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Seeing deer out in your yard can be very interesting. Some people like being able to observe the deer.
There are many people who plant things for the deer to eat to try to attract them. If you want to try to feed the deer that have been living on or near your property, it’s easiest to just let them snack on a food plot.
What if you don’t have any plants or veggies for them to munch on? Can you feed the deer bread?
Keep reading to learn whether deer are capable of eating bread. You’ll also get information about what deer are supposed to eat.
Don’t Feed the Deer Bread
You absolutely shouldn’t feed bread to the deer in your area. Feeding them bread can be very dangerous.
Although the deer will take bread from you, it can cause them to get indigestion. The indigestion can be so bad that it might kill the deer.
Deer can eat small amounts of bread and digest it fine. If they eat a bit too much bread, it’ll turn into a huge issue.
Even trying to give the deer small amounts of bread will be a bad idea. This is because you can’t control how much the deer will eat.
For example, you could rip up pieces of bread and lay them out expecting that many deer will come by and eat the bread. It could wind up being that only one or two deer will eat the bread, but they’ll consume way too much of it.
The deer won’t know how much is too much. Unless you want to be responsible for killing deer in the area, it’s not smart to feed them bread.
There are sometimes rules against feeding the deer in the area, too. You should look up the local laws before you decide to feed the deer anything to ensure that you’re not committing any crimes.
After all, it’d be a shame to get fined or otherwise get in trouble. Even if you don’t have to worry about that in your area, it’s unwise to feed the deer bread since it isn’t good for them.
Corn Also Isn’t Good for Deer
Corn is another food that you shouldn’t give the deer in the area. You might think that giving the deer corn-based feed would be a good idea, but that could kill them.
The story is basically the same as the information about the bread above. When you give the deer corn, it has the potential to give them indigestion.
Deer that consume too much corn will wind up suffering from indigestion. Sometimes the indigestion will be severe and it’ll lead to complications.
A deer that has eaten too much corn might wind up becoming dehydrated. There have been situations where deer have died due to being fed corn.
If your goal is to help the deer survive the winter, it’s not smart to give them corn. Avoid giving them corn and find a more suitable food that will help the deer to thrive.
Good Things to Feed Deer
There are lots of options when you’re looking for things to feed the deer in your backyard. You can give them many different natural foods.
Deer love to eat acorns and it’ll be good if you have trees with acorns that the deer can enjoy. If you have deer coming to your yard, it might be that they’re attracted to the acorns.
Soybeans will work just fine as well. Deer enjoy eating soybeans and they will be safe for them to eat.
Oatmeal is a common food that people give to deer. It should be a hit if you choose to go with oatmeal.
Turnips are some of the best foods that you can plant for deer. Planting a small plot of turnips will be really useful to the local deer population.
Hay will be loved by the deer, but you can’t feed deer hay during the winter. The same holds true for alfalfa.
There are also ready-made deer food mixtures that you can purchase from retail stores. You can buy what you need online or you can find a local store that carries such products.
Why Feed the Deer?
If you’re asking yourself why someone would feed deer, it’s usually for hunting purposes. Most people who feed deer are trying to keep the population healthy.
Hunters want the deer to stay near their properties. This will allow them to hunt the deer when hunting season rolls around.
Feeding the deer and keeping them healthy will make them stronger and larger. This allows hunters to hunt down more impressive specimens.
Even if you’re not someone who hunts deer, you might like the idea of feeding the deer that come to your yard. Perhaps you just like animals and you enjoy the idea of helping them to survive the winter.
Whether it’s a good idea to do this is another story. Those are just the basic reasons why people choose to feed deer.
Should You Feed Deer?
It’s likely a good idea to consider whether feeding the deer in the area will be a good idea. In some cases, feeding the deer might be against local laws.
Look up the laws so that you can be sure if it’s fine to feed the deer or not. If it isn’t okay in your area, it’ll be best to follow the local laws.
Even if the laws don’t forbid feeding the deer, it might not always be a good idea. Deer might be disruptive in many ways.
Think about how many people crash into deer on the road each year. Deer can cause car accidents that will sometimes be fatal.
Having more deer in residential areas will increase the likelihood of car accidents. If you don’t like the sound of this, it’s likely not wise to feed the deer.
Another thing to think about is that deer will eat your plants. It’s not unusual for deer to eat certain types of flowers, bushes, and other types of foliage.
Your beautiful garden area could get munched by the deer if you’re not careful. Consider this possibility and then make your decision.
Final Thoughts
Now you know that deer really shouldn’t eat bread. You might have good intentions when giving bread to the local deer that come into your yard, but it could wind up killing them.
Bread can only be consumed by deer in small quantities. They don’t need bread in their diets, and it’s dangerous enough that you should avoid giving bread to deer at all.
Eating too much bread will cause the deer to have indigestion. This indigestion can kill the deer if it gets really bad.
Corn is also going to have the potential to harm or kill deer. So you must avoid feeding the deer corn as well.
If you want to feed the deer in your yard, it’d be better to plant turnips. They also like to eat acorns, oatmeal, and many other safe foods.
You can make it easy and just buy ready-made deer food from the store. Before doing so, you should consider whether it’s a good idea to feed the deer and encourage them to come to your yard.
Deer can be disruptive in your neighborhood and they might even eat your plants. If you don’t want your pretty flower garden getting eaten, it’s likely better not to feed deer at all.
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