# Turkey Feeder



## flatscat281 (Oct 25, 2006)

I am thinking of putting up a turkey feeder at my lease. Currently I have a deer feeder with a fence pen around it to keep the landowners goats out. The gravity turkey feeder would be placed in a different area away from my stand and the goats would have access to it. I would like to put milo and rice in the feeder. Do those white goats like milo & rice? I suppose I am looking for some type of wild turkey feeder to put in the feeder that the goats will not want. Any ideas? 
Thanks.


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## Sean Hoffmann (May 24, 2004)

I don't think there is anything that the goats won't eat.


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## BigBuck (Mar 2, 2005)

*Turkey feeder*

I built one many years ago ( I think I got the plans from TP&W as a flyer, before internet days). I put a barrel on a platform with 6' legs. Put tin around the sides at the top to keep ***** out. Cut oblong holes in the barrel with a funnel set about 2" from the bottom. The turkeys loved it. I used a mix of corn and milo, the turkeys would kick out the milo and eat the corn. I switched to pure corn. I had 47 big gobblers there at one time, and had 65 jakes there later that same day. They would empty a 55 gal feeder in two weeks. Worked great, but got expensive, I still have the barrel but I tore down the platform.
My .02
BB


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## Haute Pursuit (Jun 26, 2006)

Like Bigbuck said, you can elevate the feeder to keep the goats off of it. We have several like that on our place. We feed milo in them and as a bonus, there is always a covey or two of quail near them.


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## ydnark (May 26, 2004)

"I suppose I am looking for some type of wild turkey feed to put in the feeder that the goats will not want. Any ideas?"

Pea gravel. After the goats try a couple of pounds of that, they will quit eating it.


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

Here's a couple of pics that I pulled off the web last year. I emailed Younger Bros. last yr to see about buying their feeder, but never heard back. The plan now is to have the local high school welding class do something similar for a feeder and table. Just have to supply the materials. Jerry


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## BigBuck (Mar 2, 2005)

*Feeder*

The single post is a good idea. You have to be sure it is about 6' high, it is surprising how high a **** can jump. I used landscape timbers in the corners, and cut the barrel exactly like that one. The other one looks like a pretty good **** feeder to me, unless it is set off the ground. 
BB


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## flatscat281 (Oct 25, 2006)

Looks like I have 2 options. 
Option 1) At my turkey hot spot, put up a feeder on legs with a timer with a fence around it to keep the goats out. This would prevent the all you can eat buffet without food supply gone in 2 weeks. Especially since it is a 5 1/2 hour drive to the lease. Also I already have an extra unused feeder so this would not costs anything but the time to pound posts for another fence.
Option2) Build one of those all you can eat feeders on a 6' platform as seen in the pictures that "GOAGS" was so kind to share. This option seems more expense and I would mostly be out of feed in a few weeks once they find the food. 

I like option #1 since I can control the feeding to ensure the feeder does not run out. I am sure the turkeys would love to have an all you can eat feeder that never goes empty but I cannot get out to my lease that often. I think option 1 is the way yo go. Any opinions?


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## BigBuck (Mar 2, 2005)

*Turkeys*

If you want to let the turkeys get more of it, have the feeder go off late morning, 10:00 or so, and then early afternoon. The deer will still get some, but turkeys will get most of it. During the off season, I set my feeders with protein in them to go off before daylight and after dark, just to keep the turkeys off most of the hi-protein feed. We still kill a lot of Toms in the spring with a crop full of high protein. 
Good luck on whatever you do.
BB


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## buckmaster89 (Feb 1, 2008)

You got to be wary not to be feeding the *****. They love turkey feeders!


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## thatdoggJake (Dec 31, 2007)

option 2


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## thatdoggJake (Dec 31, 2007)

the goal is to get the turkeys in the area. not just so you can shoot them in the fall. It's all about that spring turkey season. Call 'em up and just feed them yearly to keep them in the area


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## flatscat281 (Oct 25, 2006)

Ok, so say I go with option #2. My problem is that I have limited time to make the 11 hour round time to the lease...so I am bothered by the fact that the feeder might empty in a few weeks and stay empty for 1 1/2 months until I get a chance to make it back up to fill it up.....I suppose I could build the feeder with 2 stacked 55 gal barrels but it seems they still would empty it before my retuen. *Has anyone tried building a turkey feeder on the platform but with a timer to dispense the feed to stretch the feeding instead of having a open buffet?*
Thanks for all your opinions. I am no turkey expert so thanks for any input.


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## davidb (May 10, 2006)

I haven't tried it but the platform feeder could be made with fewer holes and maybe hardware cloth over the funnel to reduce the amount of feed eaten each visit. This could be backed up with a timed feeder in a pen nearby.


Adding gravel or grit to the on demand feeder will make it more attractive to birds and reduce feed costs. Be careful about Afflotoxins in the corn, it is much more toxic to birds than deer.


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## bogeyman (Jan 15, 2007)

Flatscat, We have made feeders out of 55 gal. drums for years to go along with our sweeneys. Similar to what others said, take two landscaping posts and bury them in the ground where they are the distance of the drum apart. The make a platform(2 2x4's across) for the drum to sit on about the height of a turkey's head. Set the drum on the platform and put some lag bolts through the drum into the landscaping posts(or you can through bolt it if you like). For the holes on the drum we just take the pointed side of a fence tool and knock it through the drum like a punch (downward). The hole is just big enough for them to get there beak in, just a little bigger than a kernel of corn. We have two holes one on each side, they will not sit there all day and eat you out of house and home, but there is always some there. We have two groups of turkeys that hang out at ours and we also mix a little milo for the quail to scratch around. Key is to make it high enough and the holes small enough so the hogs don't mess with it, well we all know they try but we have had several lasts till the drums rusted and yes we have hogs.


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