Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Chicken Litter

I was thinking about ways to make feeding deer beneficial in the summertime and everybody has their do and dont's and wanted to know what yall thought about feeding chicken litter mixed with corn and cotton seed mill. I know cattle farmers had to quit this practice but it sure made the cows a lot healthier looking and made them eat like hogs. I would assume its the left over nutrients and supplements they feed the chickens that made the difference in them looking healthier and the ammonia that burns their stomach resulting in them eating like hogs. Could deer handle the litter with the same results as cows. If so it would be another good use for a byproduct.

Cattle can still be fed chicken litter last time I checked. There was talk of banning it a few years ago but it didn't happen.

The bacteria in the rumen of cattle can convert the nitrogen in the litter to protein as long as it isn't fed in to large an amount. It's the same as feeding urea in lick tanks for instance.

I have never fed it to any of our cattle and I'm dang sure not going to feed it to deer. Nothing natural or normal about cows or deer eating poop.

I suspect you eff up some deer rumens with that...

Cows eat grass that is fertilized by their poop all the time. They even eat grass that I am sure had poop attached and hay that gets mixed with poop if feeding in the same spot especially if using hay rings. Only difference I see is that it comes from a chicken and has added nutrients and whatever else is gave to chickens.

Thanks Fred. This was what I was wondering about but lack in Biology and needed the correct term for it. Can anyone give a reason as to why a deer rumen would differ from a cow in relation being able to benefit from chicken litter as a cow does?
I have been told that deer cant eat fescue grass due to stomach (rumen) issues. If that is the case then I assume they must be completely different from a cow.

There's a whole lot of difference in being fertilized by poop and eating poop. I've been around a few cows, they will leave the grass standing around a pile of cow manure.

If deer can't eat it, how would you keep them from eating fescue? They probably don't eat much of it because of the palatability of the grass.

The man that leases hay fields from my ex-father in law always spreads chicken litter on the fields when he cleans out hic chicken houses,the deer absolutely love it.I couldn't believe it the first time I saw it,the deer were comeing out in the middle of the day eating the stuff before he was out of the field with the truck.I don't know if it is bad for them or not but the deer in Washington county love it.

I have been around a few cows also. Not that many we jsut have 120-150 brood cows at any given time. I know they eat crap and force you to eat crap also if on the wrong end and talking while checking to see if that calf is coming right or not. Never hurt the cows or any of us that I know of. That being said I know it would not be near the same quantity as when mixed in feed. As for the fescue I dont know if they eat it or not but thats what I have been told. I assume if its the truth they have instinct not to eat it I have no clue.

The bacteria and other organisms in the rumen (rumen microflora)may be different in a deer (browser) than a cow (grazer) and probably is. It is even different in a cow on grass than a cow being fed more grain.

That doesn't mean that a deer could not use some of the nitrogen in the litter, but it may not be exactly the same.

One danger with feeding any non-protein nitrogen would be ammonia intoxication.

Personnally, for what you would be saving and with the unknowns about the rest of the diet, I probably wouldn't fool with it.

Should there be a concern with other animals such as turkeys, quail, or other birds?

Possibly blackhead in both turkeys and quail would be my first concern. They are more susceptible to blackhead then chickens. Of course, chicken litter is spread over a lot of the state and we still have turkeys (and a few quail).

People have been spreading litter in henry county for at least ten years (that I personally saw). I haven't noticed any detriment to deer, turkey, or other animals.

One of the parameters for transmission of a disease is infectious dose. There is a difference in the dose of a disease causing organism that would be ingested by feeding in a field where litter had been spread vs. eating litter out of a trough on a regular basis.

The practice was banned in 03 but the ban was lifted in, I think, 05. Read about it here. http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2077

At least you've been around some cows. Cows eating cow manure is not the same as cows eating chicken litter. Cow manure contains the same microbes that are in a cows rumen.

jlcoffee, turkeys can get blackhead from chicken litter but that would be rare unless the litter was from a pullet or breeder house. Cecal worms serve as the host of the protozoa that causes blackhead. There are viruses (vaccinal) in poultry litter that could harm turkeys.

I've seen coyotes eating freshly spread chicken litter but have not seen deer do that.

Blackhead is rare in broilers but not unheard of. You are right though that it would be more of a concern for pullet litter. Usually don't see it by the time they make it to the hen house. I doubt most deer hunters would know where their litter came from anyway and probably wouldn't know to ask.

Blackhead has been reported to spread bird to bird without cecal worms. I can't remember if the report was in quail or turkeys but it was one of them.

The main vaccine I would be concerned with would be Newcastle Disease but it should be cleared by the time the litter is cleaned out. Also, time and the heat of composting will take care of it unless you were feeding it straight out of the chicken house in a pretty short time period. It is not a super reselient virus outside of a chicken.

Bronchitis, bursal disease, and LT are all specific to chickens for the most part and not known to infect quail or turkeys.

Chickens also have their own set of species of coccidia that do not infect turkeys or quail.