Goat feed?

[WSB]

Do any of you use goat feed to feed deer? I am wanting to use something with some protien in it and instead of buying a high protien deer feed some guys in the club says that the deer will eat it and it won't cost as much. Thanks for any info.

 

[Hogguide]

Do any of you use goat feed to feed deer? I am wanting to use something with some protein in it and instead of buying a high protein deer feed some guys in the club says that the deer will eat it and it won't cost as much. Thanks for any info.

Are you trying to feed goats or grow a Monster Deer?
That is a very important question that needs to be answered before beginning your feeding system.

What they EAT makes a BIG difference. Goats and deer have very different nutritional needs, plus are in the wild, not being fed in a pen with little exercise.
Deer also need Potassium and phosphorous in various amounts to order to make their bodies process the protein and lead to monstrous growth. Goat feed usually has none of this. The fertile lands of the Mississippi River along Illinois and other Midwestern states have high levels of minerals in the ground that make all the forage available to the deer much more nutritional that the land found around here. This is one reason that these states are producing Incredible deer each year and have for thousands of years.
Deer will also only be able to Digest 65-70% of the protein they take in. The Whitetail Institute has done much research on this subject and reported that a deer needs a minimum of 16% protein to be able to produce a Strong Skeletal System First, Muscle System next and then what is left over goes toward antler development.

You also have to have ALOT of discipline in your club or control over you land to let the deer mature enough to grow into a Trophy. That process takes 3.5-6 years depending on many other physical needs as well.

From the postings on this site, there are a wide range of opinions as to what each hunter considers a "Trophy", including mine.

PS: these guys are not eating Goat feed.



Some recent sheds and a few skulls.


This is only my personal opinion and observation.

JT will be along to say he likes baby goats, in a minute.
HG

 

[WSB]

Hogguide, those are defently not goats. I am wanting to feed and grow some monster deer ,but as we all know you get 4 or 5 people together and they have different opionons on how to go about it. I have talked to everybody in the club on the info you sent me and if I go that route it looks like it will just be me doing it. They all want bigger bucks but they hate to do and spend what it takes to get them. Thanks for the post.

 

[Hogguide]

Hogguide, those are defently not goats. I am wanting to feed and grow some monster deer ,but as we all know you get 4 or 5 people together and they have different opionons on how to go about it. I have talked to everybody in the club on the info you sent me and if I go that route it looks like it will just be me doing it. They all want bigger bucks but they hate to do and spend what it takes to get them. Thanks for the post.

Stay after them. If they truly want bigger deer, they will buy in. But they have to buy in all the way. I had the exact same problem that you did when I first started and I went at it on my own. I did manage to get several of the surrounding landowners and clubs together and discuss what we were doing. They said they would verbally go along with it. Once we killed a really nice deer, it was on then, nearly everyone wanted an oportunity at a nice buck.
You have got to let that 1,2 and 3 yr old buck walk, until he is old enough to grow to his full potential.
It still takes a lot more than just feeding them. The QDM is a wonderful resource of information although I do not fully agree with their policy regarding the shooting of does.
On the pictures of the bucks above, there is a series of over 900 pictures over a 3 weeks time period. The "Management" plan had called for the following QDM principles of shooting a Large amount of does. What they found on the camera survey was that they are Short of does. Buck to doe ratio is skewed to nearly more bucks than does. They are now not shooting any does for 2-3 years and selective harvesting of mature bucks.
Stay after them. Like I said in my original post, their are a lot of opinions of what a trophy is to different hunters.
We will see how this works.
HG

 

[Retired Army Guy]

Goat feed is high in protein 16-18%

They will eat it if you train them to. Mix with corn then cut back a little at a time until you have all or mostly goat feed.

Deer get a lot of the minerals and vitamins they need from mother nature. They have been surviving for centuries with out deer feed.

Ask any legitimate (Masters or PHD educated) deer biologist (not some guy who claims he's one and he's actually a salesman pushing a product) and they will tell you a deer can only digest so much protein any how. If you over load them they just poop it out! Wasting your $$$!!! 16-20% is a good number.

Remember a lot of people have gotten rich off the deer hunting industry the last decade, they need your money and will do and say anything to get your money.

In a nutshell goat feed will give them a protein boost. Specialized deer feeds will cost more & give them more vitamins and minerals; but are they all ready getting these vitamins and minerals through natural foraging? You make the decision.

 

[Vernon Holt]

I have heard that goat feed can be damaging to a deer's respiratory system due to the level of dust contained in the mix. By volume it is probably 40% very fine material. Unless a deer holds its breath when eating it, I do not see how it could do so without ingesting volumes of dust into the lungs.

Has anyone else heard or read this??

At the close of this past hunting season I bought a bag of goat feed (it was not pelletized). I mixed with corn at the rate of 30% corn. After several weeks of it being untouched, I removed it from the trough and have since used it as fertilizer in the garden.

Perhaps I gave up too early.

 

[Retired Army Guy]

Non pellitized feed? Like a dust? Never heard of such a thing. ?
When in doubt contact your local game biologist. I think mine know me by name LOL. I recommend contacting a legitimate biologist before you start any feeding program. Doesn't cost you a dime, thats what they're there for. I use my extension office religiously!

 

[Hogguide]

Goat feed is high in protein 16-18%

They will eat it if you train them to. Mix with corn then cut back a little at a time until you have all or mostly goat feed.

Deer get a lot of the minerals and vitamins they need from Mother Nature. They have been surviving for centuries with out deer feed.

Ask any legitimate (Masters or PHD educated) deer biologist (not some guy who claims he's one and he's actually a salesman pushing a product) and they will tell you a deer can only digest so much protein any how. If you over load them they just poop it out! Wasting your $$$!!! 16-20% is a good number.

Remember a lot of people have gotten rich off the deer hunting industry the last decade, they need your money and will do and say anything to get your money.

In a nutshell goat feed will give them a protein boost. Specialized deer feeds will cost more & give them more vitamins and minerals; but are they all ready getting these vitamins and minerals through natural foraging? You make the decision.

The above statement in bold is not True. Why are there so many small bucks in GA that are 2-1/2 and 3- 1/2 years old and have spindly, low mass racks? It is because native vegetation has only 6-8% protein at best. What about the period from January until the Greenup beginning in Mid March, early April? This is the critical time that deer need something extra right after their bodies are already run down after the rut.

The same thing is Done ALL over the animal world. Take Hunting dogs as an example. What percentage of protein do you feed your champion dog? I bet it ain't the cheap stuff from Wal-Mart. Higher protein makes them have more energy, less sickness, coat shinier and a host of other benefits.

Do you have a Horse? What do you feed him? Take Champion Bulls, Chickens (Chick Fillets chickens are 42-43 days old when they are killed and weigh nearly 5-6 pounds)
The exact same thing is done through out the entire farming world to raise prime Market Quality animals.

Ask any legitimate (Masters or PHD educated) deer biologist (not some guy who claims he's one and he's actually a salesman pushing a product) and they will tell you a deer can only digest so much protein any how.

Exactly! We did not formulate our feed. It was done by a UGA Nutritionist based on exactly what a deer needs and is lacking in their natural environment. We used Bone, soil and antler from Deer that are from GEORGIA in our development of this feed.


I am a hunter myself. I have 20 of my own feeders out on my farms in Middle Ga. This is where we do our field testing, here in GA and in Kentucky. We also take input from Several Local Deer Farmers all over the state that are managing free ranging deer herds that are using our feed.

Take a look here at this website. That is me in several of those pictures. Half way down the page is a picture of a 2- 1/2 yr. old deer that scores in the MID 140's.(Tom Elam’s Buck from September 4, 2004) You have NEVER seen that in GA.

http://www.trophysunlimited.com/ky_deer_hunt.htm


This is me on the left side of the front page with Mark’s 165 Class 4.5 yr old deer that I put this guy on at less than 50 yds on 11-18-04.


http://www.trophysunlimited.com/

http://www.trophysunlimited.com/ky_deer_hunt.htm

Here again on this page, look at the first 152 class B & C buck was killed this year in November and had a base that measured nearly 9" around and had 4 points sticking out forward that were like an Elks Eye guard.

That is me again with a 2.5 yr old 10 pointer (11-15-04) that was actually killed last season on 11-15-05(Typo) in the 3 rd picture down


Look on down at the bottom of the page at Dave Andrus's 150 B & C class that is 6.5 yrs. old. The palmation on the end of the rack was almost 7" around on 1 side and 5.5 inches on the other side.

Our feed is fed exclusively to these deer on our farms and over nearly 6000 acres in western Kentucky year around along with other QDM principles.
These are ALL, free ranging bucks from our farms in Kentucky.

You can believe it or not, I do not care. I know for a fact that a supplemental feeding program, along with enhancing the environment with quality forage (food Plots, mineral licks), prescribed burning, selective harvest and many other QDM principles are in fact resulting in Bigger, Healthier Deer. This is beginning to happen more often all over the state. Just look at how the pictures in GON have exploded in just the last few years. More and bigger deer are showing up ALL Over the State of Georgia due to the number of hunters getting in the Game. (Management techniques)

Supplemental feeding is not a cure all. It is not an overnight success story. Using these methods mentioned above will result and reward you one day.

I realize that this is not something for everyone, just look at what is considered a "Trophy" to lots of folks.

My .02
HG

 

[gadeerwoman]

Banks farm fed Godfrey's goat chow for years and years before they had their name and picture put on a bag. A good brand of goat feed doesn't have any more dust than a good brand of horse sweet feed that I've ever noticed. However, I have gotten old dry bags of both at times. It pays to find a quality brand of any and stick with it. I have not been satisfied with any FRM brand feed I've ever bought, horse, goat or dog. It has always been very dry and even smelled old no matter where I have brought it. I'll usually feed Godfrey's or Purina if I'm using goat chow to get pixs, and Purina or Trophy ? in a deer chow brand. Mixed with some corn to start out with and they will take it pretty quickly.

 

[Vernon Holt]

Goat Feed

"Non pellitized feed? Like a dust? Never heard of such a thing".

Guy: Truth be known, I would suspect there is much you have not heard of. Since you seem to get your information from sources other than your own knowledge and experience, perhaps you will benefit from this tid bit of info from me.

There is such a product as non-pelletized feed (by the way, it is not spelled "pellitized"). There is a meal that is marketed for goats. It is composed of various grains which are ground and mixed with various other amendments to make up the end product. As one would expect, the milling process generates all sizes of particles, some of which are very fine and yes, even dusty.

Not being a goat person, and having never purchased a bag of goat feed, I went to my local farm supply store and asked for a bag of goat feed. The order was filled without discussion as to the nature of the feed. Upon arriving home, I opened the bag and found that it was in the form of meal, and further that it contained a high level of fines which were dusty.

It then occurred to me that I had read somewhere that there were dangers associated with deer ingesting dust into their lungs. I reluctantly placed the meal in the feeder along with a mixture of corn. After several days of observing, it became obvious to me that the deer were not attracted to this type feed. Squirrels and raccoons did pick out most of the corn. I then removed the meal from the feeder and have since used it as organic fertilizer in the garden.

I am confident that you will be pleased to know that there is such a product as non-pelletized goat feed. By the way, I recommend it highly as organic fertilizer.

 

[Retired Army Guy]

Vernon, I'm not a goat person either. Every time I have bought goat feed it is in pellet form.

I have never claimed that goat feed is "better" than deer feed. How ever there are "So Many Variables" that go into antler growth to say that deer feed alone makes bigger bucks is a pretty risky statement. I agree 100% that it helps. Goat feed (in pellet form, Ive never evaluated the powder form) does have nutritional value deer can use. Compared to straight corn it is way better in nutritional value.

I also agree there are certain times of the year deer cant find all the nutrition they need through natural browsing. How ever there are times of the year they do. The secret is to help them when they need help, usually summer and winter. Bottom line if you don't want to dish out the $$$ for high priced deer feed goat feed (pellet form)is better than corn. The deer I feed wont eat deer feed but will eat goat feed... Go figure.

All the information I put out on this site is information Ive gained directly from my local biologist. I don't just make things up. If you would like to trouble shoot my local biologist Id be glad to steer you in his direction.

 

[Vernon Holt]

Guy: I have the utmost of confidence in Wildlife Biologist. Some of my best friends are Biologists. Wish I were one.

 

[Retired Army Guy]

me too

 

[deuce]

I think that turned out well.

 

[Hogguide]

Banks farm fed Godfrey's goat chow for years and years before they had their name and picture put on a bag. A good brand of goat feed doesn't have any more dust than a good brand of horse sweet feed that I've ever noticed. However, I have gotten old dry bags of both at times. It pays to find a quality brand of any and stick with it. I have not been satisfied with any FRM brand feed I've ever bought, horse, goat or dog. It has always been very dry and even smelled old no matter where I have brought it. I'll usually feed Godfrey's or Purina if I'm using goat chow to get pixs, and Purina or Trophy ? in a deer chow brand. Mixed with some corn to start out with and they will take it pretty quickly.

That is a very good point about the freshness of the feed.
Ours is made fresh right here in Middle GA as we need it. We sell it directly to our customers without any middle man.
I delivered 2 tons yesteryday to one of our farms in GA. They have an intense management plan that includes our supplemental feed as a part of that plan.
I snapped this digital photo of some of the sheds and skulls they had laying in a flower bed. The racks in the very front are sheds from this year, several of the others in the back have been found on the property at various times. What you really notice first is the shear MASS of the racks. The picture really does not do some of these racks justice.
HG