Deer feeding is a common practice in the United States and Canada. It can be done for many reasons: to provide food, to provide companionship, or just because you like deers!
Whatever your reason may be, feeding deer can lead to unintended consequences if not done correctly. That is why this blog post will explore how feeding deer can affect their health, what foods are ideal for their needs, and all the other most frequently asked questions about feeding deer.
Deer feeding is a common practice in the United States and Canada. It can be done for many reasons: to provide food, to provide companionship, or just because you like deers!
Whatever your reason may be, feeding deer can lead to unintended consequences if not done correctly. That is why this blog post will explore how feeding deer can affect their health, what foods are ideal for their needs, and all the most frequently asked questions about feeding deer.
Should I Feed the Dear In My Backyard?
Before answering the question in the title of this post, it’s important to answer this question first, “Should you be feeding deer at all?”
The answer is a resounding yes! Especially in the winter season when their natural food sources are scarce and they need your help. So if feeding deer is something you feel passionate about, then, by all means, go ahead and do it — just make sure you feed them foods that are beneficial for their health.
What Can You Feed Deer In Your Backyard?
Here’s a list of common foods you can feed deer in your backyard.
- Acorn
- Soybeans
- Oats
- Fruits, including apples, grapes, small plums, cherries, pears, pumpkins, watermelons, honey locusts, and persimmons
- Vegetables, including carrots, snap peas, tomatoes, and squash
What Is the Best Thing to Feed Deer?
Although feeding deer is beneficial for them, feeding them anything and everything they see might not be.
This does not mean you shouldn’t feed them at all! Just make sure what you are feeding your deer friends are foods that help their immune system rather than harm it.
Here’s a list of ideal food items to feed deer:
- Grains such as oats
- Some nuts that deer enjoy eating include acorns or soybeans If you’re looking for food to add variety to your feeding game
- Vegetables, including carrots, snap peas, tomatoes, and squash
- Fruits like apples, grapes, small plums, cherries, and persimmons are also good feeding choices.
- Leafy greens including kale and turnip provide several health benefits to deer
What Foods Are Poisonous to Deer?
While feeding deer is beneficial for them, feeding them the wrong foods can be detrimental to their health.
That’s why it’s important that you keep your feeding game safe by avoiding the following food items that can cause health problems in deer.
- Cereals containing chocolate or caffeine should not be fed at all! These ingredients are poisonous and dangerous even in small amounts.
- Avoid feeding deer onions as they can cause gastrointestinal problems.
- Excessive feeding of sugar, especially during winter months when natural food sources are scarce for deers is not recommended. Excess consumption of sugar results in issues like obesity and diabetes.
- Fruits high in acidity should be avoided, such as tart cherries, cranberries, blackberries, and large plums.
- Potatoes can cause respiratory problems when fed in excess.
- In addition to potatoes, avoid feeding your deer raw beans or peas as they contain lectins which result in severe gastrointestinal issues! These foods should be cooked before feeding them to deer.
- Also feeding deer meat is a big NO! This includes feeding them cooked meats, bones, and entrails.
- Raw beans and peas contain lectins that result in severe gastrointestinal issues when consumed by deer.
What Is An Expensive Way to Feed Deer?
Feeding deer can be a costly affair if you do not know how to plan it.
Take corn, for instance, which costs around $50 for feeding just one deer for a week. So if you’re feeding multiple deer with corn, you will be spending nearly a thousand bucks per month.
Unless you want to spend that kind of money feeding your deer friends, you should purchase seeds for crops that deer eat. Those seeds will be relatively cheap.
However, the downside to this approach is that you will have to invest some time and energy intending the crops. If that’s not a problem for you, then you can feed deer for virtually beer money.
What Human Foods Do Deer Eat?
Foods that we and our deer friends alike love to eat are pecans, hickory nuts, beechnut acorns, apples, blueberries, blackberries, and persimmons.
What Plants Are Deer Attracted To?
Deer are attracted to plants that have strong, sweet scents, such as the following:
- Honeysuckle
- Sweet pea
- Dandelions
- Primroses
- Lilacs
- Azaleas
- Tulips
- Cherry trees
- One thing
So if you want to attract deer to your yard, those are the plants for the job.
What Are the Cons of Feeding Deer?
Feeding deer in your backyard comes with some cons.
First, feeding deer with the wrong food can be very dangerous for their health. As we mentioned earlier, there are several food groups that can cause a variety of health problems for deer.
Second, feeding deer in your backyard means your property is at risk. These animals tend to behave naturally and sometimes they can be destructive.
Third, feeding deer will attract them to your yard for a longer time than you might like. This means the chances of coming across ticks and other pests increase as well.
Fourth and last, feeding deer is against local laws in some places where hunting is popular among residents. So it’s best to check local laws before feeding deer.
To summarise, feeding deer can attract too many of them to your yard for a longer time than you might like and they can sometimes behave destructively when feeding themselves.
What Attracts Deer the Most?
Different deer are attracted to different things. For example, while one deer may enjoy feeding on the apple trees, another may prefer feeding on the honeysuckle flowers.
But generally speaking, most deers love the foods we mentioned earlier.
Apart from food, deers are attracted to easily accessible areas. So if you want to attract deer to your yard, you should make sure the height and width of your fence are enough for deer to let themselves in easily.
Furthermore, if you want to take it a step further, doe urine in the liquid form has a scent that deer love. You can use it to ensure that any deer nearby will surely pay a visit to your property.
Do Deer Eat Carrots?
Carrots don’t provide much nutritional value to deer. However, feeding deer carrots isn’t bad either because it doesn’t come with any harmful substance that might cause health problems for the animal.
Plus, carrots are pretty high up on the list of foods that deer love to eat. However, since they contain sugar, you shouldn’t feed too many of them at once. Instead, think of them as deer candy. Rather than making them a part of the main meal, they should be served as a dessert that comes after the meal.
Some Final Thoughts
There are many reasons to feed deer in your backyard. Whatever yours is, just make sure you do it in a way that is healthy for them and safe for your property.
One last thing you should know is to maximize your chances of attracting deers to your yard, you should lay out the food half an hour before dawn and then again half an hour before dusk. Dawn and dusk are when deer are typically most active and most likely to be out searching for food.
