Feeding Deer
See the Latest News and Research Below. Also see food plots
Supplemental feeding of wild deer can improve survival and increase the population,
but careless feeding can kill deer, transmit disease, or create management
problems. Do not use corn or other fermentable carbohydrates as a primary
emergency deer food. Deer are routinely killed this way by people trying to help.
Examples below. Deer are browsers and have adapted to eating a wide variety of
food sources, but their efficient stomachs require time to adapt to a new food
source. Two to four weeks for some new foods. A hungry deer that has not eaten
corn recently can die within a day if it comes across a large pile of corn that it
devours [bloat and acidosis].
There are over 10,000 deer farms in the U.S. where deer are fed products formulated
for deer such as Purina Antler Advantage, with a protein content of about 16 to 20
percent, which are suitable as an emergency feed. Other similar pelletized
products that can be used are available for rabbits, goats, or horses with main
ingredients of alfalfa hay, soybean meal, distillers dried grains, rice bran, and
corn (less than 25 percent) with protein of at least 12 percent. Goat (chow) feed
is widely available. Oats are a preferred supplement. The state of Maine has
previously used a mix of oats and barley, but has recently increased the use of
alfalfa hay. Some deer may take time to adapt to these unfamiliar foods.
Deer enjoy a wide variety of fruits and vegetables such as apples, grapes, small
plums, cherries, pears, pumpkin, carrots, snap peas, tomatoes, squash, almonds,
watermelon, figs, turnips, honey locust, watermelon, persimmons, and sunflower
seeds. As with people, individual tastes vary. Acorns and other mast are an
important food source.
Good trees include pears, apples, crab apples, persimmons, olive, aspen, white oaks
and red oaks, ash, aspen, maple, popular, willow, white cedar, yellow birch, red
mulberry, and chestnut. Also consider soybeans, dogwood, pokeweed, aster, ragweed,
goldenrod, sumac, and honeysuckle.
Feeding deer may increase the transmission of chronic wasting disease and other
diseases. Check the map to see if you are in a chronic wasting disease area.
Reducing food pile density can reduce transmission probability. The Mississippi
DWFP recommends using an above ground covered feeder. An example. Leaving food on
the ground significantly increases risk of toxins and other harmful agents. Poop
should be removed. Food should be distributed, otherwise dominate deer may prevent
younger and smaller deer from eating. Feeding deer is illegal in some
jurisdictions. Planting food plots is an effective, safe, and legal way to support
local deer populations.