Deer love alfalfa when it is green and growing. In fact, it makes a great food plot! I own an alfalfa plot that is a deer-magnet until it dies out sometime in the late fall.
The deer in my county won’t touch it once it’s brown but scratch down through the snow to get the dead and brown clover 50 yards away.
However, they won’t eat (at least not much) of alfalfa that has lost most of its moisture and is harder for them to digest than the soft green mast and flowers that alfalfa produces when its growing.
From experience, the freshness of the bales and any alternative food sources will determine if they will eat it or not. Deer can and will pretty much consume anything but I believe their digestive system is pretty complicated and if presented with a food they have not frequently been feeding on they might not be interested.
I have also carried out some research and found out that the enzyme in their gut will change over time and are specific to what they are eating.
In the area where I now reside, they survive majorly on browse during the winter, maybe the alfalfa is too different.
Can Deer eat Alfalfa Pellets?
Well, it depends. If the deer are near the verge of starvation and you want to feed pellets, ensure they’re as green, and fresh as possible.
The commercial deer pellets are typically greenish/gray color and have some alfalfa in them and about 15+% of protein in them.
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Can Deer eat Alfalfa Cubes?
Deer love alfalfa, but won’t eat alfalfa cubes that much if its isn’t fresh, green or has moisture.
When fresh and growing in the field, you would have much more luck hunting deer’s.
Will Whitetail deer eat Alfalfa Hay?
White tail deer will eat alfalfa hay if it is fresh and has moisture. Most other types of hay are useless to a whitetail because of their body’s inability to digest grasses.
Do Deer eat Alfalfa in the Winter?
Yes, they might. I hear some people say alfalfa is bad for deer.
If it were bad for deer then all the deer feeding in the alfalfa fields that are froze brown all winter would be dead. The alfalfa in a bale is the same as what is left in the fields.
My cousin, Ryan who is a farmer south of Walkerville did not get all the round bales out of his field one fall. The deer loved it and ate up at least 20 bales that winter.
Some just spent the day laying next to the bales all day. But, he never saw a dead deer in the swamp that were coming from that spring.
Do Deer eat Alfalfa after Frost?
Yeah, sometimes though. They’re fine to eat except during the extremely harsh winter months. I hear enzymes change and they might not be able to properly digest it, at least that is what I have heard.
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