Feeding deer corn?
 

I have about 500 lbs of corn I was planning on feeding to the local deer heard this winter. I planned to put like 50 lbs out a week. I was thinking that would draw in the deer to a particular spot and help me to find sheds and also help the deer make it through the cold Minnesota winter. I read that topic about suplementing food and some of you thought it was a bad idea. Do you think it wouldbe a good idea to feed corn in the winter.... I dont want to cause the deer to rely on my corn. What do you think?

Thanks,

Die Hard <-------<<<

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

It won't hurt anything.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

If you start follow it all the way through until grasses and new buds become available,I don't recall all of the particulars but I believe it will change their digestive enzymes.I am not sure how much nutritional value it will provide.
Before it was illegal a lot of people in the area I live would feed deer through the winter.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

go for it i would get a feeder if you can plus put out a salt or mineral lick

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

i was watching, deer and deer hunting on tv and that said it really did no goo, even hurt them, but idk i cant remember the reasoning.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

:eek:how would it hurt them ?

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

something along the lines if they get to the point where they depend on it an then u stop feedin it messes them up

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

make sure you check out the local regulations on feeding deer first .,im thinking "and icouldbe wrong' that we cant feed the deer. if you can, and it is legal , make sure you have enough for the whole winter,. once you run out or stop ,then they will depend on it and if the herd get to large, then you will have a problem if the winter get tough.,

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

I'm sorry fellas, but I just don't follow the "they will get depended on it" deal. A deer's diet is so vast that they rarely get dependent on any one food. They are the goats of the woods, they will eat anything.

I live in a state where you can put out corn all year long. The deer do not become dependent on it. Actually, its the other way around. From my experiences the deer will walk right through the corn to get to greens.

As for their digestive system. I have seen where it gives deer the "runs".

Corn has hardly any protien, but it does have carbs.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

tsoc is right, if you live inone of the northern states dont do it unless your commited to doing it till spring. Im not sure,50lb a week may not make a differnce, But I have seen them where they have been cut off the corn in the middle of winter, first you will see them with crap running down their hind quarters, then you will see them dead in a few days.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Ok. Maybe I am missing something? I have NEVER READ ANYTHING that says corn will kill deer?

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Don't feed em.. leave the damn things alone till next year.. they were there before you were and will be there later. Furthermore, Unless someone here is a qualified wildlife manager then I wouldn't give advice as to what one should do with their heard. Just my opinion though.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

I'd do it if I had the place to do it! I wouldn't do it for the reasons of helping them through the winter, they'll be just fine! I would do it just to watch them out my window! How cool and awesome that would be!

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Well I guess there is mixed thoughts about this so I guess ill do the smart thing and not take any chances.

Thanks,

Die Hard

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

What's the difference in feeding them the corn or the deer themselves eating the standing corn??????? Here on state land where the farmers are allowed to grow crops, they are required to leave a % standing, guess what, its mostly corn!:eek:

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

C'mon fellas, it's deer. . . and corn!! Now I'm no bioligist, but I've been throwing down some corn here and there for years!. . .and when it's there, they'll eat it. . . and when it's not, they wont.Not once have I seen a deer get sick or diebecause they came in and ate some corn!

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Go ahead and feed it to them, but they get no nutritional value from corn unless its cracked.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Just curious, but how would it be any diffirent if it was cracked?

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

StrutNtom is right they are the goats of the woods, constant browsers. Although they never become dependent on a certain foodtype they will eat what you put out for them unless you run them off regularly, then they will still come in at night to eat it. They are opportunists. Just like most of the year they will not tolerate our scent and avoid our paths through the woods, yet in the winter when the snow is deep especially if it has a crust of ice on it they will tolerate our scent and walk right in our tracks.

The corn will not kill the deer, No one said the corn would kill the deer!
It is the sudden change in their diet that kills them. From what I have read (and apparently tsoc read the same thing) Its the enzymes in their digestive track with the sudden change in their diet that gives them an intestinal infection or diarrhea that kills them when they are already stressed out during the winter.

My neighbors fed the deer during the winter and would feed them right up until the spring browse came in and I never seen a problem with it, till one winter they decided to go to Texas in January to stay the rest of the winter.
Within days after their supplemental feed ran out you could see them standing in the yard looking for their handout with Crap running down their hind quarters, not long after some of them began to Die, 2 right in the yard where they had been being feed, and a couple of others you could see from the road.

If you live in the north where the winters are harsh and the deer are stressed, I would not feed them unless I was committed to feeding them till their spring browse came in, thats all!

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

From what I have read the only possible problems that can arise is if the deer are not at all used to eating corn and then all of a sudden they can fill their bellies with it. Their bodies would not have the time to adjust to the new food and the bacterial balance in their digestive system will not be able to take much, if any, of the nutrients (which is basically just carbohydrates) out of the corn and they can literally starve to death with their stomachs full. Now this only happens in extreme circumstances. Some examples given in the literature were things like the dumping of hay bales in the wilderness during a bad winter. Now farm country deer are not going to have this problem because they are used to eating corn and their bodies are ready for it.

I also don't beleive that deer become dependent on a food source unless things are dire, and I do not believe that is the situation here. Feed them if you want to. They not only will be fine, but the carbs from the corn will help them stay warm throughout the winter.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

You realize that cracked corn is just corn that has been crushed, right?

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Yes, but by cracking the corn you break the shell and then the internal part of the kernal becomes available to the animal. Not all animals' digestive systems can process whole kernal corn. I feed cracked corn to my chickens but I think waterfowl can digest whole corn.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

http://www.animalrangeextension.montana.edu/articles/wildlife/deer_tough_love.htm

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

I can assure you the corn is cracked by the time it gets to their stomach. You can hear the kernels cracking from 30 yards away when they are feeding.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Feed, feed, feed, feed and keep feeding. I feed my deer 365 days a year everything from corn to citrus pulp...

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

I would put it out, they don't HAVE to eat it!

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

That was my point as well Critr. They are quite capable of doing their own "cracking".

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Thanks Ray!

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

The key concept for folks to remember here is the difference between supplemental feeding as a low percentage of the deers diet vs. a sudden replacement of the deers food base. The former is fine, and can be helpful to improve condition coming out of winter, but the latter is never good no matter what species you are talking about. As with most things, common sense must be applied.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Deer are like all rudmens, they will need to have the source allwinter to keep the bacteria in their guts for fermenting the grain. Dont feed all at once, put out a little at a time. The deer and other critters will love it, just dont cut them off until other brows starts taking off.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

Dont be so sure of the fact the corn gets chewed. Ive shot many deerthat have had corn in their stomachs and not a bit was cracked. Ive never cleaned a deer that did not swallow corn whole. I always check the guts of my deer when I clean them to know what they are feeding on, and very few times is corn (when present) chewed. A deer is a rudmen, it will ferment in the gut and break down either way.

Now a hog will chomp the stuff up. Sounds like the hogs are eatting rocks.

RE: Feeding deer corn?
 

The corn you see in the stomach will be brought back up and chewed as a cud after it has digested some and softened.
The deer in Montana could not digest the corn, I don't remember seeing much corn growing in Montana. In the midwest I suspect they do have plenty of the enzymes nessesary to digest the corn.
If you don't want to get them habituated to your feeding then don't be regular about it. Put out a 50# bag and then nothing for a week. Forces them to browse for other sources of food. I can see where feeding them regularly for a couple of months and then cutting them off could be a problem.
Then again i could be wrong!