i am just curious, i am just starting out with the deer farming thing and was told by a guy that in the winter you wont need to keep water in there for them because they will just eat the snow, is this true? what do all you northern climate farmers do for waterers? thanks chris
seems like they drink as much water now (when it is 20 deg. day and 0 deg. night) as they do in july. I don't have electric hook up at my pen so i have to bucket all my water in every day. I guess it is a good work out if nothing else. Heated bowls would be nice.
if you water your deer in the winter their metabolism will not slow down , they will continue to eat at higher rates,
So where do the wild deer get their water in the winter?
at -25C to -40C I can guarantee that they don't need water and there is none for them to have, when they don't have water they eat < 50% of what they eat in the summer, this is a natural survival process. We stop watering once the snow comes, it has worked for nine years.
So where do the wild deer get their water in the winter?
at -25C to -40C I can guarantee that they don't need water and there is none for them to have, when they don't have water they eat < 50% of what they eat in the summer, this is a natural survival process. We stop watering once the snow comes, it has worked for nine years.
Joined Oct 2009
3,165 Posts | 1+
upstate ny
Hey chris, I just started this winter with 3 fawns and i am in northern ny,about 3 good jumps from canada.I bought a 3gal heated bucket and the steam comes off it on cold days and nights.Let me tell you 3 fawns and 3 gal of water= me carryin 3gal of water a day. good luck
Unlike people, deer don't sweat (like most animals) so I can't see why their water needs would change from one time of year to the next.
Joined Apr 2009
524 Posts | 0+
Russell, MN
CurtisLloyd said:
Curtis
Just wondering if this was good for bucks recovering from the rut? Do you think that bucks should eat more (have water) to keep their metabolism going until they regain what they lost? My thoughts are that you don't want your shooters for next fall struggling at all during the winter in order to prepare their bodies to grow the antlers in the spring.
I'm very interested in your thoughts on my questions.
Joined Apr 2009
1,231 Posts | 0+
PA
This is a great thread, hearing two conflicting opinions. We had a snow this week so I took a break from watering just for a day. Running buckets isn't a fun chore, and birds are taking advantage of my watering barrels. Some of my deer don't seem to care that they have fresh water while others are waiting for me to either break the ice or dump it and start over.
Deer do sweat, they pant like dogs and sweat through their mouths, as well as through the glands in their "pit areas", under all four legs. They will lather up between their back legs/butt cheeks with sweat, much the way a horse does. You may not notice it as much because of your milder temperatures, but I can promise you, here in Texas, deer sweat.
Two other thoughts - first, in the wild, we know the survival rate isn't good for a number of reasons. If dehydration is a contributing factor to winter deaths, that is a variable that as farmers we can control. Second, cattle, sheep, goats and other ruminants are given water through winter, and are not expected to have a camel-like ability to cope with the harsh weather. I would imagine, that even in extreme cold, there is still a water supply somewhere that wildlife can access, unless they are a species that hybernates.
Wow, things you just don't have to think about living in Texas.
Two other thoughts - first, in the wild, we know the survival rate isn't good for a number of reasons. If dehydration is a contributing factor to winter deaths, that is a variable that as farmers we can control. Second, cattle, sheep, goats and other ruminants are given water through winter, and are not expected to have a camel-like ability to cope with the harsh weather. I would imagine, that even in extreme cold, there is still a water supply somewhere that wildlife can access, unless they are a species that hybernates.
Wow, things you just don't have to think about living in Texas.
Joined Apr 2009
524 Posts | 0+
Russell, MN
Robbie said:Wow, things you just don't have to think about living in Texas.
I envy you Robbie....I HATE winter...I HATE cold weather. I tell Randy (probably once a week) that I do not belong in cold weather...I do not belong in MN. I dread summer coming to an end. I like fall, but I dread what follows fall....winter, cold, snow, wind, etc. I only go to town once a week for groceries until I start work in the middle of January and I will go the best (warmest) day of the week and sometimes that isn't so warm!
I belong where it is 80-85 degrees year round, but I don't think that is Texas!!!
.I have more problems when we don't get snow early, we have to water and they don't get ready for winter the same way,... metabolic change, hair coat and fat layering. It is even different between buck and does, we slaughtered some does two weeks ago and there was 20-25 lbs of layer fat on each doe. The bucks are slowing down from the rut and I can see that they have lost some condition in the last month, we were watering because of no snow so sometimes there is nothing you can do to stop or even slow down condition loss. What I know is that by the end of March the mature bucks will have regained all their condition and the yearings and two year olds will have even gained weight, deer will self-regulate their feed, the feeders are never empty, the bucks that are "butterball' fat in October will lose 40-50 lbs by December (10-15% of their body weight) I have seen more and severe problems with pneumonia when deer are being watered in the winter.
Could this be symantics? I have real winter, not just a cool spring day once in a while. Temperature today High of -34C wind chill to -48..... we still have only 2 inches of snow
Could this be symantics? I have real winter, not just a cool spring day once in a while. Temperature today High of -34C wind chill to -48..... we still have only 2 inches of snow
ANTLER VALLEY said:
Antler Last week I saw my buck panting! Of course it was 60 degrees out, and he was lip curling and licking a does butt! It has been 16 the last two nights but will be back up to the mid 50's the next few days. But heck these temps are normal for Southern Illinois. Water consumption changes everyday. Sometimes i wish we lived 5 hours farther north so we would have more constant weather, but then I would have to say I live in Chicago, and I would rather live in the center of the earth before that!There are exceptions to the rule, I just don't see the exceptions at my place.
gcw matt said:
I am a firm believer all ruminants need fresh water at all times,winter and summer. I have 6 pens all 6 have waters with heaters in them. I clean and flush them weekly, twice a month I clean with bleach to keep algae from growing and this also seems to keep birds from bathing in them also. I live in Michigan and right now we have a foot of snow on the ground. I see my deer drinking from waters more now than the heat of the summer. As for deer sweating in the winter, i believe they do. All my deer and waiting at waters for a drink. I can say I have not seen them eating snow after running. I was born and raised on a dairy farm, 40 yrs ago we had animals on pasture all year long. The pasture had a creek thru it. Those cows would walk thru 6 ft of snow to get water. Something to try next time your outside all day, don't drink your normal beverage and when thirsty eat snow, see how much you will eat to satisfy your thirst. Also watch for yellow snow, this brings up another issue. When deer urinate and it snows a inch or 2 I would not want my deer eating their urine to get the water their systems need. Just my view nothing scientific.
Dennis Pell
Maplehill Whitetails
Fremont,Mi
Dennis Pell
Maplehill Whitetails
Fremont,Mi
I have a 100 gallon tank with an electric heater in one pen. I ran a cord from a GFI outlet so they don't get jolted. My other pen has a spring running through it so I don't ever have to water them. They do drink alot less water in the winter so I'm sure they are also eating snow....at least they have the option of both. The nice thing with this time of year....no flies!
I am also in the same boat as everyone else. However, I currently just run water and replace the frozen daily, most times twice daily. Im not a big fan of putting external heaters in the water due to the possibility of jolting the deer. I have been thinking about bubbling the water with air. Has anyone tried this? It would eliminate the chance of jolting, and possibly keep the water from freezing? Snow is not always an option where i live. Like this week, early in the week we had 5in of snow, two days later it was 50degrees snow is gone, now the last 2 days its been cold where everything is froze. I havent noticed much of a change in how much water they have been drinking really. But most of my deer are in smaller pens and are kept calm 95% of the time.
One of the best things we ever did was run water and electric to all our deer pens. We cut the fence and put the baths half way through the fence. The water heaters are put on the outside. Fill the tanks with water hydrants. The deer love having water available all the time. We even see tracks in snow that wild deer have come up to get drinks. It sure beats going out twice a day to break 2 inches of ice from their water. And offen as not they can't wait for you to break through the ice so they can get a drink. I heard one time that deer can survive on snow but they thrive on water. That's just the way we do it. Sandy
alright thanks guys for all the posts, very interesting. i ended up going and buying a heater. the bad news is last night one of the 3 deer i started out with hit fence and broke neck. really hard to swallow.
Joined Oct 2009
3,165 Posts | 1+
upstate ny
Sorry about your loss.Was it bottlefed?Did something spook it?I think you will be glad you got the heater i figure if they want it its there and i also have mineral bloks in pens that has to make them want water! Keep yur head up!!!