Do you live in an area where deer live? If you are always seeing deer in your yard and garden, chances are that you also are finding deer scat. When you see it, you might wonder if it’s safe to use in your garden. So. let’s look at that.
Fertilizing Using Deer Scat – Yes or No?
It’s not a new idea to use manure as fertilizer. It was discovered long ago that it has a lot of nutrients in it. When deer droppings fall on your grass and plants, it could provide the plants with additional nutrients, based on what has been eaten by the deer.
The diet of deer is pretty limited in general, so the droppings don’t have a lot of nutrients in them. however, when deer feed around the farms and suburban deer might have additional nutrients in their droppings. When you allow droppings to lay on the grass, it could provide it with some nourishment. However, it’s not going to be enough to completely fertilize it. To truly get the benefits of those nutrients, you’d have to collect up the piles of droppings and then evenly spread them around your beds and lawn.
Is It Safe to Use Deer Scat in Your Garden?
Any kind of raw manure can contaminate your crops with a variety of pathogens. It’s possible that you will get sick when you use it for fertilizing. The groups who are most at risk are older people and young children, along with people who are immunocompromised and women who are pregnant. It’s recommended that you wait 90 days after you have used raw manure to fertilize to harvest the crop that doesn’t touch your garden’s soil. If the crop touches the soil, you should wait 120 days. That’s the reason you might want to rethink using deer scat for fertilizing your vegetable garden. However, you can also use it if you hot compost it. It has to hit a minimum of 140 degrees for a minimum of five days and then be composted for a minimum of 40 days so that any pathogens are killed.
When you are handling deer scat to put them into your garden beds or lawn, make sure that you are wearing gloves. Wash the tools that are used for handling the droppings and disinfect them, and make sure your hands are thoroughly washed once finished.
So, should you use deer scat to fertilize your garden? It’s possible to do it if you are willing to take the extra steps to protect yourself and your family. But for many people, it’s just not worth the risk.
We hope you found this to be useful and informative. If you would like help with your garden or lawn, contact us through our site or Facebook with any questions.
