#2014589 - 08/02/10 05:45 AM
Plant nutrition........
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15494
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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I've often wondered what the difference ( if there is any) in crops like soybeans and corn nutritional value before and after the actual crop is harvested. For example, when deer eat GREEN soybeans (leaves and all) do they get the same nutritional value as they would after the soybeans turn brown? The same with corn....do deer tend to go to certain crops more AFTER they are harvested and lay on the ground or maybe more while they are green and still growing, before harvest...?
I realize that in late season when food is more scarce deer tend to feed off the remains left in crop fields, but are these crops more nutritious for them then or while they are still green and growing in the field...?
Also, while we are talking plants.....what plants are the most nutritious for deer......other than mast/fruit crops.?
Do deer seem to prefer corn to soybeans? Do they prefer green wheat to brown soybeans? Does the green plant hold more nutrition than the brown crops?
Does green vegetation like honeysuckle have more nutritional value than other green plants like grasses...etc. Once a grass or weed turns brown, does it lose it's nutirtional value at all?
Just a good overall view of plant value to deer would be nice....!!
Thanks in advance for your knowledgeable input.
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There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict.
Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.
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#2014722 - 08/02/10 08:39 AM
Re: Plant nutrition........
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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tndrbstr
16 Point
Registered: 10/06/05
Posts: 12157
Loc: knox co tn
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I've often wondered what the difference ( if there is any) in crops like soybeans and corn nutritional value before and after the actual crop is harvested. For example, when deer eat GREEN soybeans (leaves and all) do they get the same nutritional value as they would after the soybeans turn brown?
Man,...that question could probably take up a semester in a college course!! and it has been to looong a time for me!  but I'll play....
...the short answer on that would be NO,...they do not get the same nutritionl value with green as compared to dried...and the differances in those changes will not be the same from one plant variety to the next...
but they do get differant benefits from each that are more useful for the time of the year that they need them..... the green leaves in particular and the fruit in general have vitamins and nutriants, not to mention the moisture content that are needed more during the early warmer seasons. (fawning, milk production, antler development, coat transition, etc)......as the plants dry, they convert alot of thier nutriants to carbohydrates, sugars, and increase in rough fiber and such that are more benifical in the colder months of the year when the amount of food is not as available and they need to go farther on less intake....thats is just kind off the cuff tho. As I say,...it has been a while!  I know there are many on here much more knowledable than me that might get a little more into the specifics of the process and the seasonal benifits of each than I care to... with the likely hood of YOU being one of them.... 
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#2014792 - 08/02/10 09:32 AM
Re: Plant nutrition........
[Re: tndrbstr]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59553
Loc: Nashville, TN
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First, that's far too broad of a question to answer fully in a post.
Second, deer will eat some strange things. Deer have been documented eating dead fish on the shores of Lake Michigan. Deer have been documented eating carion (dead animals). Deer have been documented not only eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds, but actually eating young birds as well. Watch deer long enough and you will see them eating a lot of things. Many times I've watched deer eat dead leaves off the ground in late fall and winter, even though those leaves have virtually no nutritional value.
But as a general rule...
The actual soybean beans themselves are not a preferred food source for deer. You can see deer feeding on them in fields in late fall and winter because there aren't that many other good foods available. But put soybeans in a gravity feeder or trough and see how well deer eat them. Generally, they don't. Corn has to be added to get deer to eat soybeans unless other better food sources are limited.
Plants in the pea and bean family are often highly preferred and highly nutritious in summer. However, some native weeds are just as if not more nutritious. Deer are primarily "weed eaters" when those weeds are available (summer growing months).
Deer are not true grass eaters. They don't have the necessary bacteria in their digestive system to break down grasses. Deer will be seen feeding in lawns and fescue pastures, but the deer are not grazing on the grass, they are trying to pick between the grasses to get at the weeds, clovers and other legumes that are mixed in with the grasses.
Now deer WILL eat (and prefer) some highly hybridized grasses, such as cereal grains.
Other than when the plants first sprout (and are most digestible) deer generally don't eat standing corn PLANTS. However, they are highly attracted to the corn kernels themselves. They are an excellent source of starches which can be burned for energy. Corn kernels are a highly preferred fall/winter food.
Honeysuckle is not that high in protein or nutrients, and is not preferred in summer. But during the limited food resource period of the winter, honeysuckle is about the best natural food around and becomes highly preferred.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#2015083 - 08/02/10 02:16 PM
Re: Plant nutrition........
[Re: BSK]
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TC4ever
16 Point
Registered: 10/19/07
Posts: 14514
Loc: Va
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I feed a good bit of soybean. It seems to take deer some getting used to, but once they do they destroy them. Turkeys are worse. They will come back everyday for 1-2 months looking for that last\missed bean.
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