How to Make a Deer Feeder

A deer feeder is an important thing to have if you are an animal lover and live in an area where deer have a habit of wandering in your yard. In winter when food is scarce, it is good to have one of them to feed the deer. By building a deer feeder, you can enjoy both feeding the deer and if you choose to build the feeder close to an area close to your home, you can enjoy watching the deer feasting on their meal.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Metals Sheets
• Metal cutter
• Hammer
• Rivets
• Drill
• Eyeglasses
• Gloves

1. Get all of your supplies together and cut a portion of the metal sheet about 2 inches larger than what you want the feeder to be. Then cut grooves in it on the sides about 2 inches long and 6 inches apart.

2. Take the metal between the grooves and fold upwards making sure it is about 2 inches from the base. Once you have shaped the whole base, you should end up with the bottom piece looking like a base with 2 inch sides.

3. Cut another piece of metal sheet about 12 inches by the breadth of the entire base and make it about 2 inches longer for the joint. You need to put rivets in it to hold it together. Fold the side panels the same as you did for the base. Make sure they go inside the 2-inch sides of the base.

4. Put the shaped side panel on top of the base but inside the sides. It should overlap about 2 inches on side. Once you finish you are ready for the next step, which is to begin riveting the pieces together. If you have cut correctly, you will have a box that is 12 inches high.

5. Drill corresponding holes in both the base and the sides the size of the rivets. Then put the rivets in and hammer them together. The advantage with riveting it is that there are no ends sticking out. This will help the deer be able to feed better.

6. Now you have to form the top so it won’t cut the deer’s mouth. Cut grooves about ½ inch down all along the sides and fold them on the outside of the box. This will prevent any injury to the animals while they are feeding.

7. When you are done folding the sides on the top then run your hand through and check if there are any sharp edges anywhere. If you find some sharp edges, straighten them with the hammer and make sure they are gone. Once you have smoothed it to the point of satisfaction you are ready to add food to your new deer feeder.

8. Put food out for the deer to feed from in your new feeder and wait for the deer to arrive and try it out for the first time.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to cut the metal correctly the first time, so that you don't have to make the whole feeder smaller.
• You are working with metal. Metal has sharp edges so you have to careful you don’t cut yourself.