Wildlife (Deer) Corn vs/Corn for Chickens, Ducks, Geese, Farm Animals

[kuntrygirl]

Our local grocery stores sell "Wild Life Corn", "Deer Corn". This corn is about $3.00 cheaper than regular corn (for farm animals) that you find in the local feed stores. On the bag, it says that this deer corn should not be fed to chickens, ducks, geese or other farm animals but it doesn't say why. Does anyone know why deer corn is not good for farm animals? Is there something in the corn that attracts/lures the wild deer to the corn to eat that is deadly to every day farm animals? Would like to hear what you think?

 

[Goose and Fig]

My dad just bought some "buck builder" to feed the deer in his yard. Apparently it has molasses & some other stuff in it to make it sweeter and help them gain weight for winter. You'd think he baked them brownies- they go nuts for the stuff.

I don't think birds and other livestock need that much sugar.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote from another forum.
"1. Tested to high for commercial animal feed, Mold spores IE Aflotoxin
2. Poor quality, last yrs batch. Could be dusty, dirty, cracked. Cracked is bad since it releases it's stored energy, each nugget has the equivalent of 1 BTU if whole, about the only good thing in it really.
3. It's on sale!!"




Heres another quote that makes you question the use of corn for deer.

"In December, I hunted quail in the Oklahoma Panhandle with John Cox, a wildlife biologist who feeds quail, both as a means of supplementing the birds' natural diet against harsh winter weather and to congregate them for hunting. He no longer uses corn or the smaller grain seeds that quail hunters often prefer.

"I'm feeding the quail with black-eyed peas," Cox said. "Peas work great in an automatic feeder. When you buy them in bulk, they're cheaper than corn. Quail, deer and turkeys all love the peas, and I can go to sleep at night not wondering how many coveys I poisoned that day."

The poison that Cox refers to is aflatoxin, a substance produced by fungi that grow on corn and other food staples. Aflatoxin rates in wildlife corn caused a stir in the 1990s when biologists became concerned about potential damage to deer and other wildlife. "



Found lots of other references to deer dieing off because of over feeding of corn.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

"I'm feeding the quail with black-eyed peas,"

Last time I priced peas, they were almost a dollar per pound

A bag of FEED corn (not "deer corn) was $8/ 50 lb

Some "deer corn" IS tested for aflatoxin, and will say so on the bag or label​

 

[kuntrygirl]

WOW! All of this information is shocking. I had no idea. I'm glad that I posted the question. You all are teaching me a lot. Thanks

 

[cmjust0]

Deer and goats are very similar animals, and corn is widely known to be supereally bad for goats. Straight corn has a nasty habit of lowering the pH in the gut, which can give rise to acute acidosis.. Acute acidosis is absolutely fatal if left untreated.. I personally know of a goat which keeled over dead for no apparent reason, only to have it determined later by necropsy that it died of acute rumenitis caused by the free-choice feeding of corn. The corn lowered the rumen pH and the acid damaged the rumen, which became badly inflamed, and the goat died before it could even pass all the corn out of its system. They knew what got it because it still had an abomasum full of corn when it died.. It happened that fast.

Corn's also very high in phosphorus and contains little to no calcium, which gives rise to a condition called "urinary calculi" in young males -- struvite bladder stones, basically -- which is usually fatal.

Now, iven the similarities between goats and deer, I can't help but think that setting out free-choice corn when they've had no time to adjust to it couldn't be anything but bad for the animal. Frankly, I think it should be illegal.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
Last time I priced peas, they were almost a dollar per pound

A bag of FEED corn (not "deer corn) was $8/ 50 lb

Some "deer corn" IS tested for aflatoxin, and will say so on the bag or label

The price I found quoted was $18 for 50 pounds but thats more than corn to. May be the market the guy is in.


All corn is tested apparently but the standards are different for what it is sold for. There are lots of things on the net about deer not digesting corn an it killing them.

Don't know nothing about it myself.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm thinking better safe than sorry on this subject. The bags of deer corn I used to buy said not more than a certain percent aflatoxin, or some similar wording, so I'd be leery myself.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I just ordered peas for .30/lb or $15 for 50lb from a local farmer. He gets them from ND, but uses them in his no soy feed. I decided to finally go all whole grain, now that I can get plain peas from him. Guess I am really lucky again.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Ok, so about these peas...........chickens can eat raw peas? Is this correct? You mean like bag of peas on the grocery store shelf?