Can Deer Eat Celery?

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If you have deer that visit your backyard, you might be considering giving them some treats to keep them coming back. There are different types of food that you can give to deer, but you need to know which food is a treat and which one is actual food.

For example, you might have some celery you’d like to give to your deer. But you need to know if it is safe for them to eat it and if it will benefit their health.

Can deer eat celery? Deer can and should eat celery. Celeries are vegetables that help deer meet their nutritional needs so they are an excellent food for you to offer them.

Two roe-deer's in a clearing in the wild and plate with celeries

Table of Contents

Is Celery Beneficial to Deer?

Deer can eat celery and other vegetables. You should understand that plants such as celery can satisfy the nutrient needs of deer so long as they have enough.

What You Should Consider

1. Deer are Herbivores

Herbivorous animals are animals that eat only plants and plant products. This means that they do not eat items such as meat, cheese, etc. As herbivores, deer can get their full nutrition from eating plant products such as celery.

2. Deer are Ruminants

Ruminant animals are herbivores that chew their cud. What makes ruminant animals ruminants is the possession of an organ called the rumen. In the rumen of ruminants, there are tons of bacteria and other microbes that help cows, deer, goats, and other ruminants to digest their food.

Look at it this way: ruminant animals cultivate microbes in their rumen which they will later eat. You heard that right. When deer eat celery and other vegetables, the microbes break down and digest the food while the deer eats and digests the undigested food (called the cud) as well as microbes.

It may not look like much, but the microbes in a rumen give deer as well as other ruminant animals a lot of proteins. This is why ruminants such as cows, goats, deer, etc. can eat just plants but will grow large.

3. Deer Need as Much Food as They Can Get in the Winter

During the winter, deer food sources will become depleted. Deer can eat tree leaves, branches, and twigs. In winter, however, deer may find it difficult to reach upper branches because other animals will have eaten the leaves in the lower branches.

If you give deer celery and other vegetables, deer will survive the winter. What’s more? Celery has a lot of moisture content, so even though there are fewer water sources in winter, deer can get a little water from consuming celery (as long as it is fresh).

Celery Nutrition

Fresh celery on round wooden tray on wooden background

The table below shows the nutritional composition of celery. The nutritional composition of fresh celery may confuse you because of the high moisture content, so you should compare it with the nutrition of dried celery in the next column.

Nutrient	Unit	Quantity (Fresh)	Quantity (Dry)
Moisture	gram	>80	<1
Protein	gram	<1	11
Carbohydrate	gram	4	64
Dietary Fiber	gram	2	28
Fat	gram	<1	2.1

(Source: Fresh, Dry)

As you can see from the table above, fresh celery has a lot of moisture that will help hydrate deer. During digestion, deer will get other nutrients from celery as long as they eat enough of it (the reason you see ruminant animals such as goats, cows, deer, etc. always eating).

Even though the nutrients may not look much, deer (through the help of their microbes) make good use of them. It is time to consider an essential need of deer which is protein.

Deer Protein Needs

While animals need every nutrient to remain healthy, they need more proteins to grow. The table below highlights the protein needs of deer according to their age:

Age	Description	Protein Requirement
Fawn	Normal growth	14 to 18%
Fawn	Fast growth	16 to 20%
Yearling	Maintenance	11%
Adult	Maintenance	6 to 10%
Female Adult	Pregnancy	11 to 15%
Female Adult	During Lactation	14 to 22%
Male Adult	Development of Antlers	15 to 16%

(Source)

As you can see from the table above, deer need from 6-18% protein depending on their age. This means that there are some growth stages of deer when they need more than just vegetables such as celery.

When you raise animals such as goats and cows, you know that even though their major food is grass, hay, etc., you need to provide them with a few other protein sources. Even though you may not be raising deer, you can use a similar principle. What else can you give to deer?

Supplementing Celery with Other Food Sources

Here are some examples of food items that you can give to deer:

1. Deer Mix

Deer mix is simply processed feed made for deer. Just like goat pellets, deer mix contains grains, alfalfa, and other ingredients to enrich them. If you like, you can go to a local store to get deer mix.

2. Grains

Cereal grains are also great sources of proteins for deer. Grains such as barley and wheat are suitable for deer. Grains make great treats for deer. You can also give grains to deer in the winter.