What to feed deer in winter
- Woody browse. As herbivorous, deer generally eat various kinds of vegetation. Plants, grass, twigs are their common foods.
- Tree branches. It’s easy to cut down tree branches to feed deer. It is not hard to find in winter. Deer love to eat twigs also.
- Fruits. Deer love to eat fruits very much. These are blackberries, apples, blueberries, grapes, cherries and so on.
Is feeding corn harmful to deer in winter?
it doesn't hurt anything to mix a little corn in there diet. they eat corn out of fields before its harvested and browse the fields for leftover corn after the harvest. and it hasn't killed them off yet. feeding deer corn is no different than feeding corn to a cow.
Can deer digest hay in the winter?
Hay or Alfalfa. Caution should be used when feeding hay or alfalfa as deer (especially when in starved condition) may have problems digesting them. ... For more information on feeding deer in winter or woodlot management for the benefit of deer and other wildlife, contact the Department of Lands and Forestry Wildlife Biologist for your area.
What to feed deer instead of corn?
What to Feed Deer Instead of Corn
- Consider a Food Plot. Deer food plots are a great way to provide deer with supplemental feed. ...
- Woody Browse. If you have trees and brush you can trim on your property, pruning them can be a great way to supplement deer feed.
- Formulated Deer Feed Mixes. This is an excellent choice for supplemental feed. ...
- Oats. ...
- Rice Bran. ...
- Alfalfa. ...
- Soybeans. ...
- Creep Feed. ...
Is it OK to feed deer apples in the winter?
These high deer densities can:
- attract predators and increase risk of death by coyotes or domestic dogs.
- spread disease among deer.
- cause aggression, wasting vital energy reserves and leading to injury or death.
- reduce fat reserves as deer use energy traveling to and from the feed site.
- result in over-browsing of local vegetation and ornamental plants.
What can I feed mule deer in the winter?
Other good choices for winter forage are brassicas (greens and root bulbs) and sugar beets (greens and root bulbs). Both of these food types are favorites of deer because they are palatable and provide the nutrients necessary to help deer thrive during the winter and are particularly high in protein content.
What can I feed wild deer in the winter?
Deer eat woody browse in the winter. This can be leaves, berries, saplings, bulbs, or buds. In wintertime, they will take their pickings from the ground. They can also have some lush forage such as kale, radish, turnips, apples, or cabbage if it is available.
What can I feed mule deer?
Feeding Directions Feed to Mule Deer as a supplement to native habitat or pasture. For best results feed free choice in a covered trough or self-feeder. If forage becomes limiting, supply good quality legume hay.
What is a mule deer favorite food?
Some species of mushrooms and lichens are choice foods. Fair foods include green growth of grasses--fescue (Idaho and tall), needle-and-thread, and wheatgrasses. Fresh growth of forbs include aster, biscuitroot, sticky geranium, and wild sunflower.
Is it OK to feed deer apples in the winter?
You should try to load up deer feeders with apples near the end of winter. They'll benefit more from easily digestible foods during the winter months. Deer naturally eat apples, and apples are perfectly safe for use in a deer feeder. Apples provide deer with a sweet treat that gives them a large nutritional boost.
Is corn bad for deer in winter?
“The worst thing we can do for deer in a tough winter is shock their system by providing a new food, particularly a high-energy food such as corn or high-protein food such as alfalfa hay that they are not used to,” said Kip. “In most cases, it ends up being worse for the deer than if they had not been fed.
What should you not feed deer?
Do not feed hay, corn, kitchen scraps, potatoes, lettuce trimmings or any animal proteins from animals rendered into feed. Deer may actually starve when fed supplemental foods during winter if they have a full belly of indigestible foods.
What is the best thing to feed deer?
What To Feed:Natural Food. If possible, it is best to feed natural food. ... Deer Pellets. Most farm feed outlets carry a specially formulated ration for deer or can tell you where it can be bought. ... Cereal Grains. ... Hay or Alfalfa. ... Fruit & Vegetables.
Is alfalfa good for mule deer?
"Mule deer don't do well eating alfalfa. They're browsers. They eat woody shrubs and trees and things of that nature. So, you can make them sick and they don't do well," Meints said.
Can you feed deer carrots?
Carrots have proved to be among one of the best vegetables to feed these deer with. They contain vital nutrients such as beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, Potassium, and antioxidants.
What is the cheapest thing to feed deer?
An inexpensive way to feed deer is with corn. Deer love corn and many hunters rely on it for supplemental feeding. That being said, corn is not an excellent source of protein, which is essential for antler growth and the nursing of fawns.
Will mule deer eat hay?
Haystacks are a great attraction to big game animals and it seems that every rancher has a story about mule deer that fed at their haystacks and were soon found dead with stomachs full of hay. This leads to the conclusion that deer cannot digest hay (alfalfa) and that feeding deer hay will kill them.
What should you feed wild deer?
Deer can eat a variety of plants, including:Acorns.Soybeans.Oats.Alfalfa or hay (Warning: Do not feed during the winter)Turnips.And many others, depending on the time of year.
What can you feed deer instead of corn?
Some good fall food sources include hard mast (e.g., oak acorns, beech nuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts, etc.), soft mast (e.g., apples, pears, persimmons, etc.), and agricultural crops (corn, soybeans, brassicas, cereal grains, etc.).
Is it OK to feed deer corn?
Using only corn or other fermentable carbohydrates as a primary deer food can be dangerous. Eating a large amount of corn can affect the deer' digestive process and cause a flush of lactic acid in their stomach. In most severe cases, this leads to the dehydration and death of the deer.
Do deer eat carrots and apples?
Although deer will eat apples, carrots, cabbage, etc., their use is not recommended. They are like candy to a child tasty but of little value in providing a well-balanced and nutritious diet.
Why do mule deer eat bacteria?
Mule deer use bacteria in their rumen to aid in the digestion of their food. Specific types of bacteria are required for specific types of food, therefore the type of food required for winter feeding of mule deer is highly limited, very specific, and must be properly formulated.
What are the behaviors of mule deer?
Behaviors important to mule deer survival include learned behaviors, such as foraging and migratory habits; both critical to the long-term sustainability of a population. Winter-feeding has the potential to disrupt both winter foraging activities and migratory patterns.
Why are mule deer selective?
Unlike elk, mule deer are highly selective foragers, at least in part, due to their specialized digestive system. As “ruminants,” mule deer rely on a very complex stomach system to aid in digestion. Mule deer use bacteria in their rumen to aid in the digestion of their food. Specific types of bacteria are required for specific types of food, ...
How long has supplemental feeding been done?
CONCLUSIONS - Government agencies in western North America have conducted supplemental feeding of wildlife for about 100 years. At best, feeding has a limited nutritional benefit, often negated by undesirable, even catastrophic, behavioral and biological effects.
Can mule deer survive winter?
However, even well designed and executed winter-feeding programs often fail to significantly increase the chance of mule deer survival. Even if winter feeding could save a few deer from starvation, we must consider the biological cost to the habitat, cost to other species, and cost to mule deer in the long term.
Can you feed mule deer?
Feeding can attract deer into landscaped yards and high traffic areas , causing damage to gardens and increasing vehicle accidents. People who feed deer often ignore the real issue of availability and condition of natural habitats. They believe supplemental feeding, can adequately meet mule deer nutritional needs.
What do deer eat in winter?
As herbivorous, deer generally eat various kinds of vegetation. Plants, grass, twigs are their common foods. In winter, they run into difficulties because these foods don’t remain available then. Hence, you can collect some woody browse for them since woody browse is available during winter.
What do deer eat?
Deer love to eat fruits very much. These are blackberries, apples, blueberries, grapes, cherries and so on. Therefore, fruits can be good to feed them in winter.
Can overfeeding cause disease?
Disease transmission. By overfeeding and without mixing food elements in the proper ratio, it may cause disease transmission. Above all, you just have to be careful about feeding deer by the supplemental program.
Can deer eat nuts?
Nuts. Deer eat nuts, like also. So, when food management is a concern, then you can feed them nuts. There are various kinds of nuts like acorn, beechnuts acorns in addition to hickory nuts. Mixing vegetable oil with nuts can be amazing which will larger the energy requirements.
Do deer eat corn?
Corn contains a high rate of carbohydrates which are tough to digest for a deer. Besides, it causes acidity for the high rate of starch in corn. So, don’t kill them by supplying pure corn.
Does hay kill deer?
Like pure corn, hay can play a role to kill your deer. For deer’s digestive system hay is like a shock. Because necessary bacteria for breaking the starch are not available in the stomach of deer.
Why do buck eat in the winter?
Feeding bucks during the fall and winter allow bucks to regain weight they may have lost during the rut.
When to feed fawns for weaning?
Weaning is a period of stress and having an additional source of nutrition, like supplemental feed, supports the fawns’ needs during this period of transition. The importance of supplemental feeding in the spring and summer to support antler growth is a common practice. Continuing to feed deer in the fall and winter is also important to support ...
How many fawns produce milk in a summer?
After a summer of producing milk for one to three fawns, a doe’s body weight and body condition has decreased. Just like the bucks, regaining the lost weight and condition is critical for reproductive success and for surviving the winter.
When do fawns get weaned?
The fawns born early in the summer are just being weaned in early fall and depending on forage availability would benefit from supplemental feeding. Likewise, fawns born late in the summer may benefit from supplemental feeding in the fall and winter to achieve an adequate body size to survive the winter. In both cases, the fawns have watched their ...
Do buck deer eat antlers?
Bucks entering the spring in good body condition can utilize the nutrients they consume for antler growth rather than merely regaining the weight the lost the previous season. Fall and winter feeding does not need to be the high protein diets that allowed the deer to reach their genetic potential for antler growth.
Is winter feeding good for fawns?
Benefits of Winter Feeding for Fawns. Does in good body condition during gestation were found to produce heavier and a greater number of fawns than does in poor body condition. 2 Fawns with low birth weights have a greater chance of mortality within the first week of life. 3 Additionally, researchers are evaluating the link between ...
What is the disease of deer in winter?
However, in the winter, disease within a deer can develop. It’s called Acidosis , the fatal and ugly side of improper supplemental feeding!
How does deer traffic affect the environment?
Other than the spread of disease, potential increased deer traffic can wreak havoc on the local habitat, making resources such as woody browse scarce.
What do deer eat?
Their diet consists mostly of woody browse this time of year, early successional species like blackberries and greenbriers, and saplings.
What are the three things that whitetails need to survive?
A whitetails life is a survival game, and in survival three big things are key, food, water and shelter . By providing quality cover and a sanctuary close to the feed, food plot, water, and block attraction, you know have a deer hunting hotpot.
How long does it take for a deer to adjust to a new diet?
The deer’s gut flora need anywhere from a week to 3 weeks to adjust to a new type of diet. Small amounts of the new food source will not cause a sudden shock and switch, resulting in a negative pH change and death.
Can deer be fed in winter?
Before feeding deer during winter and starting a supplemental feeding program, a lot needs to be considered. Other than acidosis, numerous states put restrictions on feeding and baiting deer due to other negatives associated with supplemental feeding.
Is a whitetail deer running out of fat?
Even with all of these tools the facts still remain, a whitetail is running out of fat reserves, food sources are slim, and there is still a month to go before the buffet opens. Out of time and out of options, supplemental feeding seems to be the golden ticket for our deer herds.
What is the hardest season for whitetails?
Winter: The Hardest Season of the Year. When hunting season draws to a close some tend to forget that the hardest season of the year for whitetails has just begun. If you are serious about manufacturing healthy deer herds then consider a supplemental winter deer feeding program. Autumn is a busy time for both deer and deer hunters.
What are the events that occur annually in a deer's life cycle?
The events that occur annually in a deer’s life cycle (antler formation and release and increased testosterone levels in bucks and the estrus cycle in does) are directly related to pineal gland activity and length of days more than any other single factor. As the rut winds down and hunting season draws to a close, ...
What to feed deer in winter?
Other good choices for winter forage are brassicas (greens and root bulbs) and sugar beets (greens and root bulbs). Both of these food types are favorites of deer because they are palatable and provide the nutrients necessary to help deer thrive during the winter and are particularly high in protein content.
Why are brassicas and corn good for whitetails?
Brassicas and corn are two standbys in the north simply because your herd can access the food. Corn has proven to be successful for winter plots because deer can reach the cobs above the deep snow cover and the carbohydrates that corn provides means “heat” for the whitetail’s “boiler room.”.
Why do deer eat in winter?
Supplemental feeding in winter becomes even more essential in areas where deer face extreme cold and lots of precipitation. There are a variety of winter stressors—snow, cold temperatures, and a lack of food.
What happens during a rut?
During the rut most bucks will dramatically decrease food intake, in addition to spending tremendous amounts of energy chasing does. As the rut nears, bucks shift their focus from feeding to patrolling their territory and waiting for the first does to come into estrus.
How long do deer stay in ruts?
In northern climates deer spend upwards of five or six months after the rut battling against the cold, snow and food that is difficult to come by. During the winter all deer focus almost solely on finding food and the less energy they have to spend wading in and digging through snow to find that food the better.
Is it Bad to Feed Wild Deer?
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. It depends on how and what you’re feeding the deer and your geographic location.
What Should You Not Feed Deer?
Sadly, many wild deer are killed each year by well-intentioned humans. Many people assume that it’s fine to give deer any leftover scraps they have on hand.
What Can I Feed the Deer in My Backyard?
If you’re going to start feeding wild deer, it’s important to try and replicate their normal diet. One of the safest ways to do this is by planting and maintaining trees and plants that attract deer.
Final Words
The bottom line is if you’re serious about helping your deer visitors stay healthy, do it responsibly. Take special care not to interfere with the deer’s natural habits. And remember that once you start feeding them, they will depend on you to make it through the winter.
