed the neighbor's deer. Make them come to the center of your ranch for the food so that they will get used to staying on your ranch. Each protien feeder holds 300 pounds and lasts for 7 days during regular feedings. During January (if it gets ice on the ground) and in from March until the 1st of April, each feeder will typicaly only last 5 days. We spend (on average)just over $2400 per year on the protien. We feed protien from the first of January through August. Then corn from August through December. I keep my protien feeder at my stand full all year round. Costs me a whole lot more that way, but I have a ton of bucks using my pasture during hunting season. We have wheat fields that help supplement the deer during September through February or so.

[3. How did you get the deer to start eating the protein?] We put it out in open troughs for two weeks. Only problem with that is 300 pounds will only last 2 days! Then we put it in those feeders that I posted the picture out of. It controls the amount each deer eats. They get what they need, but not any more than they have the patience to stand there and lick out.

[What brand of feed do you use?] We use ACCO's Purina brand mix of 20% protien pellets. They seem to like it better than the other brands we tried.

[4. Have you ever tried whole cottonseed? I read something about it on the TTH forum.] We have tried the cottonseed and also the peanut hulls. They loved the peanut hulls better than anything. So did the raccoons! We found that the peanut hulls and cottonsead only helped them maintain body weight, but didn't do anything for horn developement.

[5. How long before you saw any results?] We noticed forked brow tines and stickers around the bases in 2 years. The third year saw numerous bucks with split G2's and kickers. The fourth year showed us split and thicker brow tines, kickers on their G2's, thicker mass and a lot more stickers around the bases. The body weights went up over 25 pounds the second year. They were up around 10 pounds the first year. Our average bucks before protien were weighing 105 and a good mature buck was weighing 125 to 130. The third year saw us harvesting bucks that were in excess of 150 to 160 pounds. Our mature does were field dressing right at 100 poundst the third year.

[6. What months of year do you feed the protein?] January through August. If we have a good wet year and good browse, we will suspend the protien in July. Depends on whether the grass is burnt up from drought or heat.

[Sorry to be so long winded..............]

No problem at all.... We had a biologist work with us to determine just how much feed we needed to feed in order to properly do it. You can feed the protien and improve the herd. But, if you don't do it right, you will only improve a certain number of the herd and the overall progress will be much slower.

My brother-in-law's ranch is around 4000 acres and they have 10 feeders on it that they keep full year round. But, they guide on it and charge enough for one buck to pay for their protien feed.


Last edited by TheHag; 12/13/04 08:56 PM.

Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: TheHag] #10263 12/13/04 07:58 PM
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Thanks for the reply Hag! On the cost issue, just clarify this for me? It costs you $1,400 per year to keep 7 free choice feeders full of protein?

Many Thanks!


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: Whitey] #10264 12/13/04 08:41 PM
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Sorry, I was multiplying on my calculator without a tape and I must have hit a wrong number for the cost.

Let's base it on this.

$5.75 per bag on a one ton purchase price.

6 bags per feeder is $34.50

They will last two weeks after the deer slow down on their consumption.

Seven months of feed at 12 bags per feeder, per month, equals $483 per year, per feeder.

$483 per year times 10 feeders (you would need a minimum of 10 on a place your size) equals $4830 per year.

This would also depend on the number of deer that you have on your place. We have a ton of deer on ours and they're spoiled rotten! We've even had bucks follow us after season is over when we're putting out round bales for the cattle.

The two on the other ranch are not kept full as often as the main ranch. The other ranch might skip 10 to 14 days without being refilled when they are empty. The main ranch feeders are kept full religiously. The other (smaller) ranch is boundried by meat hunters on 3 sides and therefore isn't managed at all. Opening weekend sounds like World War III around there. If it walks, it dies, as far as the ranches around us are concerned. In fact, they kept cutting our fences down where we fenced over their wire gates that they've used for years and years to hunt our side before we bought the place. It's so bad around there with the meat hunters that we had just over 900 acres to start with and are selling it off. We sold 1/2 of it and have the other 1/2 for sale. We had to post no trespassing and no hunting signs around the entire ranch to keep the neighbors from acting like it was theirs. We were just trying to improve our population of bucks there and not grow larger horns.

Remember that is not year round. It's only when they really need it for fawn health during pregnancy and for growing better horns on the bucks.

At first, they will eat it so fast that you will wonder if you have to get a second job to pay for the feed. After one month, they slow down on it and eat only what they need. There was one time where they emptied a 300 pound open trough over night with hog proof fencing around it!

I filled my protien feeder three weeks ago (300 pounds) to lure in more bucks to my bow stand area. It lasted only 4 days. I refilled it again and it lasted for 9 days that time. They will eat it year round if you want to invest in that feeding pattern. It just gets too expensive unless you have several guys willing to split the bill.


Last edited by TheHag; 12/13/04 08:55 PM.

Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: TheHag] #10265 12/21/04 08:45 PM
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Hag,

Thanks for all the info. This is exactly what I needed. The rancher is doing a prescribed burn on a 1,000 acre pasture so we won't be feeding in that one this summer.

Our base plan is to build 7 feeders like the ones you showed me. We estimated about $100 per feeder. Do you think that covers the cost?

THANKS AGAIN!


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: Whitey] #10266 12/21/04 09:11 PM
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We can buy the drums for $10 apiece here locally. The steel for the legs and the plate steel for the connectors cost us about $25. The PVC and fittings cost about $10 total. So, we have around $45 in each feeder. Now that's cheap!

Be sure and use the steel plate where the legs hook up the drum. If you don't, the drum will split from all that weight and the deer knocking it around where you drill to connect the legs.

Now,,,,,, about that prescribed burn pasture. We did one on our ranch a few years back to get rid of a lot of cactus and undergrowth. ALL the deer on the ranch were in that burnt pasture the very next day. Even with big logs still smoking! The cactus needles are burnt off in the fire and the remaining, sticker free, cactus is like candy to them. They absolutely love cactus with the needles burnt off of them. We did it in the Spring and the next week it had green grass sprouting everywhere. Best thing we ever did for the ranch.



Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: Whitey] #10267 12/21/04 09:14 PM
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Forgot to mention that the square steel tubing you see where it connects to the barrel is actually two pieces of tubing. The smaller tubing connects to the drum. The larger square tubing slides over the smaller tubing to make the legs removable. Then you can just turn the drum on it's top in the back of the truck and lay the legs down in the bed.



Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: TheHag] #10268 12/22/04 01:06 PM
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To share some of the things we've learned over the years. Some of which goes along with what Hag is doing.

First of all, we have 5 feeders running year around. We start with the protein in late February to early March, and continue through August. We have 3 Moultrie feeders (cheap) that can throw the pellets alright. We have an expensive Spin-Cast that will always get hung up on the pellets. Over the years we have experimented with several types of feed, and feeders. To date, we have found that mixing the Deer Chow by Purina with corn, all of the feeders will function properly as long as the corn & pellets are well mixed. The corn will keep the pellets from clogging up the feeders. We have 5 feeders setup with 15' tall tripods and winches. Here's a pic of one of them.


We figured that if were going to provide the high protein pellets, then we should at least allow the deer to eat all they can. So, last year I put out 2 covered feeders like this one.


The coons loved it. Early in the year before Spring, the deer were coming to it, but after Spring came, they just stopped, and the coons took them over. I've got pictures of as many as 8 coons in this feeder at one time. This year, we have discussed moving these covered feeders, and trying them again. We will start out with corn to get the deer coming to them, and then switch to a high protein pellet. By using these covered feeders, theres more options available for feed. For example, creep is a cheap high protein pellet, but it's way too large for any other type of feeder. Also, rabbit pellets are very high in protein and cost much less than the deer pellets.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: TheHag] #10269 12/27/04 02:13 PM
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Hag thanks for all the info! I have several of our members convinced we need to start protien feeding.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: Redneck_Hunter] #10270 12/29/04 01:47 AM
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rabbit pellets! how long have you been using them? do they work? i was just wondering. im fixen to make a feeder like hags and get it feeding in a month or two.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: larrywoodson] #10271 12/29/04 02:37 PM
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I used the rabbit pellets last year, and the deer liked them. It's an Alfalfa based pellet, and very high in protein. Not to mention, a little cheaper.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: Redneck_Hunter] #10272 12/29/04 09:29 PM
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thanks, ill look into it.


Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: larrywoodson] #10273 12/30/04 03:52 PM
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They got some new feed that is round for spin feeders. I seen it at the AG in Canton. I try to stop by ther today.I think its Rack something.



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Re: Pellets in the feeder [Re: TheHag] #10274 01/18/05 02:39 AM
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I just want to know if you have some kind of funnel in the barrel for the protien pellets.


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