Hay ring around feeder

A while back I posted about cows knocking over a feeder that was staked down and a hay ring was suggested to keep the cows away. I'm looking to put out a feeder or two for next year but it will be in a new location. As we are putting it in a spot we haven't tried before I don't want to waste time building a pen with cattle panels if the spot doesn't work out. For those that have used a hay ring how well does it work? I'm assuming the ring would need to be staked down and that some corn will end up in it and not get eaten. Hopefully the majority will be slung outside the ring and the deer can get after it. Thanks in advance for any input or advice.

They will eat even the corn in the ring... and yes steak it down with a few tpost

There is nothing I can do to stop them from eating anything they can find, I'm just trying to keep the feeder upright long enough to assess if it would be a good spot for a feeder/blind next year. Another question, will most standard feeder legs fit entirely inside the ring?

On time feeders fit perfect im sure they all will though... you could always put the legs through one of the smaller opening at the bottom if not

That was my thought as well, all the rings I'm seeing locally are 8 feet around. Just don't want one with a solid base, although I guess I could just turn it upside down.

Get a lighter one unless you got help at all times lol

yeah no base

Small pigs, coons and other small animals will eat everything that falls in the middle.

Why not just use 2-3 cattle panels and make a temporary pen around the feeder? That way if it stays, part of the pen is already there and you aren't out any additional $ for a feeder ring? Just wire the ends together bottom/middle/top and you should be alright unless the cattle are super-agressive.

If your hay ring is built like the one I used, I actually put it over the feeder upside down where the large opening was towards the ground. Worked to keep cows from knocking the feeder over and the gap at the bottom was large enough for does and fawns to slip under to get at the corn that was right under the feeder.

Mine looks like this, and I put the large gap down.

The ones I'm looking at are around 100 lbs and are three pieces.

I know, again this is an exploratory thing. I just want to make sure deer are hitting the area and that we don't want to move it say 200 yrds away after we have built the pen.

That is an option, I guess the hay ring seems easier at this point, especially when we want to move. The cattle took down the last panels that weren't secured well enough. Also took down the barb wire we ran that wasn't up tight enough.

Here is the style I'm looking at, could be flipped upside down to let the smaller deer in still. And yes the cows will be able to access it but again, Just trying to keep them from knocking the damn thing over.

I actually tried this last year and it didn't stop the cows from knocking over the feeder. Only thing that worked for me was a t-post at every leg and tied up with bailing wire.

What about a hanging feeder to see if you like the location?

If the cows were giving me that much of a problem,I'd set-up a solar powered electric fence around the perimeter of where you want to place a feeder. A couple strands of hot wire a couple feet off the ground will keep them out,and the deer will learn to jump it. We had a similar problem on a lease before,and the hot wire fixed the problem very quickly.
Just drive T-post in the ground in a 20-25 ft radius,and use the plastic electric fence standoff's to support the wire. The fence controller can be mounted to a small piece of plywood,and mounted to a couple more T-post inside the outer radius. We also tied strips of surveyor tape every few feet onto the electric fence,so you can visually see where it is at.

Last feeder that wasn't in a pen was anchored with T-posts. This is what the cows did to it in one night.






Thought about that as well, not going to have the capacity I'm looking for.

Personally, I'd spend the 30-45 minutes to put up a 5 panel fence, something you can use when you decide on a permanent location. Of course you could cheap sell the ring.....

BTW, I have had ornery momma cows at times, they could push, or flip an empty ring like nothing.

I am looking at a used ring and would secure it with T-posts. I guess it is about the same amount of work to put the t-posts for it as it is a pen but the ring still seems easier since I can reuse it at another location.

Get a Capsule feeder & stake it down.
They used to offer a cage to protect the solar panel, or you can mount it laying flat on top of the motor cover.

I love crank up feeders, never had a problem with cows w or w/o a pen.

Why not just put up a trail camera and pour some corn and other baits where you want to try? Yes I know.
The cows...

Ok, so you had me on the fence kick now....but, I don't want to build a pen that is too small and the deer don't want to get into it to eat.

If you already know how big a pen you will want when you decide a permanent spot, then set up that many panels, or whatever style you use (electric, barbed wire) . If you scouted and think this is a good enough spot to try, it should be (if you considered everything like wind direction, stand location, cover nearby). Then your pen will be up and running. It will be a crap shoot other than that since patterns may change in a couple months (though, this has been an odd season anyhoo).

The materials will not get cheaper by Spring probably, so I'd get what I need and run with it, putting one in wont take at most an 1-1/2 hrs for a large pen. Drive the post and wire up the panels. You are also testing to be "cow proof" so it's better to find out now, rather than opening morning looking at a mess like the photo you posted, you may even re-educate those hamburger makers by then too.

"Jew can do it!"

Rex, have you tried putting the t-posts in the ground at the same angle as the feeder legs, instead of just straight up? 10x stronger that way and no danger of falling on one when filling your feeder.

Get a feeder like below and never worry about hogs, cows, or horses tipping it over again.

No, that was a lease members feeder.



Most of the feeders on the property are this style, one or two isn't though.

Replace them

All in time, just dealing with what we have for the moment. Got expenses to cover on other things first. No one ever said hunting was easy

They probably wouldn't have trashed a metal barrel. Those flimsy plastic feeders the legs break out of the slots pretty easy.

I would have simply built a pen and been done with it. Not a big expense, not a big effort, not much time.

What am I missing?

What I was thinking... Maybe no trees?