Feeding for velvet
Peak nutritional requirements are immediately after the roar and during antler growth. It is known that post-rut nutrition influences future velvet weight. Likewise, if stags are not fed well during antler growth, then maximum velvet weights will not be achieved.
A red stag that weighed 240kg in February is likely to come out of the rut weighing around 180kg. In order for a red stag to gain weight and to maximise velvet growth, he will need to eat above maintenance (greater than 1.8 % of his body weight in kgDM) over the winter months, and into the spring. That's about 3.5 to 4kgDM/day of high-quality feed. That's about a 20kg bag full of fresh pasture. This requirement increases over the summer (greater than 2% of his body weight) as the quality of feed decreases. Wapiti stags will require much higher levels of feeding (about 30-40% more feed) over the winter and spring.
In the spring, stags should ideally be split up into velveting mobs according to when they cast their buttons. This will help to reduce the risk of injury to the velvet at the time of antler harvesting.
