Tech29

Has anyone tried un-shelled peanuts in their feeder?
I wonder if the deer will enjoy a little treat?
A local farm supply store is selling un-shelled peanuts in 50kg bags.
Currently I use corn in the feeder, but figured the peanuts would
offer more protein.

kevin1

I' d have to think that they would be healthier than corn for deer considering their protein content . It should fatten them up nicely . Have you asked Dr. Michels this question ?

timbercruiser

They sure like to eat them. We poured out 5 - 55 gallon drums of whole, dry peanuts Sunday for the deer. We just pick out a hard area, usually in the middle of the woods road, and pour out a pile and kick them around. A guy in the club knows a driver for one of the Co-Ops and there is usually a bunch of peanuts in the botton of the semi that doesn' t dump out good, so we get them free.

Tech29

That' s awesome to know.
I actually paid $50(cnd) for that bag of peanuts so I hope they work well.
Maybe next time I' ll buy shelled peanuts and put them on the ground instead
of the feeder.

Russ otten

If yu can get hold of that many peanuts, shell out some, freeze them in quart freezer bags and plant them in a plot next spring. If you think deer go for Clover, you haven' t seen a Peanut patch torn up by deer. If any get a chance to set peanuts, they will root them out of the ground also. The only fallback is they are annual.
Russ.

Tech29

Sorry Russ!
Did you say plant them?
How do I plant peanuts? I know they are raw, but is the raw peanut used as
the actual seed? Do I have germinate them?
Sorry for all the stupid questions, but this sounds interesting.

lemond33

interesting...thanks for that tip

Russ otten

Tech29,
Yes, raw peanuts are actually the seed. Shell them out, put in freezer bags and store them in the freezer. When the ground warms up, take them out and put them in the ground. Do NOT thaw them, put them in the ground frozen. When they thaw they will germinate and viola! a peanut patch. My wife swear' s this the only way to plant them. As a transplanted Yankee I didn' t know this until my Southern born and raised wife educated me. In fact, until we were married and we put in the first garden, (My first, not hers. She was raised on the farm.) I didn' t know what a Peanut plant looked like. When they first came up, I rushed out, took a look and then told the wife that they look like clover. She told me, " of course, they' re in the Clover family. They' re high protein, make a lot of forage, and like Clover will improve the nitrogen in the soil.
Give them a try.

Russ otten

One thing I did not add. If you plan to try and harvest the peanuts after the vines start to wither, DON' T plant them in clay soil. Sandy soil is the place to plant. After a good soaking rain, pull the plants and the Peanuts will come out with the vines. Otherwise you will have to dig them out. I learned the hard way. (The wife let me plant in clay soil and she laughed at me trying to dig them out. But she finally helped me. Lesson well learned.)

Tech29

Thanks for all the info.
I gotta find myself a wife from down south....that way she could
so all the cultivating for me!

I' ll find out what kind of reaction I get from the peanuts in the feeder first.