Deer Farming

A1an

Member
Very interesting. Have a herd of approx 9 that use my land on a regular basis which I enjoy being around but always thought it would be to difficult to capture and retain them on the land. They seem to hop over walls and fences as if there not there.
They are escape artists. Nothing but deer fencing (and a good one at that) will keep them in.
Time is vital when handling deer. You do everything at half speed. I remember handling them one day and asked for a hand off the tenant shepherd. I sent him on his way after 10 mins, he just couldn't get it in to his head that they didn't respond well to shouting, roaring or waving an alkathene pipe around.

If at first you don't succeed, give up. Try another day.
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
They are escape artists. Nothing but deer fencing (and a good one at that) will keep them in.
Time is vital when handling deer. You do everything at half speed. I remember handling them one day and asked for a hand off the tenant shepherd. I sent him on his way after 10 mins, he just couldn't get it in to his head that they didn't respond well to shouting, roaring or waving an alkathene pipe around.

If at first you don't succeed, give up. Try another day.

This might work out quite well as I was at the APF show looking at deer fencing and how I could modify it to incorporate the vertical solar panels into the deer fence.
 

EJS

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Ashford, Kent
I was interested in deer farming but put off by the lack of abattoir in the south - I assume you can't shoot them yourself if farmed and selling to a third party.
 

Timmy_45

Member
I was interested in deer farming but put off by the lack of abattoir in the south - I assume you can't shoot them yourself if farmed and selling to a third party.

You can shoot them yourself, then the choice is between sending them ASAP to a licensed processing plant for gutting, skinning and butchering, or applying for a license to do that on farm.
 

Dave6170

Member
You shoot them, then transport the carcass. Transporting them live for slaughter is bad for the taste of the meat.
Ok i see. We shoot a few wild deer each year for the freezer. Im interested in deer farming but not sure i could go out and shoot them myself. Be like going out and shooting a fat stirk or lamb.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
They made it to New Zealand OK
Miss the deer farm.

It almost seemed cruel to have them behind a wire in some respects - they might have strutted over, licked my hand, but they certainly aren't "domesticated" animals.
Especially the big Wapiti cross :eek:

Agree with the comment above about how best to move them, start the day before, open the gate, come back after and close the gate...

Some can work deer exceptionally well and some simply cannot, my job interview consisted of walking through a 35 acre field to test the power on the other side -through 150 trophy stags in full antler - with the boss ready to save me in the Landcruiser if need be. :ROFLMAO:

They can smell out fear like no bull can, in that respect you really shouldn't have deer if you are that type of person.
Luckily I just did my thing and they took that as a pass, my boss was the former deer manager at the Invermay research farm I got a total immersion: injecting and taking velvet etc etc that many simply do not get the opportunity to do without vet. training. Was great! :cool:

4 wire electric fences are a right barsteward to retrieve from swede crops when they break out......... :cry:
we had the solar energisers on poles too (y)
Good lanes and infrastructure make or break the job, moreso than other livestock farms with more domesticated stock, it is difficult to 'make do' as you can with ewes or beef cattle.
I have seen many, many sheep farms converted to deer without much actual consideration or expenditure, and the deer didn't last long on them at all :ROFLMAO:
Likewise many sheep farmers cannot get their heads around the psyche of a deer, and simply leave all the gates open as an easy way out, leading to the business eventually collapsing due to the overgrazing aspect.

Adam said to me, "to be in the top percentile of deer farmers all you have to do is leave the house before lunchtime and do something" which I will never doubt, or forget.
 

ajcc

Member
Livestock Farmer
There's a chap, Matt Smith that setup a deer farm in the south west, hes had a few articles about him published and done a few talks, i think i hear him speak at 2017 grassland event.

here's a link to the yellow peril article. no doubt they have some errors in there.

https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/liv...what-does-it-cost-to-set-up-a-deer-enterprise
The chap who supplied MS deer, handling systems, UK management advice, is contributing to this thread and is an industry expert...@jellybean
 

jellybean

Member
Location
N.Devon
OMG, please don't call me an expert. There are a lot of problems at the moment due to "advisors" in the industry and I wish to distance myself from that.

Deer farming has been going now for 40 years or so and there are plenty of guys out there who know what they are doing. If you want to learn, give them a ring, go and visit and ask as many questions as you can think of.
Visit as many as you can so you see different systems, viewpoints and ways to use all sorts of land. Then do the sums.

Most existing livestock farmers already know there is no easy way to make huge sums of money from animals.
Deer are no exception, but they can be very rewarding if you can adjust to their ways and work in harmony with them.
 

Two Tone

Member
Mixed Farmer
If you can farm any other livestock, then you might find farming deer quite simple.
BUT farming deer is quite different insofar as you need a lot of patience to handle them.

We have had a few wild ones enter the herd here and they are a lot of trouble that need even more patience!

Deer farming is profitable and will remain so as long as people are fooled into thinking that it is better to eat something healthy even if it is relatively tasteless compared to beef and lamb.

The best and only venison worth eating IMO is muntjac. But I doubt if anybody could domesticate them enough to farm them.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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