FL/GA Hunter

Hi guys,

So, every once in a while I' ll read an article that says ' deer need protein' or ' this clover has the best nutritional mix.' Does anybody know where you can find the following information?

-the standard nutritional needs of a deer?

-where different nutrients go in a deer? (what' s good for body weight, antler growth, etc?)

-what younger deer need vs. older deer?

-the nutritional content of different agricultural products, food plot types, and standard forage?

Thanks!

farm hunter

Welcome to the QDM page - Try the QDMA Website first for information

http://www.qdma.com/articles/


Alot of the questions you have are dependant on your area. Still, forage with 20-30% protein is a fair estimate - with the more towrds 30% the better.

To look for specific information use a search engine like google - Here' s an example http://www.google.com/search?q=nutri...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I like to look for PDF Files - Scientific studies done at universities for the best information

Good luck!!

J Pike

FL/GA., Deer in the wild on average get about 11 to 13% pretein in their daily diet' s, deer need 15 to 16% protein to acheive maximum antler growth and weight gain. Even though there are many clover' s etc. that boast providing 28 even 40 % protein its important to know that a deer can only digest around 20% protein daily, the rest is discarded as waste. So it' s far more important to plant something that the deer in your area prefer to eat and that you have planted enough of it, than whether it provides 25%, 30% or even 40% protein. After fawns are weened off their mothers milk they need as much protein etc. as mature deer because their skeletons are still growing, where as a mature buck or doe only need to grow antlers or produce fawns, yonger deer need to do both, though they will produce smaller antlers and less fawns. Pike