How to feed a fallow deer

Dear Karen,

Thanks for your email. You don’t mention where you are but we are guessing in New England somewhere? We were happy to hear that you have more than one animal. As you know fallow deer are herd animals, so we are always sorry to hear about a lone animal.

Our deer have pasture from April till November and are fed hay in the winter months.

We do not recommend bread as it can ferment in the stomach and you have no way of knowing how much yeast, sugar, etc. is contained in one loaf or another.

We feed our deer whole corn (about 2 cups each) once a week as well as carrots and apples. They will also eat barley and oats in the winter. We have heard of their liking pumpkin but we haven’t tried it. After eating corn the bucks become very energized and will push and shove each other, so it is best for the keeper to stay out of their way. They will also push and shove to get to the corn.

Apparently there is a special enzyme that the deer have to develop in order to digest corn completely. So introduce the corn gradually in small amounts once a week working up to the 2 cups. Also spread it out in small separate piles on the ground, so that each buck gets a small amount. They love corn and will eat every kernel

At first we did hand feed some of the bucks. However, now we try very hard not to hand feed and to put all food on the ground. If the deer associate your hands or body only with food, they can become aggressive when wanting food and go for your hands/body with their heads. This not fun when they have a full set of antlers and you do not. This is especially true of fallow deer bucks during mating season (fall/early winter) but it can happen at any time. Generally the bucks will not eat too much during the rut as their throats swell up, but this does not mean they are not hungry or potentially aggressive.

Please do not consider castrating the bucks if they are over 3 months of age as this causes them disfigurement and pain. Some people believe this is a good way to curb aggression. It is better to respect their wildness and learn how to work around it. Even if these animals came from a farm, they are not domesticated, in our opinion, and people have been injured by not understanding this, especially during the rut or when the animals are under stress when being moved.

We also supplement their diets with a block of blue salt and a mineral lick (18 protein). The mineral lick is always available to them but is used most as the antlers are growing from April to August. The licks are always placed near water. Each animal drinks about 1.5 litres of water per day.

Hope this helps. Please let us know if there is any other information you need. Most of initial information came from the book, Fallow Deer, written by Norma Chapman and her husband last updated in the 1990s. You may find a copy online.

Jane McDonald & Allan Park, Deer keepers