hmmmmmm.. How to find out if someone is stealing your feed?

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niagaraduval

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Hi,

Over this past month Niagara has used so much feed, I seem to be making a trip to the feed merchants every week.
I have doubts that someone at the yard is stealing his food? I'm not sure of how I can find out though, as this person comes to the yard at really odd random times.

Any Ideas of finding out whether there is a food thief?
Thanks
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We used to set traps. like leaving the feedscoop a certain way and leaving two nuts in it.

The other way we have done it was to leave a really nasty note inside, basically telling whoever to leave our feed alone. You won't upset anyone as no one should see note and if people are nicking your feed then they'll see note, get the message but won't mention the note to you as they will have been caught.
Usually a win win for us.
 
Level the feed in the bins and then put a small mark at the feed level so you will be able to see at a glance if any feed is missing.
 
Isn't this a sad world we live in! I think I would probably leave the bin "just so", like others have suggested. It's hard to find out, but I wonder if anyone else is suffering from the same on your yard?
 
I'd probably make it known that you are shocked at the amount of feed you are getting through recently, so that the theif knows you are aware, and maybe do as others have suggested and leave things in a certain way - even like a strand of hay discretely placed in a certain way inside. I like the bagging feed labelled by day idea, if you bag the whole sack up like that they are either going to make it really obvious they have stolen it or start leaving it alone. Make sure you tie a knot in the bags so they don't just make each of your feeds a little smaller.
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If it carries on I wouldn't hesitate to lock my feed bins. You have enough expenses with horses without someone else helping spend your money!
 
God I hated this when I was on a livery yard, I put a lock on mine and people started getting really funny with me, so I started leaving the feed in a certain way, or like lou23 above said, leave a scoop with a couple of nuts in it.
It is really annoying when people nick your feed, i feel sorry for their horse.
 
This happened to me on a previous yard. I knew who was doing it, so I changed the bog standard cool mix that was in my bins for high energy competition mix. Within a week, this girls pony was going loopy and throwing her off a lot, and when she said to me that the pony was going wld, I said in a heavily sarcastic manner "Maybe you should cut his FEED levels down??". She went scarlet; she knew that I knew it was her.

Funnily enough, it stopped after this incident, but I did move from this yard after someone else stole FOUR bales of hay from my hay pile while I was at Olympia for the day....
 
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This happened to me on a previous yard. I knew who was doing it, so I changed the bog standard cool mix that was in my bins for high energy competition mix. Within a week, this girls pony was going loopy and throwing her off a lot, and when she said to me that the pony was going wld, I said in a heavily sarcastic manner "Maybe you should cut his FEED levels down??". She went scarlet; she knew that I knew it was her.

Funnily enough, it stopped after this incident, but I did move from this yard after someone else stole FOUR bales of hay from my hay pile while I was at Olympia for the day....

[/ QUOTE ]

Ha ha I like your thinking!!
 
I once put a notice inside my feed bins which said 'This feed has been treated with ultra-violet dye. If your horse eats this feed it will be easily found in its droppings.' The stealing stopped!!!!!!!
 
I lock my feed bin - funnily enough, the only person who has ever questioned it is the lady who used to help herself to it! Not that it matters what anyone else thinks, it's my feed and I will not pay for someone else to help themselves to it.

If for whatever reason, someone else needs to feed my horse than I will make up a feed and leave it in a bag for them - although, this has only ever happened a handful of times.

I take all my supplements home with me as well. Funnily enough, when the food thief horse's was no longer getting twice daily dose of my horse horse's calmer it "unexplainedly" reverted back to a fruit loop!
 
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