Emergency feeding of white-tailed deer: Test of three feeds

Winter severity generates marked fluctuations in while-tailed deer (Odocoil eus virginianus) populations in northeastern North America. Emergency feedi ng alleviates effects of the most severe winters in many areas of North Ame rica, but efficacy of the food provided to reduce deer mortality remains la rgely unknown. We assessed 3 feeds for their efficacy in inducing body mass recovery of white-tailed deer after a period of food deprivation. Feeds di ffered with respect to their composition and nutritional content: WOOD (pel leted grain mixed with wood sawdust), HUSK (pelleted grain mixed with agric ultural fibers), and HAY (second-cut hav dominated by grasses). Over a 9-we ek period in winter, we reduced the amount of food given to 12 captive deer to induce a mean body mass reduction of 18%; 4 control deer were fed ad li bitum throughout the study. During the following 5 weeks, we fed groups of 4 deer with 1 of the 3 experimental feeds. The 2 groups feeding on pelleted feeds recovered rapidly, regaining most of the lost mass. However, deer fe eding on HAY regained only 4% of their 17% mass loss. Our results suggest t hat fiber characteristics of grasses that dominated the HAY ration cannot i mprove body reserves. Therefore, we suggest the use of pelleted feeds to ac hieve rapid recovery of body mass as part of an emergency feeding program.