Farmers, scientists look at deer farming in N.Z.

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33626, 30 August 1974, Page 6

Farmers, scientists look at deer farming in N.Z.

Deer farming, a type of farming relatively new to the New Zealand scene requiring new techniques and attitudes, was the subject of a session at last week's convention of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science.

The overall conclusion that could be drawn from the session, organised by the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, was that deer can certainly be farmed, but that a good deal still has to be learned about the methods of farming them, although this is being accumulated with the customary ingenuity and initiative of New Zealand farmers. There is also a question mark about the economics of the industry with prices for venison currently at modest levels, but market and price uncertainty is something that, is not just confined to deer farming. Mr F. R. S. Clouston, of the economics division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, said that at present there were about 200 permits to hold deer in captivity and 17 licences to farm deer. Of the permits to hold deer he said that the holders of 50 of these had indicated that they intended to eventually farm them.

The seminar was told of both commercial ventures in deer farming and experiments in intensive deer farming.

On the experimental side, Mr R. Lamming, the manager of the research farm at Lincoln College, presented a joint paper with Professor I. E. Coop summarising the results of the college's deer farmlet operation, which started in 1968 and has now been terminated. The project was financed by the New Zealand Game Exporters’ Association.

Taking into account the area of land which would be required to grow the lucerne hay brought in to help feed the deer each winter, Mr Lamming said it had been calculated that 2.3 hectares had, on average, wintered 900 kilograms of liveweight per hectare, which was equivalent to 12 to 15 ewe equivalents per hectare since the farmlet became fully stocked in 1971. On the basis of liveweight recordings and estimations, he said that the average daily’ gains to two years of age were of the order of 0.17 kilograms per day for stags and 0.12 kilograms for hinds. It could further be calcu-

lated that the turn-off of deer meat (bone in) was equivalent to one kilogram for every' five kilograms of liveweight of deer carried, and this was equal to 160 to 180 kilograms per hectare, which was comparable with that from sheep and cattle.

“The relatively high price for venison plus the skin and offals, and the velvet if harvested, would lead one to expect very good returns from deer farming,” Mr Lamming said.

“On the face of it deer farming should be more than competitive with beef cattle.”

There were, of course, references in Mr Lamming’s and other speakers’ addresses to distinctive features of deer farming. “The wild deer never became tame and their progeny remained wild. Only at considerable risk to themselves could they be yarded. ... The law of the jungle — during the six years two hinds died from disease. They lost condition, were then bullied and bruised by the other deer and finally died.” Because calving took place in December rather than in August or September as for sheep and cattle, Mr Lamming said it suggested that it would be more difficult to achieve a high utilisation of grass with deer. However, this might be offset by the ability of deer to lose weight in the winter and regain it in the spring without detriment — in contrast with their appearance in Aug-ust-September, he said he had been impressed with the recovery the deer had made within three months.

In October last year a deer farm was also established at Invermay agricultural research centre at Mosgiel near Dunedin to study the performance of red deer run under intensive conditions on improved pastures. The herd consists of 88 hinds, eight stags and 68 calves, and these are run on two farms — one a lowland area and the other hill country. “Even at this early stage it is evident, that red deer can be farmed under intensive conditions,” said Dr R. W. Kelly, of the research centre. “How suc-

cessfully and at what level of production they can be farmed, we have yet to evaluate. “We do know that they can be easily shifted from one paddock to another and into yards (gates should preferably be in a corner and adjacent to other paddocks in which deer were run).

“The rate of growth of the young calves is very high considering that December calving means the loss of the best quality spring feed. However, the rate of growth during the winter months appears to be depressed and independent of the type of feed consumed.

“The reproductive performance of the herd also has certain problems, the most important being the large number of mortalities due to hinds attacking new-born calves ... eleven calves, all less than four days old, died from severe injuries, inflicted by hinds beating the calves. The attacks were characterised by the hind approaching a calf, seizing it with her teeth and flailing it with her forelegs. Our observations suggest that only a few of the hinds in the herd displayed such behaviour.

“The dominance of one stag during mating could also affect the calving percentage. ... On farm B one stag quickly, became dominant. It gathered the hinds into a harem and chased away the other stags. Although several of the subordinate stags attempted on occasions to infiltrate into the harem, they were always quickly repelled by the dominant stag. This dominance of one stag highlights the need for stags to be semen-tested immediately before the start of mating, as an infertile dominant stag could have disastrous effects on the reproductive performance of a deer herd...”

Mr B. Pinney, of Dunrobin station. Mossburn, said that in 1970 one of the first large-scale deer farms in New Zealand had been started at West Dome station in northern Southland. It was now carrying about 1000 deer on 300 hectares. Last year some 139 hectares on Dunrobin station had been fenced and had now been stocked with 300 deer. In the main in both instances the deer were caught under contract by helicopter. “It is important for anyone contemplating turning to deer farming to learn as much about the handling and habits of deer as possible before they start,” said Mr Pinney, in presenting a paper in conjunction with Mr P. Kilgariff, of Southern Lakes Game Foods Ltd.

“One must recognise the need in both the wild and farm conditions for the stags’ hierarchy system. Understanding this helps one in planning mob sizes and the age distribution of stags, as well as the mating ratios. The mating ratio could be around one stag to 15 hinds. A degree of competition seems to stimulate greater activity, but it appears sensible not to provide this with similar aged and equal sized stags but from younger stags. . . .

“There appears to be a distinct correlation between good feeding, good heads, good carcases and good genetics. We envisage a situation in future where the helicopter operators will have standing orders from deer farmers to capture the superior animals alive from the wild herd rather than shoot them . . ”

On both properties, he said, that the deer had access to plenty of natural cover and this was believed to be a big help in allowing the wild animals to settle down after arrival . . .

“Acclimatisation is the most important part of the process of civilising the wild animals. It takes time. Generally the more they see of people the quicker the job takes. However, in the initial stages we feel it wise not to upset them in any way ... It has been noted on West Dome and other properties that, vehicles can have a decided civilising effect, particularly when they are used for supplementary feeding.

“There is little doubt amongst people who have tamed deer that a tame stag is potentially one of the most lethal animals on the face of this earth . . . “Whenever one is moving deer one should take the weather into account. It is crucial that deer be driven into the wind so as not to offend their keen sense of smell . . . Failing this, the weather should be calm or wet and drizzly. Particularly in the early stages of handling wild deer it is crucial to respect these points and not just decree that they will be sorted up on such and such a morning . . . “There is a real art in getting deer through gateways. Gates are strange obstacles to a wild deer . .. It is safer to use Taranaki gates up to 24ft in width . . .

“Deer quickly become accustomed to hay feeding but generally hayracks are useless as one dominant stag takes charge and makes sure no-one is allowed near as long as he is around and has still got an appetite.”

Mr R. A. Brookes, of Tuatapere. prefers trapping deer for farming to use of helicopters and tranquilisers, which tends to be expensive.

Pens with self-closing gates range in size from two chains by one chain to a large paddock. These are located on the edge of the bush or just inside the bush, but can be out in the open if deer have been frequenting a paddock of swedes, for instance. There must be suitable bait inside the pen in the form of grass, oats, lucerne or swedes. The deer can be left in the pens for a number of days if there is enough feed, and also shade and water in the summer. This helps the animals to quieten down and to learn to respect fences.

“To remove the deer from the trap we erect a net of 4in. mesh about 10ft long by 6ft high. One end is tied to a post and the

other is held out into the paddock. The deer runs along the fence and into the net. Its legs are then taped with wide elastic sticking plaster and it is blind-folded. Often it is muddy and the taping of the legs is not satisfactory, so they are then put in a large canvas bag, which it tied at the neck and they are moved in this ... If a tractor cannot be brought to the pen, the deer are carted out. on a light stretcher. ..

The initial cost of setting up a satisfactory farm which would meet all the requirements of the regulations was extremely high, said Mr Clouston.

The type of fence that was required cost about $3O per chain. To ring fence 1000 acres and subdivide it into paddocks ranging from 20 to 100 acres would cost $36,000 for materials alone. By the time clearing, fencing, tracks and pasture development had been added the total cost would be around $50,000 to $60,000. Stocking the farm might also be an extremely costly business. If there was no surrounding bush where jumps or catching pens could be set up. prospective farmers could expect to pay in excess of $lOO per animal.

“On a 1000 acre block we could be speaking of stock worth $200,000 and

$50,000 for clearing, fenc ing and pasture devel opment...”

And on the vital question of the economics of the whole enterprise, Mr Clouston showed that on the basis of a 1000 hind herd being farmed for fattening, and also running replacements, the gross margin at 40c per lb for venison would be lower than for crossbred ewe. beef cow breeding or weaner beef enterprises. This was on the basis of early 197374 prices, which of course would be a good deal better than they are today for the beef and sheep enterprises.

It was Mr Clouston’s conclusion that if the venison price remained at around present levels deer farming had very little future, but if prices were again to reach the higher levels of last year, when suppliers received up to about $1 per lb, then deer farming would certainly have a bright future. Dr D. A. Forss of the Invermay centre, had an interesting point to make. It is that wild animals put on less fat than domesticated animals. Deer put on only a half to a third as much fat as sheep given identical food and treatment, and under natural unimproved conditions they also have a much higher proportion of poly-I unsatured fat in their fat.