Cow/goat feed vs. Deer Supplements?

[shdw633]

People often want to feed deer what is handy, which might be sheep, goat, dairy, or even horse feeds. The problem is these feeds are not formulated for deer, do not meet their specific needs, and may even cause problems.

Sheep are very intolerant of dietary copper, so sheep feeds and, traditionally, most goat feeds contain very low levels of copper. They are also usually lower in protein than what deer will need. Deer, and elk, too, have fairly high copper requirements. Feed meant for sheep will be deficient in copper and most other trace minerals for deer and elk, and will likely not provide enough protein for optimal antler growth.

Commercial dairy feeds are formulated to maximize milk production, which has very different nutrient requirements than antler growth. These feeds do not have the proper starch-to-fiber ratio or the trace mineral fortification required for superior antler growth.

Horse feeds, especially textured feeds such as grain mixes, will be too high in soluble (starchy) carbohydrates for deer, inviting problems with acidosis and founder. The protein level also will not be high enough to provide for maximal antler growth. Again, the feed is designed for an animal with a different digestive tract and different production goals than deer.

If you want big, healthy deer that can achieve their genetic potential for antler growth, you need to feed a high-quality feed designed specifically for deer. Anything less will give you just that: less.

I would agree with this if I had penned deer but it is a supplement. It is meant to supplement a deer's diet not replace it. You can't make the deer eat it and for the most part your large trophy bucks won't go around feeders anyway so I disagree with the giving anything less will give you just that. The reason most protein levels are so high in deer feed over domestic feed is because worms and parasites eat the protein first in a deer and the deer get what is left over whereas domestic animals are wormed yearly or bi-yearly; therefore the protein levels in the feed don't need to be as high. If you do a worming program, say for example a goat feed with wormer in it once to twice a year (approximately $14 a bag, 1 bag per feeder), along with a mineral site (trophy rock (approx. $15 each)and possibly loose minerals @ approximately$14 per bag per site) you will most likely get the same results or better with a 13% protein cattle feed at approximately $8 a bag as you do with the high dollar feed at $14 to $15 a bag plus you will still have to do a mineral site if you really want to max out the potential of your deer in my opinion. This has been the formula that we have worked with for the past four years and we have seen a big increase in our deer's antler size over the past 2 of the four years and are pleased with where we are headed. I am not saying that we are still not looking for better, more efficient and cost saving ways or that one persons way of doing it is better than another's, but at this time we are satisfied with where we are going and the costs associated with what we are doing.

 

[Defcon15]

Does anyone know about Antler Boost Deer Feed? Someone forwarded me an email from them marketing their new spring/summer 21% protein feed for $7.99 per bag. According to their website, their product has 4% fat (a lot of other feeds have 2%) and they claim to have 50% more by-pass protein than many competitors. At only $7.99/50 lb bag...seems almost too good to be true. Anyone know what the deal with this product is? Thanks for all the comments above, been very helpful.

 

[shdw633]

Does anyone know about Antler Boost Deer Feed? Someone forwarded me an email from them marketing their new spring/summer 21% protein feed for $7.99 per bag. According to their website, their product has 4% fat (a lot of other feeds have 2%) and they claim to have 50% more by-pass protein than many competitors. At only $7.99/50 lb bag...seems almost too good to be true. Anyone know what the deal with this product is? Thanks for all the comments above, been very helpful.

Where did you get the $7.99 a bag? I just checked their website and they have a dealer in Macon that is $429 a ton which equates out to $10.72 a 50 pound bag and that is for their Fall/Winter, their Spring/Summer is $499 a ton which is $12.47 per 50 pound bag by my calculations.

 

[dtala]

if yer happy with where you are AND THE ASSOCIATED COSTS then continue what you are doing...

BUT there is no way in the world you are giving the deer all they can use by feeding 13% protein cattle feed. Bucks in antler growing time and pregnant does need and AVERAGE of 18% protein feed. Thats and average of natural browse they actually eat and the supplemental feed that actually consume.


I would feed wild , free ranging deer over 18% protein levels because of the addition of lower levels of native browse eaten.

You cannot feed penned deer high levels of protein feed, like 25-30%, because it will burn em and give em the scours, like people on all protein diets get....

 

[shdw633]

if yer happy with where you are AND THE ASSOCIATED COSTS then continue what you are doing...

BUT there is no way in the world you are giving the deer all they can use by feeding 13% protein cattle feed. Bucks in antler growing time and pregnant does need and AVERAGE of 18% protein feed. Thats and average of natural browse they actually eat and the supplemental feed that actually consume.


I would feed wild , free ranging deer over 18% protein levels because of the addition of lower levels of native browse eaten.

You cannot feed penned deer high levels of protein feed, like 25-30%, because it will burn em and give em the scours, like people on all protein diets get....

If that were true then we would never have any deer on public lands getting larger than a 15 inch 8 point and yet one of the largest deer killed this season was a public land giant and I'm pretty sure nobody put out an 18% plus protein to him. Again, these are supplements and many bucks won't even eat them after they have matured as most of the time it is the does that eat from the feeding sites. A deer gets most of what it needs from mother nature and we are just giving her an extra boost, i.e supplement, you can't tell me (more or less show me) that you putting out 5 extra % of protein is going to make your deer any larger than the deer I am feeding.

 

[dtala]

a buck is going to be what he was genetically programmed to be within the confines of his health and what he eats. You cannot MAKE a buck grow B&C antlers if he dosen't have the genetics to do so. Even if he has the genetics to grow he may not because of health issues of lack of proper nutrition.

feeding 13% protein feed as a supplement during antler growing season isn't doing much to further yer cause to grow bigger antlers.

but then feeding 20% protein feed is going to cost a lot more than the 13% cattle feed...

 

[ilbcnu]

McNess feeds deer pellets in new berry flavor. switched to this from record rack and the deer absolutely devour it. will bring back an ingredient tag from farm this weekend and post, this stuff is loaded with minerals and full 50 lb bags for the price of most 40s.

crude protein-20.7%
crude fat min-6.1%
crude fiber max-25.4%
calcium-1.2%
phosphorus-1.1%
salt-2.1%
copper-51 ppm
selenium-2.0 ppm
vitamin a-17000 iu/Lb
vitamin d-3 min-2600iu/Lb
vitamin E min-60 iu/Lb
organic zinc, manganese and cobalt
also includes tasco, a natural marine sourced feed ingredient that helps modulate functions in the animal relevant to health, productivity and stress management.

 

[shdw633]

a buck is going to be what he was genetically programmed to be within the confines of his health and what he eats. You cannot MAKE a buck grow B&C antlers if he dosen't have the genetics to do so. Even if he has the genetics to grow he may not because of health issues of lack of proper nutrition.

feeding 13% protein feed as a supplement during antler growing season isn't doing much to further yer cause to grow bigger antlers.

but then feeding 20% protein feed is going to cost a lot more than the 13% cattle feed...

I agree with your genetics comment but can't understand why you feel that 7% extra protein is going to grow that much bigger antlers but 13% won't do anything, especially since I am doing a worming and mineral program as well and have already seen this work on my own club. The only reason that the protein in deer feed is that high is due to the worms and parasites that exist in a deer which eat the protein before the deer's body has a chance to absorb it, it needs to be that high for enough protein to be left over for the deer; therefore, if one is doing a worming program why would there be a need to have the higher protein feed. I also know that Purina and others have products that are only 17% that they say works as well so you can't say that 13% isn't doing much in the health of your deer herd and in the antler production of the bucks. What are you basing that statement on, scientific proof wise.

 

[dtala]

where do you get that info on parasites eating the protein from???

Healthy wild deer usually do not need any worming at all, ever. It won't hurt , but I doubt it helps much. The minerals won't hurt but there is no scientific evidence that supplemental minerals do anything to boost antler size.

 

[shdw633]

where do you get that info on parasites eating the protein from???

Healthy wild deer usually do not need any worming at all, ever. It won't hurt , but I doubt it helps much. The minerals won't hurt but there is no scientific evidence that supplemental minerals do anything to boost antler size.

What are you basing your worming statement on? Mine comes from a ruminant biologist a, veterinarian and an individual who works in the animal pharmaceutical and supplement sales field . Also studies done at the Pennington farm (my buddy guides the farm manager down here and you can learn a lot being on the water with people for a few days) have shown that worming the deer have increased their antler size by as much as 10%. I also know a few deer farmers that have shared their formulas for growing big deer which include worming and a garlic formula to keep the ticks and bloodsucking insects at bay; however, that being they have also told me there is really only 2 components that give you a big deer with a monster rack, genetics and age and that most of the genetics for big antlers comes from the doe. I remember one deer they had that was an absolute monster, well over 200 inches; however, he never sired a buck that would come close to what he was.

I know your background Dtala as you have stated it before on this board, but I am just going to have to agree to disagree with you on this topic. I'm going to go by the experts that I know on this and by my own results, besides if what you are saying about the minerals were to be correct then you basically have made all the high dollar protein supplements worthless because their whole argument is that the deer gets the proteins and all these minerals and vitamins mixed into their pellets (as seen on the Purina tag posted earlier on this thread), so if all we need is the protein, why pay the extra for the high dollar supplements that go along with them. The OP wanted to know if the difference in money was worthwhile or simply marketing and my opinion it's marketing. I don't think you get less when you utilize cattle protein over deer protein and I don't think 4 to 7% extra protein in a mix is going to show a big enough difference in a deer's antler growth for it to be noticeable but again that has just been my experience through my 40 plus years of hunting deer and the people I have met along the way and my opinion. I hope the OP got what he was looking for. I also want to thank him for sending me a copy of the email he received, I really appreciate it and as I stated, I am always looking for something better, just not more expensive!! Good hunting to all next season!!!

 

[EastALHunter]

Be very careful....

If you want to know what you are really getting for your money send samples in and have them tested.They will send you a sheet with the ingredients and the % numbers.

I've got a competitor that has consistently run down my deer feed (I really could care less because my customers are getting superior results at a much better price) who got some of my feed (still suspicious as to how he got it) and sent it off along with some of his own feed. When the results came back it said it had barley (i.e. for making beer) and hominy in it. I almost passed out laughing.

There are some real amateurs out there charging people big money for deer feed. I started noticing that several websites started mysteriously copying the content off my website starting several years back - specifically the verbiage on by-pass protein which I was the first independent deer feed to talk about publicly. A prospective customer called around and talk to all those same deer feed folks before he called me and he said not a single one of them understood or could explain what by-pass protein was. I was not surprised.

Yesterday, I just put up an explanation of by-pass protein on my website for the first time rather than just mentioning it. Except this time I had my web guy do it instead of myself like years ago. I now have documentation and had him take dated electronic snapshots of these other websites for proof if needed.

 

[EastALHunter]

It's not 21%....

Does anyone know about Antler Boost Deer Feed? Someone forwarded me an email from them marketing their new spring/summer 21% protein feed for $7.99 per bag. According to their website, their product has 4% fat (a lot of other feeds have 2%) and they claim to have 50% more by-pass protein than many competitors. At only $7.99/50 lb bag...seems almost too good to be true. Anyone know what the deal with this product is? Thanks for all the comments above, been very helpful.

It's a formula I developed called Antler Boost Spring/Summer Econo. Basically I matched the by-pass levels of common deer feeds with ingredients that I have available. In a nutshell, I can match the by-pass in those common feeds at a lower total (crude) protein level. Crude protein is made up of 2 things and 2 things only - Degraded protein (digestible) and Undegraded (by-pass). By-pass is what influences growth directly. Digestible protein has a much lower influence as the microbes degrade it for their own energy needs. Yes, you need digestible protein for health but the woods of the South are full of digestible protein sources - but extremely limited for by-pass protein. If I'm gonna feed free-range or high fence (not small breeder pen) deer I want to pump the by-pass to them.

So what I did was basically figured out that I can feed the same level of by-pass as common deer feeds at a much lower price. The total protein will depend on what ingredients a particular mill has available but the bottom line is you can get equivalent growth as common feeds at a much cheaper price. Everything else stays the same in the feed as the Spring/Summer 21% - fat, vitamins, minerals.

It was put together to help 3 situations:

1) Customers who can't afford to feed at all
2) Customers who can't afford to feed the volume they want to feed
3) Customers who want to feed a larger acreage or longer

The primary customer base is hunting clubs and outfitters. Those are the folks who need this feed and want this feed. Not a single current customer I have wants to swap from the Spring/Summer 21%. They aren't on a tighter budget and are well satisfied with the results.

There are other products to come. Stay tuned....

 

[EastALHunter]

What are you basing your worming statement on? Mine comes from a ruminant biologist a, veterinarian and an individual who works in the animal pharmaceutical and supplement sales field . Also studies done at the Pennington farm (my buddy guides the farm manager down here and you can learn a lot being on the water with people for a few days) have shown that worming the deer have increased their antler size by as much as 10%. I also know a few deer farmers that have shared their formulas for growing big deer which include worming and a garlic formula to keep the ticks and bloodsucking insects at bay; however, that being they have also told me there is really only 2 components that give you a big deer with a monster rack, genetics and age and that most of the genetics for big antlers comes from the doe. I remember one deer they had that was an absolute monster, well over 200 inches; however, he never sired a buck that would come close to what he was.

I know your background Dtala as you have stated it before on this board, but I am just going to have to agree to disagree with you on this topic. I'm going to go by the experts that I know on this and by my own results, besides if what you are saying about the minerals were to be correct then you basically have made all the high dollar protein supplements worthless because their whole argument is that the deer gets the proteins and all these minerals and vitamins mixed into their pellets (as seen on the Purina tag posted earlier on this thread), so if all we need is the protein, why pay the extra for the high dollar supplements that go along with them. The OP wanted to know if the difference in money was worthwhile or simply marketing and my opinion it's marketing. I don't think you get less when you utilize cattle protein over deer protein and I don't think 4 to 7% extra protein in a mix is going to show a big enough difference in a deer's antler growth for it to be noticeable but again that has just been my experience through my 40 plus years of hunting deer and the people I have met along the way and my opinion. I hope the OP got what he was looking for. I also want to thank him for sending me a copy of the email he received, I really appreciate it and as I stated, I am always looking for something better, just not more expensive!! Good hunting to all next season!!!

How did they identify those parasites? Because as your vet buddy would know, they need to get fresh (like catch it out of their butt) deer feces to take slide samples and look at the parasites under a microscope. And the only way to do that is to dart wild deer and extract the feces. Penned deer are susceptible to an entirely different set of parasites as wild deer. I know some guys that own a high fence and breeding pen in North AL and they actually darted the deer out in the big fence that are under the same/extremely similar environment as a free-range deer. They checked the breeder pen deer and found parasites and darted/checked the high fence deer and found almost none. Obviously every area has different conditions but the only method to check them is darting and slide analysis.

 

[shdw633]

How did they identify those parasites? Because as your vet buddy would know, they need to get fresh (like catch it out of their butt) deer feces to take slide samples and look at the parasites under a microscope. And the only way to do that is to dart wild deer and extract the feces. Penned deer are susceptible to an entirely different set of parasites as wild deer. I know some guys that own a high fence and breeding pen in North AL and they actually darted the deer out in the big fence that are under the same/extremely similar environment as a free-range deer. They checked the breeder pen deer and found parasites and darted/checked the high fence deer and found almost none. Obviously every area has different conditions but the only method to check them is darting and slide analysis.

That is a great question!!! I will ask him about that. I just assumed that he darted his deer or had deer captured and penned for short periods of time for study as that is his main area of expertise, but I will find out and get back with you.

 

[dtala]

What are you basing your worming statement on? Mine comes from a ruminant biologist a, veterinarian and an individual who works in the animal pharmaceutical and supplement sales field . Also studies done at the Pennington farm (my buddy guides the farm manager down here and you can learn a lot being on the water with people for a few days) have shown that worming the deer have increased their antler size by as much as 10%. I also know a few deer farmers that have shared their formulas for growing big deer which include worming and a garlic formula to keep the ticks and bloodsucking insects at bay; however, that being they have also told me there is really only 2 components that give you a big deer with a monster rack, genetics and age and that most of the genetics for big antlers comes from the doe. I remember one deer they had that was an absolute monster, well over 200 inches; however, he never sired a buck that would come close to what he was.

I know your background Dtala as you have stated it before on this board, but I am just going to have to agree to disagree with you on this topic. I'm going to go by the experts that I know on this and by my own results, besides if what you are saying about the minerals were to be correct then you basically have made all the high dollar protein supplements worthless because their whole argument is that the deer gets the proteins and all these minerals and vitamins mixed into their pellets (as seen on the Purina tag posted earlier on this thread), so if all we need is the protein, why pay the extra for the high dollar supplements that go along with them. The OP wanted to know if the difference in money was worthwhile or simply marketing and my opinion it's marketing. I don't think you get less when you utilize cattle protein over deer protein and I don't think 4 to 7% extra protein in a mix is going to show a big enough difference in a deer's antler growth for it to be noticeable but again that has just been my experience through my 40 plus years of hunting deer and the people I have met along the way and my opinion. I hope the OP got what he was looking for. I also want to thank him for sending me a copy of the email he received, I really appreciate it and as I stated, I am always looking for something better, just not more expensive!! Good hunting to all next season!!!

I'm pretty sure we are going to disagree on most of this topic from what I have read....

First, I never said minerals were worthless, i said there is NO SCIENTIFIC Evidence/STUDIES that show mineral supplements will increase antler size, (esp in wild herds). Information garnered from a buddy that guides the manager of a farm while fishing is NOT evidence.

If you have evidence that worming will increase the antlers of wild deer by 10% in size, I'd like to see it. Hint, it ain't there....

When I managed a 500 acre private high fence I wormed three times a year...and put out minerals...and fed 18% protein feed. We grew bucks over 200" every year, 170-180 like clockwork. But these were no free range deer and were exposed to higher deer concentrations that any wild deer and therefore more exposed to parasites. Also we had several exotics that were exposed to fatal menengial(brain lining) worms, so we had to use Ivermectin fir them also.

You keep saying 4-7% more protein won't make any difference, but what I'm saying is that IN WILD HERDS you need to be feeding well over 18%.

I am good friends with several deer farmers, and two deer vets NONE of which has herd of parasites EATING THE PROTEIN before a deer can use it, so it is just as good to feed 13% to wild herds. I think you may of misunderstod what yer friend said there....

 

[shdw633]

If you have evidence that worming will increase the antlers of wild deer by 10% in size, I'd like to see it. Hint, it ain't there....

When I managed a 500 acre private high fence I wormed three times a year...and put out minerals...and fed 18% protein feed. We grew bucks over 200" every year, 170-180 like clockwork. But these were no free range deer and were exposed to higher deer concentrations that any wild deer and therefore more exposed to parasites. Also we had several exotics that were exposed to fatal menengial(brain lining) worms, so we had to use Ivermectin fir them also.

You keep saying 4-7% more protein won't make any difference, but what I'm saying is that IN WILD HERDS you need to be feeding well over 18%.

I am good friends with several deer farmers, and two deer vets NONE of which has herd of parasites EATING THE PROTEIN before a deer can use it, so it is just as good to feed 13% to wild herds. I think you may of misunderstod what yer friend said there....

You are correct, I have talked with him again and I did misunderstand what he said. First, as far as worming, all deer are susceptible to worms; however, as you stated, wild deer in normal habitat generally do not have worms; however, deer that have been stressed either through predation levels or loss of habitat or being penned up can have their immune system effected or lowered, which makes them more susceptible to get worms. Our property has gone through the last four years of logging and select cutting and we have had several deer on our property that have shown signs of malnutrition even though there is plenty of food on the property which is a sign of worms. It is hard to obviously know whether worms are the cause or what deer has them or does not have them so the only way to get it to the deer that are affected, if any, is to do it through the feed which will also help any other deer that may be susceptible but is currently not showing signs. As far as the protein being eaten by the worms, that was my mistake, at the time we were talking about protein and that's where I got confused. Worms live in the stomach and intestine tract and they eat what ever the deer eats but they get to it before the deer's digestive system has a chance to utilize any of the food the deer eats, hence why animals with worms look malnourished. All this comes down to where he gets his information and no it's not from a wild herd it is from captive deer herds.

All that being said and what I have learned from EastAlHunter regarding how minerals work within a deer's system. You still have not explained why 18% is your magic number? Why is 13% not good enough in supplemental feeding? Also, just because there is no scientific data on wild deer doesn't mean it does not help or contribute to the growth of antlers. You yourself said you wormed your penned deer three times a year to prevent worms, why??? Why not de worm them after you find out that one of them had worms. And I am not being sarcastic here or de-meaning I am really searching for why deer farmers worm and it's not something that the wild herd would benefit from and as I stated above I realize wild deer in a normal habitat with low predation do not usually get worms but most of us are on logging leases and it would appear through the comments on this board and my own experiences on our property that predation through coyotes has been on the rise, so it's not like most of the deer we hunters come into contact with are in normal state park like habitat with little to no predation.

There are other things that deer farmers do to their feed like put garlic in it to ward off mosquitoes and ticks and yet their is no scientific findings out there stating that it does anything for antler growth, but they do it. My point being is that it would seem that just because you don't have a scientist saying it works based on an independent study performed by him doesn't mean it doesn't work. You said it yourself that you did what you did and you were popping you 170's like popcorn so why would that not work on a wild herd? It is my understanding that QDMA has either come out with a study or is coming out with a study that shows that the more mature a buck gets the smaller his home range gets, so it would seem like anything that would work for a deer penned up in 500 to 1000 acres would somewhat work for a deer that had a small home range, not saying the same results as a penned deer, just improved results.

 

[Defcon15]

From my research the past few days, a deer needs about 8-12% protein just to maintain their daily routine of living. They need between 12-16% protein to stay healthy. Only if they are getting over 16% protein do the bucks have the extra protein to be applied directly to their antler growth since growing antlers puts additional stress on the deer. In addition, does use the extra protein during the spring/summer when growing and nursing their fawns which is equally stressful for them. Naturally, deer can get 12-16% protein from summer food sources and be just fine (have a healthy fawn or grow a nice set of antlers); however, by supplementing with a higher protein level, you are giving them more protein (that maybe they can't get from available food sources) which can then be applied to additional antler growth, fetus growth, and milk production. During the winter months, you can put out lower protein feed (12-16%) just to supplement their diet while food sources are limited - don't need the higher protein for growing antlers or raising a fawn which as I mentioned are stressful for the deer. During the summer, deer can find plenty of food sources to maintain a diet of 12-16% protein so putting out 13% supplement feed is no different than them just eating natural browse. Only if you put out something that offers more protein than they can find naturally will have an effect on their health, antler growth, fawn production, etc.

Well...at least that's what I've read...

 

[dtala]

the short answer on % protein is what are the hundreds of deer farmers all across the US feeding their deer to grow big antlers???? They have many thousands of dollars tied up in deer/fences/buildings/feed/ etc and they ALL feed at least 17%, most 18%, some 20%. If 13% worked I promise you that they would be feeding 13% and saving that money.

My findings over the years follow what Defcon15 has said.

and I applaud you for doing what you are doing to improve herd health and hope your herd continues in the direction you want it to go.

 

[EastALHunter]

If you were in the industry...

You would know that MOST (not all) deer farmers know very little about nutrition. I've seen farmers get in a $ crunch and feed straight corn to breeder deer - and sacrifice about 20"-30" in antler growth which is barely noticeable on 300" deer. It's all about genetics in deer farms. All these deer farmers that have spent all the extra money on supplements and miracle mineral packages might as well have rolled down the window and thrown it all away. My breeder feed focuses on health and proper fiber/protein/fat balance to increase the reproductive capability of their breeder herd.

Now, if you are talking 20-30" on free-range deer well that is a big thing. Hence the reason I have a business

the short answer on % protein is what are the hundreds of deer farmers all across the US feeding their deer to grow big antlers???? They have many thousands of dollars tied up in deer/fences/buildings/feed/ etc and they ALL feed at least 17%, most 18%, some 20%. If 13% worked I promise you that they would be feeding 13% and saving that money.

My findings over the years follow what Defcon15 has said.

and I applaud you for doing what you are doing to improve herd health and hope your herd continues in the direction you want it to go.

 

[EastALHunter]

What the biologists that wrote all the stuff you read...

either don't understand or didn't explain is there are 2 kinds of protein (by digestion classification) and all those numbers you quoted are digestible protein numbers. You can go here to see my explanation of the two:

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=790382&page=2

When you add the two together they equal 100% or the Total (crude) protein. So if a feed is 20% by-pass (very common) and 80% digestible then a 20% Crude (Total) protein feed would have 4% By-Pass (20 x 0.20) and 16% Digestible (20 x 0.80) therefore not exceeding the 16% Digestible that the Rumen microbes can handle during a rumination cycle. However, that feed is being mixed with lower Crude Protein native browse and "diluted" so there's never any problem with excess ammonia excretion (above 16% digestible).

However, feed them straight Soybean Meal at 48% Crude Protein with 70% Digestible and that gives you 48 x 0.70 = 33.6 which is DOUBLE the amount of digestible protein they should be trying to digest. Which is the lesson of "too much of a good thing". I've seen deer farmers (in the don't understand nutrition category) who burned up their bucks reproductive/urinary systems by doing that. The excess 17% is excreted as ammonia which at a high enough level will burn the heck out of any tissue.

From my research the past few days, a deer needs about 8-12% protein just to maintain their daily routine of living. They need between 12-16% protein to stay healthy. Only if they are getting over 16% protein do the bucks have the extra protein to be applied directly to their antler growth since growing antlers puts additional stress on the deer. In addition, does use the extra protein during the spring/summer when growing and nursing their fawns which is equally stressful for them. Naturally, deer can get 12-16% protein from summer food sources and be just fine (have a healthy fawn or grow a nice set of antlers); however, by supplementing with a higher protein level, you are giving them more protein (that maybe they can't get from available food sources) which can then be applied to additional antler growth, fetus growth, and milk production. During the winter months, you can put out lower protein feed (12-16%) just to supplement their diet while food sources are limited - don't need the higher protein for growing antlers or raising a fawn which as I mentioned are stressful for the deer. During the summer, deer can find plenty of food sources to maintain a diet of 12-16% protein so putting out 13% supplement feed is no different than them just eating natural browse. Only if you put out something that offers more protein than they can find naturally will have an effect on their health, antler growth, fawn production, etc.

Well...at least that's what I've read...