Have any of you guys tried this? I have a couple oak trees in the front yard that provide many gallons of acorns. I usually rake them up anyway because it is like walking on marbles. I would really like to put them in a feeder with a timer, otherwise i know the deer will just eat them at night. I have several questions about doing this. First of all, would they just clog the feeder and not come out? Secondly, would they sour after being in the feeder after a week or so? Or could i dry the acorns out in the garage, and then put them in the feeder? If a conventional spincast feeder wouldn't work with acorns, maybe i could build something. Any ideas?

they would certainly clog a traditional feeder/spreader setup.

If you adjust the gap between the funnel and the spinner i think it would work. i thought about this a couple of times myself, but was to lazy to sweep all the acorns!!

I believe they would clog up in the funnel of a conventional broadcast feeder. They might work in a protein drop feeder.

You may need at least a 2" funnel drop and the spinplate low enough that would allow enough acorns to fall and get thrown out. Your smaller acorns such as Post, Overcup, Shumard, Live, Shin, Willow & Water Oaks would probably work the best since they are the smaller size acorns as opposed to the other species like White, Bur, Swamp Chestnut (Cow) oaks which are more like rock size, but relished just the same.

Small sticks, leaves and other debris may be more of a problem than anything. Souring wouldn't be a problem unless the acorns were wet or damp when you gathered them or many are broken.

Let us know if you give it a try.

I picked up 3 ice chests full of acorns and threw'em out at my feeder. They wouldnt touch'em.

It's been my experience that they won't eat 'em after they get dried up and hard, but they may stay fresh for a while if you can keep 'em sealed up!?!?! I've always wanted to try it. Let us know how it works out.

thanks for your input. I think what i will do is make a small feeder with a 5 gallon buck and hang it from a tree near my corn feeder. I'll cut the hole in the bottom fairly large. I think i will vertically put some a/c duct around the spinner, so that the acorns fall straight down into a feed trough. the reason is that i may mix the acorns with some corn, or some deer cane, or may even crush some of the acorns and separate the shells...so having the duct allows the feed mixture fall straight down will help me figure out if they are eating it. And it is real sandy where i hunt in east texas, and am not sure, but i think the deer don't like having the sand grind down their teeth. also this feed trough would theoretically keep it out of hog's reach, at least the small hogs.

I know that sounds like a lot of work, but i really want to experiment with this one. I'll have my game camara on it so i can monitor it. And since i'll be going down to the hunting lease every few weeks, i should be able to replenish the acorns since i imagine the 5 gallon bucket wouldn't last more than 10 days or so. It hasn't rained in over a month where i hunt in east tx, so i think acorns will be in shorter supply this year. If it the experimental 5 gallon bucket prototype works well, then i'll use the setup on a 50 gallon drum.

Does anybody else think this a good or bad idea?

I think its a great idea. I wouldn't let the acorns get old, feed them as soon as possible. I would avoid small downspouts and use the right spinner plate.

I've gathered the huge(golfball size)acorns before and hand thrown them in feed pens with success. Good luck

what is the right spinner plate? Is there one designed for throwing acorns instead of corn?

A spinner plate where acorns could not get hung or stuck in, like a simple flat or bowl type. Avoid the ones that have the doors that prevent varmints or wind from draining the feeder.

it should work, acorns arent that big... they should feed if u have a funnel and back the plate off a lil bit. let us know how it works out.

i pickuped up a 5 gallon bucket fullof thos things one year and threw it out near the feeder, the deeer didnt touch it they only ate the corn insted. mayeb me do all that work for nothing