Vet Judy

Before planning your next successful deer food plot, or as you evaluate your current plot, it will help to review the basic dining habits of deer.  In this blog, I’ll review some seasonal basics of nutrition.  The next blog will review the kinds of plants deer typically enjoy eating throughout the year.

            This will help you in the food plot planning process as you seek to identify what plants or nutrient needs might be lacking in your native habitat.

·         Four Stomachs, One Deer

            Just like cattle or sheep, whitetail deer are ruminants.  In common terms, this means that they have four stomachs—or think of it as four compartments that food goes for digestion.  In the main compartment, called the rumen, bacteria are present that help the deer digest cellulose—which is why deer can utilize woody plants and shrubs in cooler months.

            Rumination is why deer will rest at various times throughout the day, “chewing the cud.”  They essentially regurgitate their food after a given stomach compartment (including the bacteria that live there) does its job of digestion.

            This allows deer to utilize a variety of plants for food.  However, just because deer can eat many things doesn’t mean they will.  Where they eat is also based on the proximity of cover and how available similar foods are in their environment.  Nutritional needs of deer also vary by season. For complete seasonal planning information for different planting zones consider: Deer Food Plots Made Easy. Guaranteed or Your Money Back.

·         Knowing the dining season

            deer food choices aren’t about what holiday is around the corner.  Instead, food choices have to do with a combination of their seasonal food needs and how available their food sources are.  These seasonal needs vary for bucks and does.

            For bucks, antler development creates a large nutritional need.  Protein makes up almost half of antler tissue; another third is calcium and phosphorous.  Healthy bucks will access a high-protein diet in the springtime and very early summer to support antler growth.  Tender plants, especially those naturally high in protein like legumes like alfalfa and clover, help meet the buck’s protein requirements.

            Doe require maximum nutrition and protein while they’re pregnant and lactating.  The timing of the natural breeding season takes care of this, with lots of succulent growth in the early spring that supplies the needs for pregnant and nursing doe.

·         Incorporating Nutrition into Your food plot Design

            By now you’re probably thinking, “Sure, I already knew my deer nutrition basics anyway.”  But have you considered nutrition as you design your food plot strategy?  For example, if your ground is not abundant in grasses, legumes, and other early spring growth, some additional plantings that emphasize spring forage could help supply the natural nutritional needs of the deer.

            And deer—just like people—are much at home in a place where they’re able to eat well all year long.

Hi there,

Well, it is finally here. The birth of new calves in 2009. It’s cold, its breezy. It is Alberta Calving season!

Can you even imagine what it is like to be born into the Canadian Winter Wind Chill?

Here is a picture of a few soon to be mom’s. Look how fuzzy these girls are. For these new mom’s we watch closely and try to seperate the one’s that are soon to calve and keep indoors in the barn. That is just because it is their first time mothering and if they are slow to lick the calf dry or get the calf up, the calf will freeze. The experienced mom’s have their calves outdoors, in bedding, beside wind shelters, in sheds: whatever is handy. The experienced mom’s rarely need help and rarely is there a problem.

• For the next month or two, we get up every several hours in the middle of the night to check cattle, especially the young mom’s who are still outdoors and especially on the blistery cold nights when the wind chill goes into the 20’s. The sound of the night alarm is about the last thing you want to hear in the middle of the night, but the responsibility drives either my husband, myself or my mother-in-law out of bed in the middle of the night.
• The best part is when the new babies are well on their way and running around kicking and frolicking, even if it is really cold. Once they have a couple of days under their belt they don’t seem to mind too much. They chase the cats, chase each other, try to investigate everything and generally look for trouble. The sounds like the young of all species doesn’t it!

So, for all the ranchers, farmers and cattle owners and cattle out there, we wish all a safe and healthy calving season.

I had a client ask me this week about bracken fern weed control. In his food plots he has tried cutting, burning, round up, cultivating, and plowing. Yikes! These plants are almost full proof.

So I decided I might do a little post here. Maybe it can help you understand why it is such a problem and maybe even some ways to initiate and maintain control.  The key here is a long term strategy, with no letting up!

All of the methods of control are aimed at a particular biologic behavior of the plant. So here goes.

#1) NO BURNING: Bracken fern is considered a fire resistant plant. Some people have used burning to reduce the amount of dead fronds. Burning will only increase fern growth and the density of emerging fronds. If you are harvesting bracken fern, this would be to your advantage. But in any other circumstance, it will only fuel the plants efforts and give you a major headache.

The reason for this is the best spore germination requires sterile soil. On unsterilized soils, the spores may germinate but the new plants are quickly overwhelmed by other growth.

Now having said that, if you feel you still have to burn to reduce the fronds, do so in the winter before a planned cultivation or herbicide application in the spring.

#2) WINTER CRUSHING

In the winter only. We put our cattle in the affected area. We then feed them hay, so they are not encouraged to eat the bracken fern on the deer food plot. This way they keep to their simple function of crushing the ferns. This tramples the frost into the rhizomes. In the spring we move the cattle out of there, so as not to expose them to poison.

#3) MOWING

Lots of people try mowing. Here is the key. The most effective time is in the summer. The biggest gift I can give you is the advice to cut every 3 to 4 weeks between the months of June and July. In the heat of the summer, there needs to be at least two cuts. This allows the rhizomes to generate second fronds which depletes the plants resources. Then you have to keep doing this for 3 to 5 years. Yes, I know, Yuk!

The other good piece of advice. When you mow, it is important to remove the forage so not providing cover for underground bracken rhizomes.  If you remove the forage this allows the frost to destroy some of them in the winter. This also decreases Mg in the soil which helps decrease bracken fern growth in your food plots. Lower Mg in the soil is also better for grass growth.

Leaving the forage also provides a mulch against the soil and this can inhibit growth of any competing plants you are trying to grow by excessively shading it. The mulch can also be heavy and prevent the plants from emerging into the light in their most critical period.

Another interesting fact is that the bracken fern releases allelopathic chemicals which increases its ability to eliminate other vegetation. Even after the plants are removed, existing vegetation can be inhibited by toxins in the soil. Thus, if you have a bracken fern problem in your food plots, you have to be steadfast in your resolve for the next 3 to 5 years.

4) USING CHEMICALS:

Both Asulam and glyphosates can kill bracken fern. But here is the kicker: Asulam is more effective if cut first and both work best for the long term strategy if applied in the fall. The bracken fern has an extensive root system which is highly competitive. Kind of reminds me of dandelion! The only way to reach the underground root system with the chemicals is to take advantage of biologic behavior. In fall the transfer of food to rhizomes takes place in the autumn. This natural behavior allows us to get chemical further down deeper into the root system.

The important thing to note about chemicals is they are PART of the control program, not the answer to the problem when used in isolation.

#5) CRUSHING IN THE SUMMER

Emerging croziers can be bruised by the use of harrows, rollers or bracken crushers. Crushing is carried out with the same frequency as mowing. Crushing has the advantage of being safer when areas may damage blades of mowers.

#6) SOIL TEST AND PLANTING CHOICES:

First thing to do is soil test. You want to use the aptitude test to tell you if you are contributing to your bracken fern problem by giving it the exact soil conditions it thrives on. You may need to use fertilizer and lime applications to correct acid pH before you choose your next plant. Depending on your area, you may be able to select a plant with different soil pH requirement than the bracken fern and treat your soil accordingly. This may help you win the fight.

The best idea is to pick a rapidly growing tough grass for planting, that does well in your area. This will allow you to use the mowing strategy to your advantage. You can usually call the local agriculture office for information on what grasses grow well in your area. These are usually cheap to plant and can survive a variety of soil and waterfall variations. Be warned though, for food plots, stay away from perennial rye grass. If you use rye, use the annual variety. See my article on annuals.

Ideally you want to allow pasture to go to seed in the first year, especially if you are using perennial choices. This will help out compete the bracken fern in the next season.

6) CULTIVATION:

BEST in SUMMER.  This allows the rhizomes to surface and then they dry out. Best period is between June and August for most areas. Follow with annual choices. Then use mowing to keep bracken fern from out growing your new crop. The fern uses vegetative growth and if allowed it will easily out grow even the best growing annual if you don’t mow it as the annual establishes itself.

You can also use the weed control strategy noted in the annuals article. In food plots where I have excessive weed competition, I plant only annuals and spend the entire summer the first year or two dealing with the weeds. Most of the focus is put on the weed control. I then choose an easy annual that provides forage in the early winter during bow season.

Usually you have to do this 2 to 3 consecutive years if this is your strategy. I know. Yikes again!

#6) WASH EQUIPMENT:

Clean all equipment before moving to a new food plot. The rhizomes are moved with the machinery and create new infestations. Be extremely careful of this one. It is a lousy way to contribute to the overall problem yourself.

I hope this was helpful. This is a tough weed, and only the persistant win against this one. Have a great day.

Dr. Judy

Today I ventured up the coast, from Lucca to Cinque Terre National Park. It consists of 5 villages on the rocky coastline. They can be reached by train and a lot of hill climbing. I want to stress a lot of hill climbing. It seems I have been doing nothing but climbing hills since I got here, so I gave up the suitcase in lieu of a backpack. Didn’t make the climb any less, but saves the wrenching on the back from the one side.

I am staying in Riomaggiore for the next day or two. There is beautiful coastline from here to Genoa where I am headed anyway. So I think I will hop the train, hike the hills, and basically enjoy the view. It is spectacular.

Had to ride the train for a short time in the early evening today: we were packed in like cattle and holly hot was the trip. I was grateful it was only a 20 minute train ride. I think it was the Sunday crowd going home after spending time in the national park on the weekend. I can only hope tomorrow is better for train travel, as that little work out almost resulted in fainting.