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| A cow's milk, while rich in nutrients, is far less nutrient dense than a doe's milk. |
For many years, most hunters, farmers and land managers considered
deer and cattle relatively equal in terms of their habitat needs, including the
food they consumed and the nutrients they required. While the knowledge base
has grown to the point where many people recognize there are differences, the
two species are still often times lumped together. This is an understandable
theory since we often find deer and cattle co-existing in the same areas.
I have
always considered hearing as one of my
strongest sensory assets when hunting deer.
That my hearing is still good after years
of tractor driving, target shooting, loud
music and so on is nothing short of a miracle. Nonetheless, I normally can hear deer coming long before I see them. On one particular
fall evening a couple years ago, I was
hunting along a creek bank that
overlooked an 8-acre Imperial Whitetail
Clover and Imperial Winter-Greens field
when I heard the tell-tale sound of hooves
moving through the fallen dried oak leaves. The wind was virtually non-existent that day so I detected the sound far up the creek. In all
honesty, I would have been able to hear
them coming even if gale force winds
were blowing as it sounded like a lost
herd of pachyderms were barreling down
the trail. My heart rate immediately approached
stroke stage as I thought the deer that
were going to emerge from the brushy bank
had to be giants based on the noise they
were making.
Well, indeed they
were big, probably 1,400 pounds or more.
No, they weren’t deer but rather a
marauding band of rogue cattle that had
busted through multiple fences and had been
living in the dense strip of briars, cedars
and samplings that rings the southern edge of our farm. This was not the first time I had
seen them; I had a few trail camera
pictures of them before they broke and
stole the camera. I know what you must
be thinking, but I swear I saw one of
those cows pick up a cardboard box I left
near a field gate and take off running with it, so I am sure they stole the camera in like
manner. I have heard of hogs going feral
quickly but over the course of one
summer and fall, these cattle became
truly wild even to the point that when they
caught my scent, they would bolt back into
the snarl of vegetation along the creek.
So you may ask, how did the hunt end? Did I shoot them? No…wanted to really bad as they caused incredible damage, but I didn’t shoot them. Like a band of raiding Mongols, they eventually moved on to some other farm to
continue their reign of terror. I did
have some slight bit of retribution,
however. You see, they were eating my
food plots. The food plots, like Imperial
Whitetail Clover, were designed for deer
not cattle. The nutrient levels and digestibility
of my plots were much higher than what
is appropriate for cattle. Thus, they scoured,
probably bloated some and for sure experienced
some digestive discomfort during their
occupation of the Harper Farm.
THE CONFUSION
For many years, most hunters, farmers and land managers considered deer and cattle
relatively equal in terms of their
habitat needs including the food they
consumed and the nutrients they
required. While the knowledge base has
grown to the point where many people recognize
there are differences, the two species are
still often times lumped together. This is an
understandable theory since we often find deer and cattle co-existing in the same areas. Furthermore they are both ruminants and herbivores and do eat some of the same types of forages. Even many of the food plot products you find on the market today are basically
forages designed for cattle that have
been repackaged in a bag emblazoned with
a deer head. Likewise, most mineral
products are old cattle formulas that
have been given a new name to make them more
marketable to deer hunters. The truth, however,
is that while there are similarities between
cattle and deer, there are vast differences
between the two species when it comes
to desired forage types, nutrient requirements and habitat management.
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| Cattle can do well on forages consisting largely of grass but deer can only efficiently digest grass that is young and vegetative. |
EATING HABITS
Herbivores can be classified based on their eating habits. Cattle fall in the class of
grazers which are animals that consume
vegetation somewhat non-selectively.
Watch cattle out in a pasture and you
will see them slowly moving along
nipping off practically anything that happens
to be under their nose. Like other grazers, cattle have large, wide muzzles that are
adapted to this type of forage
consumption. Deer are classified as
browsers or concentrate selectors which
mean they pick and choose specific forages
or specific parts of a plant such as the leaf of a plant but not the stem. Deer rarely feed
in one place too long but rather
continually move from place to place,
picking off plants or plant parts of
their choice. A deer’s muzzle is long and
narrow and is equipped with a long tongue that is perfectly suited for perusing through a
briar patch nipping off selected leaves.
NUTRITIONAL NEEDS DIFFERENCES
Both deer and cattle require energy (carbohydrates, fats etc.), protein, minerals and vitamins. All of these must be present in diets of cattle and deer for proper growth, health, maintenance and production. However, the percentage of each in relationship to the
overall diet varies between the two
species. Take for example the protein
requirements of deer versus cattle. The protein requirements for growing cattle vary between 10 percent and 14 percent (+/-) depending on the stage of growth, where
growing deer have a protein requirement
that ranges from 18 percent to 26
percent again depending on the stage of
growth.
The protein requirement for
bulls ranges from 8 percent to 14 percent,
where a buck’s protein requirement during antler growth ranges from 16 percent to 18
percent. Protein requirements for young
calves are around 20 percent to 22
percent where a young fawn needs as much
as 35 percent protein for optimal
growth. The only protein requirement for
cattle that rivals the protein needs for deer is peak lactating dairy cattle which require
about 18 percent protein. However, does
in lactation require a minimum of 18
percent protein and some estimate the
need to be closer to 20 percent or more.
Mineral requirements for deer are likewise greater as compared to those of cattle.
Calcium requirements for growing cattle rarely exceed 44 percent. Even a lactating
dairy cow will normally not have more
than .60 percent to 75 percent calcium
in their diet. Lactating does, bucks
growing antlers and young growing deer
are estimated to require one percent to
1.5 percent or more calcium in their
diet. Phosphorus requirement variances follow
the same pattern when comparing cattle and
deer. A typical phosphorus level in a cattle
diet will range from 22 percent on the low side to up to 4 percent or higher for peak
lactating dairy cattle. Deer phosphorus
requirements are
When you consider the high
demand for nutrients caused by antler
growth and lactation, there is little
wonder why the nutrient needs for deer
(as a percentage of diet) exceed that of
cattle. Growing antlers is basically the same as re-growing a large portion of the skeletal
structure each year, which requires
large quantities of protein, energy,
minerals and vitamins. Doe milk is
extremely nutrient dense, much more so than
cow’s milk, thus increasing the need for a higher percentage of protein and mineral in a doe’s diet. The only situation where a cow’s
nutrient requirements are even close to
that of antler growth or doe lactation
is a peak-producing dairy cow which even
then is typically less than deer on a
percentage-of-diet basis.
RUMEN DIFFERENCE
Deer and cattle are both ruminant animals meaning that they have a stomach that has
four distinct areas with distinct
functions. These four stomach regions
consist of the reticulum, rumen, omasum
and abomasum. Of these regions, the
largest is the rumen which is the “heart”
of a ruminant’s digestive system. The rumen
is a large sack-like structure which is the
home of millions of microbial colonies. These microbial colonies give ruminants the ability
to digest fibrous material by breaking
down fibrous compounds, the process of
which produces nutrients that can be
absorbed and utilized by the host
animal. The rumen has an ecology all to
its own and requires specific environmental
conditions such as pH level in order for a healthy microbial population to exist and in
turn allow the host ruminant animal to
properly digest the food it consumes.
Changes in the diet can affect this
environment such as the introduction of
highly digestible starch which can lower
the pH level of the rumen and alter the microbial
population. The surface of the rumen is
covered by long, finger-like projections called
papillae which have many functions in the rumen such as affecting material flow and are where many of the microbes reside.
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| The muzzle of a cow is broad and wide making it well adapted to non-selective grazing. |
Cattle are considered large ruminants with a mature cow having a rumen roughly the size of a beach ball. Deer, on the other hand, are
considered small ruminants with a rumen
the size of a volley ball or basketball.
This difference in rumen size is one of
the main reasons for the different
eating habits and forage digestibility needs
of cattle and deer. The larger the rumen,
the greater the ability of the animal to digest a wide range of forage types and forage
quality. A large rumen will have a
greater surface area, larger microbial
populations and typically have a slower
rate of digesta passage, all of which result
in a greater capacity to digest fibrous material
even of a poorer quality. Because small ruminants
lack the extent to which they can digest
poorer quality fibrous material, they must
consume the most highly digestible forages and/or parts of forages.
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| A deer muzzle is long and narrow, an adaptation for selective grazing. |
For example, cattle have the ability to
digest anything from thick-stemmed
grasses to corn stover (stalks) where
deer would literally starve to death on
items such as these. As a plant matures,
the stem produces dense fibrous compounds
in order to give the stem the structure it needs to grow taller. A cow with its large
rumen can digest much of this fibrous
material. Deer, however, being a small
ruminant do not have the ability to
digest this fibrous material to the same
degree. If you fed alfalfa bales to deer, they will eat the leaves but ignore the stems. Feed the same hay to cattle and they will eat it all because they can effectively digest all of
it. This difference can be seen in
alfalfa hay fields. Deer will feed much
heavier on the alfalfa field when it is
short, tender and heavily leaved. As is grows
and matures and the stems get thicker, deer will utilize the field progressively less
frequently. Mow the field, and in a few
days the deer will be back on the field
in droves, browsing on the more highly
digestible new growth.
PUTTING THE KNOWLEDGE INTO PRACTICE
I began this article recalling one of my encounters with the rogue cattle. You may remember my enjoyment over the small victory I had seeing the cattle having stomach
discomfort brought on by the
annihilation of my food plots. The
forages growing in the plots were Imperial
Whitetail Clover and Winter-Greens. Both
of these food plot forages were designed
specifically for deer and are rich in nutrients and highly digestible. They were so rich and digestible that the large ruminant cattle
digested the forages too highly,
producing scours and bloating from the
rapid fermentation. Imperial Clover for
example provides up to 35 percent protein
and was bred to be heavily leaved which matches
deer perfectly. Clover designed for cattle,
however, is normally only in the mid-20 percent range for protein and grows thicker stems in order to grow taller.
You can now see why it is so important when choosing your food plot products to use those that have been designed for deer instead of
cattle. Imperial Alfa-Rack Plus for
instance is a far better choice than a
standard alfalfa designed for cattle.
The alfalfa variety found in Alfa-Rack Plus
is a specific breed that is designed to stay
vegetative longer and be heavier leaved than regular alfalfa. In general, your perennial
plots must be highly digestible and
extremely high in nutrient content to
match the needs of deer. If you use a
variety whose origin was designed for cattle,
you will not get the best results you could.
I have planted Imperial Clover in the middle
of a hay-variety clover field that we mowed for our cattle operation and watched deer
walk through the hay-variety clover to
get to the Imperial Clover. It wasn’t
magic or some slick marketing trick, it
was because Imperial Clover was designed
to match a deer’s needs and the other
was designed to match a cow’s needs. Choosing
the right mineral supplement also involves
selecting one designed for deer. As we previously
discussed, the mineral needs are greater
for deer than cattle, thus a deer mineral
needs to be more nutrient dense especially considering the lower intake of deer as opposed to cattle.
So make sure you keep in mind what you are managing. If you are managing deer, make sure you keep in mind the differences between
cattle and deer and choose products and
practices that are designed for deer and
leave the cattle managing to the cattle
farmers and ranchers.
