Do Salt Blocks Help?
02-13-2002, 10:42 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Indiana PA USA
Posts: 3,656
Do Salt Blocks Help?
I was wondering if Salt Blocks actually help deer out. I put out around 5 5pound acorn/corn/apple/regular salt blocks each spring. They are entirely gone by mid summer and I wonder how much it actually helps deer. Any info would be appreciated, thanks.
Good Luck This Season: Buck Magnet
P.S. Only Chuck Adams can sit at home and see deer so get into the woods. =;^)
Good Luck This Season: Buck Magnet
P.S. Only Chuck Adams can sit at home and see deer so get into the woods. =;^)
02-13-2002, 02:05 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 2,059
RE: Do Salt Blocks Help?
Buck Magnet; the deer mineral that St. Croix is putting out would probably help them more. It's high in calcium and phosphorus. I use the same blocks as you do and they do supply some micronutrients. The deer enjoy them as do the porcupines.
Hint: buy the apple flavoured blocks for horses at the Coop. They're the same as the deer blocks sold in hunting stores but a lot cheaper.
Dan O.
Edited by - dan o. on 02/14/2002 08:39:53
Hint: buy the apple flavoured blocks for horses at the Coop. They're the same as the deer blocks sold in hunting stores but a lot cheaper.
Dan O.
Edited by - dan o. on 02/14/2002 08:39:53
02-14-2002, 08:29 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 2,059
RE: Do Salt Blocks Help?
Farmers offer them free choice to livestock. The animals use them free choice to make up for deficiencies in their diet. If deer are using them then either the deer need them health wise or they're the next best thing to an ice cream store.
Dan O.
Dan O.
02-14-2002, 05:40 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 2,059
RE: Do Salt Blocks Help?
BSK;
Cattle and deer basically have the same digestive system. I can't find a chart that says how much salt and minerals improve antler growth. What I have found is from livestock books. They speak of calcium, phosphorus, salt, iodine and cobalt being deficient in some soils and crops. So it may be a case of the deer living up to genetic potential by not being deprived rather than an increase based on the amount fed. They say that a lack of these chemicals will result in: poor bone growth, poor fertility, goiter, unthriftiness, listless, rough coats, anemia and weight loss. If they are lacking in these elements they develop a depraved appetite and eat wood, soil etc. It appears to be recommended that salt/mineral blocks should provided free choice for all grass eating animals.
Dan O.
Cattle and deer basically have the same digestive system. I can't find a chart that says how much salt and minerals improve antler growth. What I have found is from livestock books. They speak of calcium, phosphorus, salt, iodine and cobalt being deficient in some soils and crops. So it may be a case of the deer living up to genetic potential by not being deprived rather than an increase based on the amount fed. They say that a lack of these chemicals will result in: poor bone growth, poor fertility, goiter, unthriftiness, listless, rough coats, anemia and weight loss. If they are lacking in these elements they develop a depraved appetite and eat wood, soil etc. It appears to be recommended that salt/mineral blocks should provided free choice for all grass eating animals.
Dan O.
02-15-2002, 01:36 PM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 2,059
RE: Do Salt Blocks Help?
BSK;
Deer don't have a set type of bacteria that are designed to digest certain foods. Ruminants are so successful because the bacteria develop in the their warm and comfy stomach's to digest whatever they eat. If a deer that has been eating brouse (tree limbs) fills up with corn it will starve until the bacterial population develops to digest corn. Cattle will eat anything a deer eats and visa versa.
I looked after a waste water treatment plant for 8 years. If you gave me enough time and storage capacity I could build bacterial populations that would digest almost anything.
Dan O.
Deer don't have a set type of bacteria that are designed to digest certain foods. Ruminants are so successful because the bacteria develop in the their warm and comfy stomach's to digest whatever they eat. If a deer that has been eating brouse (tree limbs) fills up with corn it will starve until the bacterial population develops to digest corn. Cattle will eat anything a deer eats and visa versa.
I looked after a waste water treatment plant for 8 years. If you gave me enough time and storage capacity I could build bacterial populations that would digest almost anything.
Dan O.
02-15-2002, 03:42 PM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 2,059
RE: Do Salt Blocks Help?
BSK; Here is the list of summer deer food from a vegetation management book I have: acorns, mushrooms, grasses, asters, milkweed, dog-tooth violet, clover, goldenrod, many other kinds of herbaceous vegetation. Deer graze the same fields that cattle do.
Ruminants are sewer systems on legs. Cattle can be fed urea and animal excrement as cheap nitrogen sources.
Could you name me one crop that cattle will eat that deer won't?
Dan O.
Ruminants are sewer systems on legs. Cattle can be fed urea and animal excrement as cheap nitrogen sources.
Could you name me one crop that cattle will eat that deer won't?
Dan O.