# Dog food for deer feed ???



## PassYoungBucks (Jan 17, 2009)

I really dont think they would eat it. Maybe if they were starved. I would think the ***** and possums would have ya cleaned out before a deer could even smell it.


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## BigEv13 (Oct 13, 2010)

I agree, i highly doubt that deer will eat it. It is made to taste like chicken or beef. Deer are herbivores that eat plants not carnivores so i don't think the meat flavoring would appear to them at all. I know you say you had a doe eat it but on a grand scale i agree that pest would have it eaten up first.


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## flathead (Feb 21, 2008)

I have seen deer eat out of a dog dish. They will eat outta a dog dish. As to which kind who knows.


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## solohunter (Feb 22, 2005)

Why would anyone want to feed a wild animal a food that is NOT intended for them specifically? If one cannot afford or is not willing to provide the proper supplemental food as such, then it could be viewed irresponsible.


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## bamabowhunter19 (Mar 19, 2008)

solohunter said:


> Why would anyone want to feed a wild animal a food that is NOT intended for them specifically? If one cannot afford or is not willing to provide the proper supplemental food as such, then it could be viewed irresponsible.


To call it irresponsible, that's dumb. I could see it irresponsible if he owned deer, but to feed a wild animal something that it doesn't HAVE TO HAVE, that's not dumb. That's experimenting. It want harm an animal. All it could do is help. What do you call people who feed deer Clorox? Genius? Really irresponsible?


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## bdoman2 (May 9, 2010)

Ummmm I believe dogfood costs a little more than corn.. I agree its an interesting experiment.


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## BigEv13 (Oct 13, 2010)

His original reasoning is it doesn't contain calcium and phosphate. I suggest going with 25lb of corn with 25lb of supplemental feed to give them the corn that is yummy along with the minerals they need. Also throw a mineral lick near the feeder too. That way if they eat all the feed and you can't get back to the feeder quickly they will still have something.


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## Bowhunt160's (Nov 15, 2009)

Ya no where in my post did I say anything about corn being too "expensive" so I am looking for something cheaper?? I am curious to see what it does for them. I know they will eat it, especially in the winter. The high protien and Carb's will draw them to it like candy. More then anything I want to make sure it is safe for my deer herd. Thats all.

We had a show steer back when I in High school that we used to feed hot dogs too. He LOVED them!


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## bamabowhunter19 (Mar 19, 2008)

Bowhunt160's said:


> Ya no where in my post did I say anything about corn being too "expensive" so I am looking for something cheaper?? I am curious to see what it does for them. I know they will eat it, especially in the winter. The high protien and Carb's will draw them to it like candy. More then anything I want to make sure it is safe for my deer herd. Thats all.
> 
> We had a show steer back when I in High school that we used to feed hot dogs too. He LOVED them!


Like I said earlier, people feed deer Clorox. Nuff said... I see no harm at all in dog food. If dog food isn't safe for them, then I'm switching feed for my dogs.


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## LiteSpeed1 (May 21, 2005)

I've heard it's a bad idea to feed wild deer because once you start, they become dependent on it and you must continue to feed until the snow melts and they can reach natural foods. But, on the other hand, if you're gonna do it why not use the pelleted feeds intended for calves, sheep, goats or rabbits?


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## dac (Jun 27, 2003)

This is to funny, I just put out 40# of dog food in front of my camera yesterday. I had this food left over from when my dog died so I thought I would take it to the property and dump it and see if anything will eat it. I figured mainly ***** and yotes I started to ask this question then I thought I would wait and see if I get any pics. I pulled the card when I was done yesterday here I am putting it out date and time are wrong.


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## perchjerker (Sep 25, 2004)

Could be a very bad thing ! What if they start liking MEAT flavor ? You could be out numbered and endangered next you enter the woods. You too are made of MEAT ! LOL


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## dogfoodman (Mar 9, 2010)

Arkat, the maker of VF and Enhance dog food, makes a great deer feed. Your local pet store or feed and seed should be able to get it.


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## Stanley (Jan 18, 2005)

Bears love it.


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## Jimmy Ivy (Sep 2, 2008)

They eat it . We had **** feeders with dog food and we had tons of deer eating it. It gets expensive but they will eat it. They like hi-pro alot.


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## solohunter (Feb 22, 2005)

bamabowhunter19 said:


> To call it irresponsible, that's dumb. I could see it irresponsible if he owned deer, but to feed a wild animal something that it doesn't HAVE TO HAVE, that's not dumb. That's experimenting. It want harm an animal. All it could do is help. What do you call people who feed deer Clorox? Genius? Really irresponsible?


I am not saying supplemental feeding is irresponsible, but feeding a food that is intended for one animal(dog)to a wild animal (deer) COULD BE VIEWED AS IRRESPONSIBLE. In no way was I saying the OP was BEING irresponsible. Where is the data stating that it is ok to feed a wild deer dog food? Experimenting? Experimenting with little or no scientific basis could also be viewed as irresponsible.


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## solohunter (Feb 22, 2005)

cheap "Ole Roy" dog food...........made me wonder if you were trying go the inexpensive route, if you want to make sure it is safe for your deer herd why not confer with your states deer biologist? Post #8 is a good suggestion. We have 4 dogs and I would not ever feed them Ole Roy, and they are big active dogs so they eat alot, which costs


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## tmead (May 10, 2010)

solohunter said:


> Post #8 is a good suggestion. We have 4 dogs and I would not ever feed them Ole Roy, and they are big active dogs so they eat alot, which costs


You beat me to it, I wouldn't even feed my dog Ol Roy.


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## Bowhunt160's (Nov 15, 2009)

I talked to my Vet about it yesterday. It was just as I was thinking. He stated that there would be nothing wrong with feeding them dog food. Especially thru the winter months. The fat would help keep them warmer as well as the higher protien. He also affirmed my belief that the cheaper type dog foods would be better as the key ingrediants are mostly grain meals. Which is why the cheap dog food is not just that "good" of dog food. Grains are used for a filler. The higher end dog food ,like Iams or Science Diet, have a higher percentage of meat and not just the by products. Most of the meat flavor is cooked out so basically the dog or deer in this case. is tasting a cracker.
He recommended not feeding them thru the growing season. As, there is a delciate balance of Calcium and Phosherous that has to be met, to maximize horn. He was uncertain as to which way it could go, but he saw no negative effects on the deer herd. As with any kind of feed they deer will use it until they don't need that mineral or food then they will go somewhere else.


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## ravensgait (Sep 23, 2006)

I think you might be better off trying Poultry feed, still not real cheap but the later has lots of calcium and is a bit more of what a deer would eat, have to toss out some of my turkey feed and see if they like it. That said if they would eat the dog food it wouldn't hurt them at all heck deer will eat anything when hungry, just start them on it in the winter and get them use to it.Randy


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## N. Dawoods (Jan 20, 2009)

google Purina deer chow.
One thought.. all animal by-products (bone meal) have been removed, to my knowledge, from all feeds for cows and horses due to the threat of transmission of mad cow disease. I know elk are susceptible, I would think deer are too. Cheap dog food contains animal by-products from God knows where? I wouldn't chance it with my deer herd. Dog food production isn't exactly well regulated. Talk to your vet again and the people at Purina.


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## trebor69 (Jul 31, 2005)

Feeding any animal things that are not natural to it is questionable. It may be ok....but then again it may not. I see at least one vet is of the opinion that it would be ok to feed dog food to deer.

Just because an animal will eat something does not mean they know what theyre doing to themselves if it is bad for them. Many animals will greedily eat things that are not good for them. I could feed a box of twinkies to my friends **** hound every day and he would gobble them down so fast I dont think he even actually knows what they taste like.

He loves them.....doesn't mean they are good for him.

I am sure a little dog food isn't going to do major damage to deer. But if fed regularly there very well could be some side effects long term. I dont see any good reason to risk it when there are better options available.


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## mn5503 (Feb 21, 2006)

I have a friend who had an orphaned fawn hang around her house and eventually become more like a pet. She said it would often eat the dogs food right from the bowl. This was still a deer that lived in the wild and would just visit the house but it did enjoy dog food.


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## rkt (Jan 24, 2010)

BigEv13 said:


> I agree, i highly doubt that deer will eat it. It is made to taste like chicken or beef. Deer are herbivores that eat plants not carnivores so i don't think the meat flavoring would appear to them at all. I know you say you had a doe eat it but on a grand scale i agree that pest would have it eaten up first.


Not hi-jackin this thread but one thing I cant help but add,a friend of mine was using shad for a fishin bait and when he was through he threw the remaining bait up on the bank figuring he would give some raccoons an easy meal,but before they got the boat out and loaded two does were eating the shad.Like you we all know their herbivores but some things just cant be explained I guess.So to the OP wouldnt hurt to try I guess its not gonna hurt em.


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## bamabowhunter19 (Mar 19, 2008)

Oh yea... remember the buck eating the bird video? I laughed so hard


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## solohunter (Feb 22, 2005)

N. Dawoods said:


> google Purina deer chow.
> One thought.. all animal by-products (bone meal) have been removed, to my knowledge, from all feeds for cows and horses due to the threat of transmission of mad cow disease. I know elk are susceptible, I would think deer are too. Cheap dog food contains animal by-products from God knows where? I wouldn't chance it with my deer herd. Dog food production isn't exactly well regulated. Talk to your vet again and the people at Purina.


Aren't mad cow disease and CWD similar?


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## 417brobinson (Sep 14, 2008)

Yes




solohunter said:


> Aren't mad cow disease and CWD similar?


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## NC Kansas (Nov 28, 2009)

I would think the coyotes eating your dog food would run off any deer you had. There are many good commercial deer pellets available on the market. Purina is a good one. Try that, cheaper than 40lbs of dog food too.


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## Porkrind (Jun 1, 2010)

I don't really know how this would compare but here goes. We own a handful of donkeys and we were concerned when they started to eat the dog food out of our dogs dishes. So we called the vet. Vet says that it is actually pretty harmful to them because their digestive system doesn't breakdown the bone meal very well. If deer are like donkey's then they'll probably eat it but I really don't know if it would be doing them more damage then good. Good topic though.


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## shaffer88 (Dec 3, 2007)

So to clear this up if I find a dog good with out animal by products were ask good? Some of these dog food come up to like 26% protein so why not try I'm not thinking for year round just summer time during antler growth and fawn growth


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## a21davis (Nov 2, 2010)

I know a few people that actually put out horse feed for the deer and they gobble that up.


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## outwrage1 (Aug 5, 2010)

It's extremely disappointing to hear people wanting to feed dog food to deer. The US has specific rules as to what CANNOT be feed to ruminants (which deer would classify). Meat and bone meal, ingredients in dog food, would be high on the list. As to being ok to "experiment"?? Are you freaking serious?? To pretend that feeding dog food to ruminants is fine is ignorant and irresponsible. If you really think you want to try and do some good, get off your lazy arse and actually do some research and spend the money for quality food for the deer. Maybe if your bored, catch them all and give em a shot of vitamins with selenium as well.


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## raylandarcher (Jun 5, 2003)

solohunter said:


> cheap "Ole Roy" dog food...........made me wonder if you were trying go the inexpensive route, if you want to make sure it is safe for your deer herd why not confer with your states deer biologist? Post #8 is a good suggestion. We have 4 dogs and I would not ever feed them Ole Roy, and they are big active dogs so they eat alot, which costs


Nothing wrong with Ol Roy.I run a pack of 4 Beagles for rabbit hunting and they are all over 7yrs of age and have ate Ol Roy their whole lives.They are still active,full of energy,healthy and run the fur off the rabbits.I also have a 2yr old Wiemaraner that eats Ol Roy and has more energy than 10 six yearr old kids combined.I have read the back of Purina bags and compared to Ol Roy and they each have the same ingredients.


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## shec6135 (Jan 2, 2010)

outwrage1 said:


> It's extremely disappointing to hear people wanting to feed dog food to deer. The US has specific rules as to what CANNOT be feed to ruminants (which deer would classify). Meat and bone meal, ingredients in dog food, would be high on the list. As to being ok to "experiment"?? Are you freaking serious?? To pretend that feeding dog food to ruminants is fine is ignorant and irresponsible. If you really think you want to try and do some good, get off your lazy arse and actually do some research and spend the money for quality food for the deer. Maybe if your bored, catch them all and give em a shot of vitamins with selenium as well.


easy killer!

one way or another it's not worth giving yourself a heart attack...lol


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## snoman4 (Jul 1, 2011)

N. Dawoods said:


> google Purina deer chow.
> One thought.. all animal by-products (bone meal) have been removed, to my knowledge, from all feeds for cows and horses due to the threat of transmission of mad cow disease. I know elk are susceptible, I would think deer are too. Cheap dog food contains animal by-products from God knows where? I wouldn't chance it with my deer herd. Dog food production isn't exactly well regulated. Talk to your vet again and the people at Purina.


Agreed that I would not feed my deer herd anything that had animal by- products in it for fear of transmitting diseases that are common in the animals that go into the dog food.


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## HOOSIER55 (Aug 31, 2011)

snoman4 said:


> Agreed that I would not feed my deer herd anything that had animal by- products in it for fear of transmitting diseases that are common in the animals that go into the dog food.


this, bone meal is how mad cow disease is spread, which is very close to cwd with the same transmission


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## nnelzon23 (Mar 19, 2011)

raylandarcher said:


> Nothing wrong with Ol Roy.I run a pack of 4 Beagles for rabbit hunting and they are all over 7yrs of age and have ate Ol Roy their whole lives.They are still active,full of energy,healthy and run the fur off the rabbits.I also have a 2yr old Wiemaraner that eats Ol Roy and has more energy than 10 six yearr old kids combined.I have read the back of Purina bags and compared to Ol Roy and they each have the same ingredients.


I have inactive dogs so I feed them a weight restricting food, but I have also compared the ingredients and found the results to be very close.


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## mplane72 (Apr 18, 2010)

I used to work for a major pet food manufacturer. We used tons and tons of grain but the signs on all the bins for scrap or waste (which we sold) said "Not to be Fed to Ruminants". Precisely because of mad cow disease. I'm not a vet.......... Just saying.


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## AppleOnMyHead (Nov 22, 2009)

*
I copied this from WEB MD on Mad Cow. I would not chance it. Especially if you want to eat these deer.

A few seemingly sporadic cases in young men in Michigan may point to transmission to hunters from deer or elk with chronic wasting disease (CWD), a form of animal prion disease. CWD is becoming common in this animal population in the US. Because hunters eat the meat of these animals, there is a potential for the prion disease to cross from hunted to hunter. 


The disease has been experimentally transmitted among cattle and from cattle to monkeys who eat infected tissue (particularly brain tissue) in lab tests. 

But the question remains: How do cattle develop BSE? Feed is the major route for transmission among cattle, according to veterinary medicine experts at Iowa State University. When ranchers and farmers feed cattle with products made from other cattle or sheep, such as ruminant feed, they are recycling diseased animal protein in feed containing meat and bone meal, thus causing the disease in cattle.*


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