Last May when I purchased my property it came with one feeder Pen and 1 feeder inside. One thing I noticed right off was the over abundance of weeds and grass growing inside of this pen and around it! It looked like a jungle ( of course it did we had a lot of rain and no one kept up with it )
After purchasing the property I took a weedeater to it and kept the weeds down at ground level throughout the rest of the year. Now I know this is more of a Cosmetic thing probably for the owner than the deer however when the weeds are as tall as the hog panels that's pathetic.
Warm temps are here again and weeds are slowly sprouting again.

I thought about spraying however chemicals near a feeder or inside a feeder pen can't be good or can it?


What do you guys recommend? Just keep hitting it with a weedeater every few months or spray and if so with what?

Thanks

Roundup

I got some stuff at HD or Lowes, think it's HT something or another. Weed/shrub killer Cheap, same ingredients as Roundup, works great, use with a hand sprayer. Never bothered the animals either.

Our deer keep the weeds stomped down enough to where we don't have that problem. Of course we pay overtime for this because we run the feeders all year round also.

Me too. Run your feeder year round and you will not have a weed problem.

Roundup is commonly sprayed on "Roundup Ready" corn and other crops to kill weeds. The active ingredient in Roundup and comparable products is absorbed through the leaves to kill the plant by destroying the roots. It's my understanding there is little trace of it after a few days.

Tractor Supply sells a comparable product with a higher percentage of the active ingredient at a much lower cost per volume.

Are you running the feeder? Deer should keep it pretty beat down.

Open the pen up during the off season and let the hogs beat it down.

Thank you everyone for the info !!!!!

All very good info as I will try a few idea's

And you have a free lake when it rains!!!

I like the extra cover when they put their head down to eat since I mostly bow hunt.

Roundup and it's cheaper versions is just a type of salt that is harmless for animals. My pet pig loves the taste of it and will drink all he can when I'm spraying my fence line.

Having said that, I wouldn't use it if I had anything that was pregnant or lactating.

You might consider reseeding a food plot after spraying. If you leave the soil bare, weeds will grow back.

I put down thick black plastic for 30 days or more depending on the temperature. The lack of light and heat will kill everything. If there is bermuda, it will come back but the weeds are killed. New seeds will can come up later same as if you sprayed. You'll find it does a much better job than spraying. You will need rocks or bricks to weigh the plastic down.

Just run the feeder all year feeding every other day or once a day for 3 seconds depending on your timer capabilities. Corn is much cheaper than herbicides.

Rock salt. It will sterilize the ground for a long time. We had a problem with Johnson grass growing around the drip edge of the barn. A liberal application of rock salt took care of that problem.

Feed stores carry 50# bags pretty cheap....

Im sure the land owner would love for you to go around spreading rock salt in your feed pens to sterilize the ground.

The OP is the landowner. But I am sure he won't like it when that salt leaches downhill and kills some trees if they are close.

My weed control is the rocks.