DocHolladay
Well-Known Member
Once we quit mixing the pellets with corn, our Coon population went away or down to one or 2.
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Antler growth protein feed
- Thread starter Deer Stuffer
- Start date
My 300 lb banks feeder is completely empty in 3 days...a pallet is 40 50 lb bags...do the math. I would go broke in short order feeding that stuff...
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DocHolladay
Well-Known Member
We let the deer know who is in charge of the feeders. Lol. All feeders are empty when we go each time. If we lived closer, we would fill them up more often. It helps that one of our lease members has a relative that works at TSC and we get a family discount, plus a bulk discount. We end up saving 20% or a smidge more.
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catscratch
Well-Known Member
I'm toying around with feeding a little bit right now. Never really done it before but as I analyze native and plot nutritional sources I've decided that there is a little bit of a gap post rut until green-up. Ultimately I think it's wise for me to take full advantage of my soils and native plants to make a healthy herd, but if I can help (and afford it) at the most needed time of year then it might help recovery. The clue I'm looking at currently is the shear number of deer on bean fields. When nutrition is plentiful and conditions easy deer tend to disperse. When a food source is above what else is available then they congregate in large numbers. Cut bean fields are king right now and deer are zoned in on the best energy source.
I often look at cattle for advice and data. I figure people have been making a living (financial incentive is pretty darn persuasive) from cattle for many centuries and have some things tested. Here is an example;
"Expected Weight Gains on Wheat Pasture Note in Table 2 that wheat pasture has excess protein and sufficient energy to produce average daily gains up to two and one-half pounds. Energy is the limiting nutrient for gains higher than two and one-half pounds per day. Limited gains due to energy, is more of a problem with small calves due to limited intake. Several studies have shown that energy supplementation with an ionophore added could boost those gains to 3 lbs./day provided genetically superior cattle are grazed and cattle have been implanted and dewormed."
How Good is Wheat Pasture for Winter Grazing Lightweight Calves?
From this I know that my wheat plots contain 20+% protein which is likely more than any feed I can give them. But, if you look at the limiting factor on daily wt gains it's energy and not protein. Of course cattle are different than deer, but nutrition and energy interactions will be very similar. Sooo, deer have plenty of protein in my wheat plots and at the same time are getting close to each other to feed in the same bean fields. I need more calories and energy in my program.
Sorry for mistakes or rambling. It has taken many interrupted trips to my computer to get this written, it probably has many errors and reads somewhat broken.
I often look at cattle for advice and data. I figure people have been making a living (financial incentive is pretty darn persuasive) from cattle for many centuries and have some things tested. Here is an example;
"Expected Weight Gains on Wheat Pasture Note in Table 2 that wheat pasture has excess protein and sufficient energy to produce average daily gains up to two and one-half pounds. Energy is the limiting nutrient for gains higher than two and one-half pounds per day. Limited gains due to energy, is more of a problem with small calves due to limited intake. Several studies have shown that energy supplementation with an ionophore added could boost those gains to 3 lbs./day provided genetically superior cattle are grazed and cattle have been implanted and dewormed."
How Good is Wheat Pasture for Winter Grazing Lightweight Calves?
From this I know that my wheat plots contain 20+% protein which is likely more than any feed I can give them. But, if you look at the limiting factor on daily wt gains it's energy and not protein. Of course cattle are different than deer, but nutrition and energy interactions will be very similar. Sooo, deer have plenty of protein in my wheat plots and at the same time are getting close to each other to feed in the same bean fields. I need more calories and energy in my program.
Sorry for mistakes or rambling. It has taken many interrupted trips to my computer to get this written, it probably has many errors and reads somewhat broken.
To be what I would consider as “effective” I would think you would need to offer it all the way through winter until the end of the antler growing season and start it up again by December through August and it would have to be available the entire time...I for sure don’t have the means to feed a wild deer population like that. I usually Feed corn until late March when green up shows less use and then I start feeding corn again about September where I will get a spike of feeding until acorn drop occurs I get a huge reprieve. When acorn drop occurs I can usually turn spin feeders off because of little to no use and I keep the 4 port gravity feeder available. You can tell as soon as acorns dry up by the increased activity at the 4 port banks. 100 lb use per day starts in November and I switch to a spin feeder in place of the 4 port in January because I simply can’t keep putting in $36 in corn in every 3 days on just that feeder. I still have 3 other spin feeders on the place as well...when I switch to a spin feeder I feed 200 lbs from it in 18 days which gives a huge reprieve on the pocket book and I still can find a lot of sheds that were dropped on our place...
shawn cox
Well-Known Member
I feed 20% protein on my 1350 acre lease and so does my buddy next to me on 900 acres. 2020 summer will make our 4th year feeding. It really makes a huge difference for us. Now I plant as much as I can in food plots. I have a lot of clover plots that provide a lot of nutrition. That to me is key with any property. Supplemental feeding is just that supplemental. I don't have deer that only eat out of a feeder. Deer are browsers and get the majority of their diet from browse. Between me and my buddy we probably feed about 12 tons of protein during the antler growing phase from March until first of September. It has made a huge difference in fawn growth, doe health, a lot of does with twins or triplets and weights on does and bucks moving way up. The antler size has increased a lot to with the addition of supplemental feeding. We have about 6 thousand acres of surrounding clubs and we usually kill the biggest deer around us. We killed out two biggest this year and now everyone around us has seen what we are accomplishing and are going to start feeding this spring also. This will be very beneficial to us. Just remember it is not a wonder pill and it will take a couple years to start seeing results but they will come.
I’m at the ranch. Rut is on thus my attention span compromised. Couple comments on supplemental feeding
It can plug the top hole in the bucket thus for most should be last consideration
It needs to be available to a bunch of deer to be able to notice any difference
It needs at the least to cover all the stress periods
You need to accept that the deer you feed all summer may be shot miles away
Protein supplementation will improve any herd anywhere and deer will include it as a regular part of their diet irrespective of other forage available [ with a few exceptions]
Nonetheless it takes a few years for all deer to fully adapt. It’s the fawns that grow up on it where you start seeing benefits. Momma teaches them
Yes. It’s expensive. Protein pellets provide a full compliment of macro, micro nutrients along with all vitamins minerals and some also include digestives and natural antibiotic action as well. Never heard of one including steroids.
in La. I start late January feeding a mix of 50/50 corn and soybeans. Provides energy,fat and protein. But most importantly it is an easy meal when weather cruddiest even though plots still lush. Great for rut recovery.
I stop at green up—around March—-as nothing eats protein much then. About may 1 I go with 18% protein pellet which is fed till about sept or whenever acorns start dropping. They stop eating protein then. But I have covered rut recovery antler growth pregnancy and nursing thru that strategy. Deer feed on the pellets daily during that period even though there is diverse food plot plants within a 1/4 mile of every deer on the farm.
Consistency is important. Feeder density is critical. I have a feeder per 60 acres. Considering pecking order and dominance you want all deer to have unlimited daily opportunity. Feeders need to coon proof. Non target predation can exceed 30% if poor feeder design not to mention moisture damage
Off to shoot some quail. Mans gotta eat
It can plug the top hole in the bucket thus for most should be last consideration
It needs to be available to a bunch of deer to be able to notice any difference
It needs at the least to cover all the stress periods
You need to accept that the deer you feed all summer may be shot miles away
Protein supplementation will improve any herd anywhere and deer will include it as a regular part of their diet irrespective of other forage available [ with a few exceptions]
Nonetheless it takes a few years for all deer to fully adapt. It’s the fawns that grow up on it where you start seeing benefits. Momma teaches them
Yes. It’s expensive. Protein pellets provide a full compliment of macro, micro nutrients along with all vitamins minerals and some also include digestives and natural antibiotic action as well. Never heard of one including steroids.
in La. I start late January feeding a mix of 50/50 corn and soybeans. Provides energy,fat and protein. But most importantly it is an easy meal when weather cruddiest even though plots still lush. Great for rut recovery.
I stop at green up—around March—-as nothing eats protein much then. About may 1 I go with 18% protein pellet which is fed till about sept or whenever acorns start dropping. They stop eating protein then. But I have covered rut recovery antler growth pregnancy and nursing thru that strategy. Deer feed on the pellets daily during that period even though there is diverse food plot plants within a 1/4 mile of every deer on the farm.
Consistency is important. Feeder density is critical. I have a feeder per 60 acres. Considering pecking order and dominance you want all deer to have unlimited daily opportunity. Feeders need to coon proof. Non target predation can exceed 30% if poor feeder design not to mention moisture damage
Off to shoot some quail. Mans gotta eat
DocHolladay
Well-Known Member
If we could feed September through March, that would be great, but from the last Saturday in September until the first Saturday in January we can’t feed if we are hunting. It is considered baiting and that is illegal currently. If we didn’t hunt, we could feed 24/7/365 with no issues. Most hunters have been wanting baiting to become legal for years, but the TWRA hasn’t passed it yet. I could care less about hunting over it, I’m just wanting to keep feeding the deer during the winter when food is scarce.
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Love this point. At our one place in the valley, I’d consider it AG country as well. The deer have corn fields and bean fields everywhere. We don’t feed here, about 20 miles away, 3 miles off the roads and up on the mountain is a different story. No AG other than some little food plots we plant, this is where we feed in the winter months. Deer in AG county are spoiled, it shows the deer here won’t TOUCH pumpkins that we put out. Up on the mountain they will paw them to pieces and eat everything!
THE LLC
Well-Known Member
^^^^THIS^^^^^ LOL. It is fun though.
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
Thanks for everyone’s input. I can’t afford to feed from December to September for sure, but as I’ve just started my feeding I don’t have many deer that will actually eat out of my Banks feeders yet. I’m sure that will change with time and I can afford to feed from January through March and that’s what I intend to do for now. I have coon problems on one feeder that I have to address, but I’m working on that too. I look at it as something helpful as opposed to a full bore feeding program.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Dayum. I did the math and showed it to the little lady to prove I’m conservative on money spent on deer. She still didn’t buy it dang it
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j-bird
Well-Known Member
I may still toy with the idea some (been looking up DIY feeders) but I'm not going to go full boar like it sounds some of you are. My wife complains enough about the money I spend on seed and fertilizer and the like. I wouldn't think much of it, but this year my fall/winter plots where a flop or are already pretty much wiped out. I doubt they starve....but seeing bare plots this early is NOT something I like seeing....
shawn cox
Well-Known Member
Dayum. I did the math and showed it to the little lady to prove I’m conservative on money spent on deer. She still didn’t buy it dang it
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Lol yes it gets expensive
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shawn cox
Well-Known Member
Another thing to consider is protein really shines in a drought like we had this year. No drop off in antler size and weight because they still had high quality nutrition. But like Baker said you have to have enough feeders out so that they all have access to it. You will have some bullies take some over.
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DocHolladay
Well-Known Member
Are you just using the berry flavor to attract them? The protein would be 10.9% if you mixed 50lb of each. Feed Corn is 8.8%ish. I would guess that you are a little lower than that because of the amount of corn vs Record Rack. That little extra protein helps, but you could just feed corn and save some money and get similar results. This is just me sitting here pondering, so don’t take any of it personal.
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j-bird
Well-Known Member
So for those of you that do have significant feeding programs.....do you feed in plot areas? Do you see an increase in the pressure on the plot and the surrounding browse?
IF I was to start I would simply make some small DIY feeders and use them simply for trail cam pics. I can't afford the $5k+ I think it would take to implement a full blown feeding program. I can afford some PVC parts for feeders and $100 a month in corn/nuggets. I wouldn't expect to see any real condition change in the deer....
IF I was to start I would simply make some small DIY feeders and use them simply for trail cam pics. I can't afford the $5k+ I think it would take to implement a full blown feeding program. I can afford some PVC parts for feeders and $100 a month in corn/nuggets. I wouldn't expect to see any real condition change in the deer....
