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NOTES FOR THE GAME FARMING INDUSTRY
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UnIversity of Saskatchewan
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White-tailed deer
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Introduction
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The white-tailed deer ranges throughout
most of North and Central America and is also
found in northern countries of South America.
No other deer in the world has such a wide
latitudinal natural range
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and changes in breeding
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seasonand size are
reflected throughout this
range. By and large,
breeding seasonsin the
north are earlier than
those in the south, and as
one travels south, the
animals become smaller
in stature. Taxonomists
have identified at least
30 subspecies. For
details of these subspecies and many other
matters relating to the
biology of wild whitetailed deer readers should refer to the book
edited by Lowell K. Halls titled "White-tailedDeer:
ecology and management".
j
The white-tailed deer is creating a growing
amount of interest as a potential farm animal in
North America. Early efforts to farm this species in New Zealand met with failure, and their
scarcity and limited availability, plus the fact
that other speciesof deer were so abundant, led
to a lack of interest in them. However there are
a number of successful operations in which
white-tiled deer are managed intensively. Most
are in the easternhalf of North America, but
there are a few operations in both Alberta and
Saskatchewan.
There are several reasons for the interest.
Two of the main ones are the high birth rate and
the demand for trophy quality antlers.
White-tailed deercommonlybeartwins
eachyear, and triplets alsooccur. Furthermore,
well fed female fawns can often conceive by 6
or 7 months of age if they are heavy enough.
On a well managedproperty, with optimum
nutrition, a herd average of 2 young per year
may be achievable.
Placed upon a spread
sheetand projected
forward the potential of
any species ill which the
norm is multiple births
appearsto be tremendous, as long as any
potential losses are not
factored in. As will be
I briefly discussedbelow,
! and in a subsequent
pamphlet, there are some
areasof potential loss
that need to be managed
for before a farmer
decides to venture into
fanning this species.
The white-tailed deer is the most sought
after hunting target of all the North American
mammals. Many hunters are particularly keen
to hunt for an animal with large antlers, and
managersof fee hunting areas are constantly
seeking to upgrade the quality of the trophies
available to customers. As much as $50,000 has
beenpaid for a single buck purchased with the
intent of using him in this fashion. For similar
reasons, semenfrom outstanding bucks may be
marketed.
There is also a growing market for whitetailed deer venison. Mike Hughes of the Broken
Arrow Ranch in Texas has established a business that deals with field shot white-tailed deer
that are federally inspected at the time of slaughter, and then processed in a fashion similar to
any other meat product for consumption allover
the USA as well as in export markets. There are
as yet no data to show that farmed white-tailed
GF-WT-I-OI
deer venison has the same market potential as
that of their free-ranging counterparts.
White-taileddeer venisonpreparedfor the market.
Management
Fencing
White-tailed deer are prodigious jumpers,
clearing 1.8 m (6') with ease. Even 2.1 m (7')
fences will not stop them, and industry standards, as well as those in researchfacilities, are
heights of at least 2.4 m (8'), with many fences
even higher at 3.05 m (10'). Wire spacing near
the ground must be close, probably no more than
9 x 15 cm (3. 5 x 6") to a height of about 91 cm
(3') before spacings increase (horizontal wire
spacings quoted fIrst), especially in fawning
paddocks, where 9 x 9 cm spacings may be
needed to prevent the exit of newborn fawns.
Once the deer have been drafted and
brought into small yards (3 x 5 m, 10 x 16'),
they can readily be moved into a darkened shed
or wide alley that is completely enclosed. As
long as there is no light visible the deer will not
jump and injure themselves, and the judicious
use of light in forward compartments will allow
the handler to move animals forward into a
chute and crush. The use of red light in the shed
will allow a handler about 15 minutes in which
to work before it has to be turned off for a while.
The deer do not seemto respond to the red light
during this period and a handler can go in with
them and draft them.
Sheds that have rotundas or half circles are
in common use, but the deer can readily be
handled without them. As for any class of
livestock, training to the system, for both the
deer and the handler, is absolutely essential.
Once yards and shedshave been constructed,
interior doors can be left open for several days
and feed can be placed in the various compartments. As the deer become accustomed to what
is expected of them, and as the humans gain
experience and confidence, the entire handling
exercise will become increasingly easy on both.
Chutes & Crushes
There are several types of squeezechute or
crush that can be used. The commonest are
either of the drop floor variety, or specially
designed squeezesthat can be compressedto
totally immobilize the animal. Both are shown
in the figures. The drop floor chute, similar to
the ones used for fallow deer farming, can be
made adjustable so that fawns or large bucks can
be handled, as
well as
larger
species
such as
red deer.
FarmedW-T D in paddocks
Yards& sheds
Many of the principles of handling fallow
deer apply for white-tailed deer. These include
alleyways at a maximum of about 5 m (16'),
with boarding,eithersolid or closely spaced
slats, atpressurepoints and nearthe yards. At
the white-tailed deerresearchcentreat
Houghton Lake in Michigan, there has been a
long standing policy over 20 years of passive
culling animals that are wont to jump. Wilder
animals that jump tend to injure themeselvesand
so are removed from the group.
GF-WT-I-O2
and neckare left relatively free.
The
advantage
of drop
floor
chutes is
that they
permit the
handler to
work with
bucks in
hard
antler. as
the head
c
A disadvantage may be that animals are
inclined to struggle and may move about while
being handled.
The squeezetype of chute, often with a
keyhole door at the front, allows complete
restraint as the pressure is applied, but the
operator is limited to accessingthe head and
neck which are usually the only areasavailable
for work. A third alternative, Just beginning to
be used, is a hydraulic squeezechute that allows
the head and neck to be free, but also allows for
animals in hard antler to be restrained, as there
is no keyhole head gate involved. In order to
collect blood samples and work around the head,
a halter can readily be applied. This give the
operator increased control over the situation.
8£,
W-T D in a squeezechute. Note themechanicalsqueeze
apparatuson theside.
Paddock management
Management systemsare still evolving. In
many casesminimal interference is practised,
and the deer are left alone for much of the year.
This has certainly been the most common
method of management in Pennsylvania and
other easternstates in which white-tailed deer
are farmed, but they can also thrive in other
situations. At Houghton Lake where whitetailed deer researchhas been conducted for at
least 32 years 100 to 140 deer are continuously
kept. Breeding groups of one buck and 3 or 4
deer are held in 18 x 18 m pens (60 x 60'), and a
doe and her fawns, or 2 does are held in 9 x 18
m pens. Animals not currently involved in the
research program are turned out into pastures
that are either 1.3 Ha (3 acres) for up to 15
bucks, or 16 Ha (40 acres) for larger groups.
Dr. Keith Amass of Ohio has seen farm
stocking rates that vary from 1.5 to 10 deer per
acre. At the denser concentrations the deer are
offered a prescription ration and free choice hay
on a year round basis, and flourish. At lighter
densities, he reports that there is little impact on
vegetation.
Nutrition
White-tailed deer are generally classified as
concentrate selectors or browsers, but as anyone
who has seenlarge numbers of them on summer
hay fields will attest, they are very adaptable,
and favour good quality grazing when they can
get it. Dr. Duane Ullrey and his team at Michigan State University have developed an excellent ration for white-tailed deer, and peo~le
farming them should consider this as an Industry
standard and stay away from other esoteric diets.
This diet, which has been used at Houghton lake
for over 20 years, consists of 17% protein and
6% fibre and has been previously published in
this seriesof extension pamphlets (GF-F-3-04)
as it is also an excellent diet for fallow deer and
wapiti. Local conditions may govern which
cereal grain forms the basis of the diet, but
ration formulation can readily provide a prescription that meets the standards. For deer that
are farmed extensively enough to provide a
considerable amount of their diet as grazing,
other supplements may be offered. Oats are
well accepted,and provide high levels of energy, but they should not be considered as a
complete ration. They are, for instance, very
low In copper. Such things as horse ration, table
scraps, and vegetables have been seenin use,
and are not suitable unless offered as titbits
comprising a very small percentageof intake.
The deer can readily be trained to use covered self-feedersand waterers, which can save
considerable amounts of feed loss due to spoilage, and energy loss when water has to be
heated. In colder parts of the continent water
heatersare essential during much of the winter,
but deer can thrive without water as long as
snow is available. Energy costs to the deer are
greater if they have to convert cold snow for
fluid intake, and feeding will have to be proportionally increased.
Reproduction
Like many other mammalian species native
to temperate zones, white-tailed deer reproduction is timed so that young will be born when
forage availability is at its maximum. In Canada
most parturition in adult does occurs in June, but
further south the date may be as much as 2
months later. In central and nonhern South
America births may occur almost at any time of
year, and even in Florida the birthing season is
very extended.
The interval between estrus periods also
shows a considerable degree of variation, ranging from 21 to 30 days in unbred does. Gestation lengths vary among sub-species. In Canada
GF-WT-I-O3
and the northern USA they are about 200 days in
length, but the range may be from 187-222 days,
and the length also varies according to the
nutritional state of the doe. Undernourished
does tend to have longer gestations.
Depending upon the gestation length, and
the range of birth dates, the rut takes place in the
period from October to January. Wild whitetailed deer do not form harems like wapiti, or
establish rutting grounds like fallow deer. The
bucks are often seen together in bachelor groups
during the velvet antler phase. When velvet is
cleaned the bucks may remain together for a
period of 4-6 weeks, during which time they
engage in sparring contests and begin to establish a dominance heirachy. In all but the smallest bucks sparring has ceased by the time that
actual breeding takes place, and older, well
established bucks may engage in little sparring.
The yearling, 2 and 3 year old bucks do most of
the sparring, probably because they are less
certain then the older animals about their position in the heirachy. It is at this time that accidental locking of antlers may occur (see fig).
reports that 4 bucks over 3 years old held in 5
heavily wooded acres did fight and losses occurred. Problems do occur if bucks are returned
to more crowded pens, where they have to
reestablish dominance. If antlers are left in
place bucks should not be put through the handling systems in groups, or even with does, as
the confinement will induce them to use their
antlers.
The first succesful artificial insemination of
white-tailed deer was in 1982 at the Forestry
Farm Zoo in Saskatoon. Four female fawns
were delivered from two does. Since then the
techniques has been expanded and developed by
Steve Magyar at Texas A & M University in
Texas, and by Harry Jacobsen at Mississippi
State. Using either two injections of
prostaglandin F2a spaced about 12 days apart,
or intravaginal sponges, estrus in does can be
synchronized and conception rates over 65%
and as high as 75% to a single insemination
have been achieved.
It has been clearly established that artificial
insemination in white-tailed deer is a successful
technique that allows the use of semen of bucks
that are perceived to be superior. Fertility rates
to AI are high, and this technique has considerable potential. There are as yet no data form the
performance of progeny to show that any form
of selective breeding, either by natural means or
by AI, can improve the quality of the herd, but
these take a long time to acquire, and meanwhile
farmers and ranchers can only use the characteristics of the dam and sire to make value judgments.
Wild white-taileddeer with lockedantlers
On farms there are some considerable
differences in the management of bucks. For
those who wish to retain bucks with their antlers, to show them off as potential trophies, herd
sires or semen donors, antler removal may not
be carried out. The most common practice is to
remove antlers about a week after the velvet has
been cleaned. If this is not done mature bucks
should not be kept together in close confinement, as they run the risk of serious injury. On
the other hand, if bucks are given a reasonable
amount of room, the antlers may be left in place.
At the Michigan research centre it has been
found that once the sparring behaviour has been
used to establish dominance in a group of bucks
they will seldom fight when kept at about 5
bucks to the acre. In contrast, Dr. Amass
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White-taileddeerfawns born to AI
Bibliography
White-taileddeer-ecology& management.
Halls,L.K.
(ed). A Wildlife Management
InstituteBook. Stackpole
Books.
I shouldlike toacknowledge
theinputof KeithAmass,John
Nellist,SteveSchmittandDuaneUllrey.
Photocredits:- 1,3,Keith Amass,2,6,7,JerryHaigh, 4. Mark MacNamara,5. Jim Sikarskie.
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