Is it OK to feed deer in your yard?

Asked by: Jessica Nash

If you feed deer in your backyard or at a park, you could be harming them instead of helping them. Bringing deer together at feeding sites increases their risk of contracting communicable diseases, such as chronic wasting disease, from other deer.Feb 18, 2020

What can I feed the deer around my house?

A wide variety of fruits and vegetables – including apples, grapes, cherries, pears, carrots, and snap peas – are eaten in nature by deer. Therefore, it is safe to feed deer these fruits. Acorns are another safe food source.

What is the best thing to feed deer?

Deer can eat a variety of plants, including:

• Acorns.
• Soybeans.
• Oats.
• Alfalfa or hay (Warning: Do not feed during the winter)
• Turnips.
• And many others, depending on the time of year.

Is it OK to feed deer corn in the winter?

Although corn has poor protein, it has high carbohydrates. Whether it’s planted in a food plot, or fed at a feeding site, corn can be a great benefit to whitetails during winter. Most deer managers are more than willing to plant their plots in the spring and summer.

Is it OK to feed deer corn?

Using only corn or other fermentable carbohydrates as a primary deer food can be dangerous. Eating a large amount of corn can affect the deer’ digestive process and cause a flush of lactic acid in their stomach. In most severe cases, this leads to the dehydration and death of the deer.

What is the cheapest thing to feed deer?

An inexpensive way to feed deer is with corn. Deer love corn and many hunters rely on it for supplemental feeding. That being said, corn is not an excellent source of protein, which is essential for antler growth and the nursing of fawns.

What can I feed wild deer in the winter?

Deer eat woody browse in the winter. This can be leaves, berries, saplings, bulbs, or buds. In wintertime, they will take their pickings from the ground. They can also have some lush forage such as kale, radish, turnips, apples, or cabbage if it is available.

Can you feed deer carrots?

Carrots are root vegetables and can be found in a number of colors such as orange, purple, red, and yellow. Once in a carrot garden, deer will dig up the carrots and eat them. A garden full of carrots is one of the quickest ways to attract a population of deer.

Are apples OK for deer?

Think of apple as a candy treat for deer. They find them delicious, but it is hardly good for them to eat exclusively. Deer enjoy apples but have difficulty digesting them. In fact, if deer exclusively eat apples there’s a good chance the animal will starve to death.

Is it okay to feed bread to deer?

A small amounts of white bread cannot do any harm, but if a single deer were to eat anything more than a few slices of bread there is always the potential for life-threatening lacticacidosis. It is certainly not wise to put out large amounts because you cannot control how much each deer might eat.