Sweet Feed for Deer - Pros n Cons

catch22

Senior Member
I know it has to be kept dry.........I know its not as good source of protein as deer pellets etc

i've never used it before.....does it attract as well as corn??

just looking for an alternative to $11 dollar corn.......
 

Buck Hammer

Member
You could mix corn in with it until the deer got used to it! For that matter some protein pellets also!
 

wildlifepro

Banned
Do not use sweet feed for deer!!! It can cause lactic aciddosis in their system and it changes the ph levels in their rumen.A deers ph level has to stay at a neutral 7.0 and feeding deer sweet feeds are not recommended.Also when the ph is changed it kills enzymes and bacteria deer need to break down and start digestion of their food sources( browse,food plots etc..It's even more wastefull than corn.Use a top quality deer feed and you will be doing yourself and your deer a big favor.Pm me if you have,any health or nutrition questions and will be glad to help you out. Hope this helps out some.Thanks
 
Good Info

Do not use sweet feed for deer!!! It can cause lactic aciddosis in their system and it changes the ph levels in their rumen.A deers ph level has to stay at a neutral 7.0 and feeding deer sweet feeds are not recommended.Also when the ph is changed it kills enzymes and bacteria deer need to break down and start digestion of their food sources( browse,food plots etc..It's even more wastefull than corn.Use a top quality deer feed and you will be doing yourself and your deer a big favor.Pm me if you have,any health or nutrition questions and will be glad to help you out. Hope this helps out some.Thanks
Thanks
 

ben300win

Senior Member
Never knew that. I will stop feeding them sweet feed. I did mix it with corn at one time. Just put 50lbs in the feeder the other day. Will go take it out. I did put in some deer feed in the feeder just after the sweet feed.
 

tdc4dade4

Senior Member
used to feed goat chow mixed with corn an molasas is this also not good for them they sure did like it
 

joshb311

Senior Member
Do not use sweet feed for deer!!! It can cause lactic aciddosis in their system and it changes the ph levels in their rumen.A deers ph level has to stay at a neutral 7.0 and feeding deer sweet feeds are not recommended.Also when the ph is changed it kills enzymes and bacteria deer need to break down and start digestion of their food sources( browse,food plots etc..It's even more wastefull than corn.Use a top quality deer feed and you will be doing yourself and your deer a big favor.Pm me if you have,any health or nutrition questions and will be glad to help you out. Hope this helps out some.Thanks

Actually lactic acidosis can be caused by consuming too much corn as well as sweet feed. This falls into the category of "too much of a good thing". No animal, including cattle are by nature eaters of corn and corn alone. (This is the reason that the agricultural industry is the nation's number one consumer of antibiotics. Acidosis is a MAJOR problem faced by beef producers whose stock is on a predominantly grain based diet.) If there is no diversity in an animals diet, then health problems will follow over time. I compare it to what would happen if you ate twinkies for 9 out of 10 meals. It might taste great and fill you up, but eventually bad things are gonna make their way to the surface.
 

wildlifepro

Banned
RE Corn also

Actually lactic acidosis can be caused by consuming too much corn as well as sweet feed. This falls into the category of "too much of a good thing". No animal, including cattle are by nature eaters of corn and corn alone. (This is the reason that the agricultural industry is the nation's number one consumer of antibiotics. Acidosis is a MAJOR problem faced by beef producers whose stock is on a predominantly grain based diet.) If there is no diversity in an animals diet, then health problems will follow over time. I compare it to what would happen if you ate twinkies for 9 out of 10 meals. It might taste great and fill you up, but eventually bad things are gonna make their way to the surface.

Correct on corn as well.So many think corn is a great thing for deer.When you give a deer unlimited and unrestricted access to corn as well it can cause lactic aciddosis or (grain overload). As stated when the PH levels are then acidified it kills the needed bacteria and enzymes they need to procees and digest everything else they take in. Corn only 8% protein offers no real health advantage to them other than late season sugars and starches for energy. I have seen guys shoot a deer and say look how fat that deer is and when I open it up and show them all of the corn sitting and ferminting in the rumen and other leafy browse and matter is not being broken down and then goes through the digestion process and you can see unprocessed matter in the chambers of the stomach, In reality alot that you put in your food plot,m native browse or protein feeding stations bypasses , does not get broken down and metabolised. I have seen this in so many areas where guys are just pouring out tons of corn and because they do not know its really doing more harm than good.I have put water tubes down a deers throught before and with a mix of fresh water and mineral oil had to flush out their system to save them. Not a pretty sight to see or do .But your gonna still have guys that are gonna do it anyway regardless of what you tell them. We can only reach so many, a quality education is something I truly care about and teach in seminars in hopes of changing the old school ways of thinking and really get people the knowledge to be betters stewards of their land.
 
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nickel back

Senior Member
I know it has to be kept dry.........I know its not as good source of protein as deer pellets etc

i've never used it before.....does it attract as well as corn??

just looking for an alternative to $11 dollar corn.......

nature provides great food for deer,just hunt natural browse and save your self some money.
 
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caw caw

Senior Member
We have been hunting over corn for a LOOOOOOONG time in SC and had no problems. Corn makes up only a small part of the deer's diet. They still prefer natural browse and eat a variety of natural foods.
 

nickel back

Senior Member
We have been hunting over corn for a LOOOOOOONG time in SC and had no problems. Corn makes up only a small part of the deer's diet. They still prefer natural browse and eat a variety of natural foods.

well if you got the money to throw away then have at it.

I'm just saying that nature provides great food for wildlife so why spend money to feed deer like they are cows,goats........
 

Okie Hog

Senior Member
nature provides great food for deer,just hunt natural browse and save your self some money.

Not in this part of OK. Not this year. It's been very dry here for well over a year. There is no green grass. There have been no acorns since 2007.

Many of the deer here are in bad shape. Many does have lost their fawns due to the heat and the drought and have come into heat early. Unless we have some rain soon there will be few fawns next year.

i increased the feeding of corn, soybeans and blackeyed peas in hopes of helping the deer through the fall and winter.
 

nickel back

Senior Member
Not in this part of OK. Not this year. It's been very dry here for well over a year. There is no green grass. There have been no acorns since 2007.

Many of the deer here are in bad shape. Many does have lost their fawns due to the heat and the drought and have come into heat early. Unless we have some rain soon there will be few fawns next year.

i increased the feeding of corn, soybeans and blackeyed peas in hopes of helping the deer through the fall and winter.

sounds like nature at work to me,the strong will survive.I applaud your effort though,good luck.(hope yall get some rain soon up that way)
 

DCHunter

Senior Member
Back to the original question....I've had a trail cam set up with a corn and protein pellets mix and the deer eat it all. Meanwhile, my neighbor puts out sweetfeed about 100 yards away and the deer hardly touch it. They might not even touch it at all. All I know is that the pile goes down a little bit but never gets totally eaten. It could be raccoons or something that is eating it.
 

Mistrfish

Senior Member
I use to feed my Horses sweet feed everyday. They would always drop a little on the ground and not clean it up. The deer would wait until the horses went to the back of the pasture to come and eat what they left on the ground.

This gave me the idea to use sweet feed in my feeder as it was so much cheaper than deer food. At one time I could put a five gallon bucket in the trough and there would be crumbs left in the morning.

I have since stopped using it per Wildlifepro and went to a pellet feed that I feed my goats. I have to feed something to keep up with the big money guys across the street. No feed means no deer on my side of the road.
 
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