Deer are eating the chicken feed

[RichnSteph]

We have plain dish feeders hanging from tripods out near the coop and for the past two days I've gone out in the morning to find them tipped over. I figured it was the wind. I usually put feed out at night so in the morning I can just open the access door for the chickens and then head to work. This morning, after I really pushed the tripods in the ground, I went outside to see both of them turned over and deer tracks all around in the soft sand.

Deer are eating my chicken feed? I was going to build one of the $5 bucket feeders and hang it out there but now I'm concerned that the deer will just kick it apart. Fencing is out of the question since I've seen them leap 8' fences in the past. Is there something I can plant that will deter the deer and not be poisonous to the chickens? Maybe a deer proof chicken feeder that one of you has used?

RichnSteph

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Deer are eating my chicken feed?.... Is there something I can plant that will deter the deer and not be poisonous to the chickens? Maybe a deer proof chicken feeder that one of you has used?

My twin brother Forrest always said that, "L-I-f-e I-s l-I-k-e a b-o-x- o-f c-h-o-c-o-l-a-t-e-s..." Therefor when life hands you a bowl of lemons get busy squeezing lemon aid.

Why not set up a shooting house and charge deer hunters $$$$$$ to hunt in your back yard? Because feeding poultry is a normal and customary agricultural practice, legally I don't think that you are baiting the deer to the gun or bow.

Forrest agrees.

 

[Folly's place]

I have found that keeping the feed and any treats in the coop and run rather than outside of the enclosed spaces, promotes all sorts of unwanted visitors, especially raccoons and possums, both of whom are happy to eat chickens and eggs. Deer are really tasty, but I wouldn't be feeding them chicken feed all year, hoping to get one in November! Mary

 

[RichnSteph]

LOL! Well we have a deer feeder set up in the front yard and we feed corn all year long. They also head to the AP pond for water in the afternoon. Apparently now that they've found the chicken feed they've decided that our place is a one stop shop for whatever kind of morsel they're in the mood for. I've got the deer corn and chicken feed in 33 gallon metal trash cans because the squirrels were eating holes in the plastic containers. I'll keep looking for a feeder that will make it less of a hassll on me to feed and more secure at night when the fur bearing chickens come to visit.

This November I plan to fill all my tags from either the front or back porch of the house. I've got to get started on learning to shoot a bow though since the neighbors might freak out if I start banging away with a .308 in the neighborhood.

 

[bobbi-j]

Mary, your philosophy and mine are polar opposites.

I keep the feeders in the coop or run (depends on the season) to keep the critters from eating the feed at night. I figure if my chickens are secure, so is the feed. I keep them full so that when the chickens get up in the morning (which is generally earlier than I do) the feed is right there and ready for them. They can eat until I get them let out for the day. Yes, I know - mice and rats can get into it, but they eat a lot less than the deer, raccoons and possums do.

 

[Folly's place]

Bobbi, I just reread my post, and somehow I totally mixed up what I was trying to say! Feed and water IN the coop and run, NOT outside! Just like you do it!

Mary

 

[bobbi-j]

Well, I was kind of wondering how that worked for you....

 

[RichnSteph]

I have to wonder why in the heck deer would choose to eat chicken feed. We feed a game bird raiser that's about 28% protein since our birds free range all day and I want to ensure that when they do eat the feed that they get the protein that they need. Why in the heck would deer eat it though?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I have to wonder why in the heck deer would choose to eat chicken feed. We feed a game bird raiser that's about 28% protein since our birds free range all day and I want to ensure that when they do eat the feed that they get the protein that they need. Why in the heck would deer eat it though?

Basically the deer are eating your chicken feed because it's 28% protein while the shelled corn that you provide to Bambi is only 10% protein.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

Simple fix....

If you want to leave them where they are just put a small cage around then that the chickens can go in and out of but the deer can't, same idea as a creep feeder for calves. The door is small enough to let the calves through but too small for the cows to steal the food.

Take some field fence and make a 3 foot circle around the feeder, cut a bunch of small doors in the bottom for the chickens and use t tests to stake it to the ground.

Problem solved.

Or put the food in the coop