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Do deer eat "hay" forage?
#4111763
03/10/13 04:08 AM
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 237
HBone
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Woodsman
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Woodsman
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We all know they eat alfalfa , but will they eat in pastures of just costal,sudan, Bermuda etc? I've only seen trails through pastures but none grazing in them like they do in oat and wheat fields.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: HBone]
#4111783
03/10/13 04:19 AM
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 7,863
Stoney
THF Trophy Hunter
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We tried putting bales of sorghum hay in Terrell county years ago, they walked over it and around it, never ate it. Your mileage may vary. However....If you can find peanut hay or "trash" game on. Good luck!
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: Stoney]
#4112024
03/10/13 01:12 PM
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 14,950
don k
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I don't know about coastal, but they like the small whatever it is burmuda that grows wild around here.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: don k]
#4112047
03/10/13 01:33 PM
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 877
therock
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Seen em eat coastal but only when it is fresh growth and tender. Never got em to eat baled coastal.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: don k]
#4112062
03/10/13 01:43 PM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 8,719
cameron00
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Gay deer eat HAAAAAA-AAAAAAY!!!
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: therock]
#4112833
03/10/13 09:33 PM
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Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,871
topwater13
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Seen em eat coastal but only when it is fresh growth and tender. Never got em to eat baled coastal. +1 I've tried baled alfalfa as well...those particular deer didnt care for it.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: don k]
#4112875
03/10/13 09:52 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 9,934
unclebubba
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I don't know about coastal, but they like the small whatever it is burmuda that grows wild around here. x3. as mentioned, only when green and tender. I do not believe they will eat in hay form.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: unclebubba]
#4113047
03/10/13 11:30 PM
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,290
BenBob
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The will mow down some peasnut hay.
Tired, Wired, and Uninspired
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: BenBob]
#4113168
03/11/13 12:33 AM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,033
338ultra
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I've always been told if you high fenced a pure coastal field and stuck a deer in it they would starve to death. And that if I ever saw one grazing in a coastal field they were eating the weeds. Don't know how true that it, but that's what I've been told.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: 338ultra]
#4113298
03/11/13 01:30 AM
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,273
blackcoal
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Remember many years ago in Colorado there was rough season and deer were starving, coming into towns. Some people arranged for hay (don't know what type but believe a coastal bermuda) to be brought in and placed on the outskirt of town. The deer ate the hay but later deer were found dead with full stomachs, and upon autopsy apparently their system could not digest the grass.
The Greatest Enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.--Stephen Hawking
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: unclebubba]
#4113568
03/11/13 03:29 AM
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 60,476
BOBO the Clown
kind of a big deal
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I don't know about coastal, but they like the small whatever it is burmuda that grows wild around here. x3. as mentioned, only when green and tender. I do not believe they will eat in hay form. Probably eating the small native forbes that eventually get chocked out by the coastal not the coastal
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: blackcoal]
#4113606
03/11/13 03:41 AM
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,290
BenBob
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Deer are browsers like goats. Alfalfa they will eat and hays that are producers of some type of fruit or legume they will eat, but will starve on coastal. Goats will not survive on a completly coastal diet either. The fact that axis deer prefer browse, but can switch to grass when browse is limited is another strike against the whitetail deer when they are in competition with an axis deer. Whitetails can survive on weeds and browse, just like goats.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: BenBob]
#4114068
03/11/13 02:13 PM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 840
10ring
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They can't really digest hay very well.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: 10ring]
#4115534
03/12/13 01:55 AM
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 237
HBone
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Thanks for the info , I have a bunch of oats going right now and they are hammering it. But we are planting bermuda on about 20 acres for hay.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: HBone]
#4115691
03/12/13 02:41 AM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 840
10ring
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They will probably eat some of the new shoots as the Bermuda is coming up. But once it's up I'd venture to say they will stay away from it for the most part.
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: 10ring]
#4115804
03/12/13 03:21 AM
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 29,034
Western
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Coastal (several varieties), is the only thing I have planted that I didn't worry about deer damage. I think they'd eat cactus before coastal.
3 years ago I planted a short, soft Bermuda hybrid on a new pond dam beside my oat plot, next to the hybrid I planted about a 50'x50' piece of coastal "hay grazer". Deer never touched it other than to walk through it, even when the oats finally browned.
I haven't seen them directly browse Sudan either, the tops anyway, maybe they sense the possible prussic acid?
If at first you dont succeed, then skydiving is not for you..
"Don't trust everything you read on the Internet"- Abraham Lincoln Dennis
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Re: Do deer eat "hay" forage?
[Re: Western]
#4116008
03/12/13 05:38 AM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 19,498
Erathkid
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I refuse to plant Coastal on any of our properties. I'm not so worried about cows. I'm trying to increase Deer and Turkey numbers , Native pasture is where it's at.
Life is too short, as is. Don't chance it. Don't text and drive.
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