Fiber in deer feed ?

Beet pulp is good, its a little high in price last i checked, I am not sure about cotton seed hulls I have never used them. you can call you local mill and ask about prices on any of them. My feed mill suggested barley, its another option for fiber and i believe its one of the cheapest way to add fiber.

Cotton seed hulls or Beat pulp will work just fine. Also consider Soybean hulls they are comparible to beat pulp and twice the protien of CS hulls. Alfalfa hay is a good source plus the value of effective fiber from long stems.

I've got to tell you, Purina has this all figured out for you if you buy their feed. They know just how much of what to put in there. Too much and the deer will be loose and you are wasting money as it is coming out the other end. There isn't any guessing with a premade feed like Purina.

I have beet pulp in my feed mix.

You need to be aware that if you add beet pulp and it replaces part of the balanced feed ration you are diluting the valuable nutrients. I fed antlerking pellets the first year i had two bucks and was happy with the yearlings. the following year i added beet pulp, sunflowers and oats. They ate about he same volume but I was not happy with the second year growth. When I finally calculated out the feed, I realized I had actually diluted the protein and other minerals down with the beet pulp. they seemed to like it but I now use a whole grains, roasted beans and pellet feed mix that is the correct balance without diluting it out. I am much happier with the antlers now.

We feed LOTS of beet pulp with the reindeer. Actually about 50 percent of their diet. Not sure about white tail, but with the reindeer, too much grain can be a bad thing, think acidosis here, so the beet pulp really balances it all out.



Can't say it compromised the antlers at all, think the reindeer do much better on it.



However, the comment was made earlier that adding beet pulp to your deer diet will throw off the nutrition label info (like percent protein) and that is very true. Beet pulp is very high in fiber, not protein , so be aware of that.



But back to reindeer, I would never go back to straight grain or pellet. We buy it separate and mix it in at the time of feeding. Used to have it mixed in the feed, but they were having a hard time balancing out all the ingredients with it at a 40 - 50 percent ratio.



Great feed for getting a healthy weight on them with out giving them too rich of a diet. Also can be increased in ratio to help with loose stool (not that it is a cure all to all kinds of stool issues) but can help when they are on too rich of a diet .



Comes in 40 lb bags (with or w/ o molasses) , and the price can vary between different crops and times of the year. Fluctuates between 11 - 14 bucks per bag in my area in WI.