Deer Industry Advance Party
Canterbury Group
19th June 2014 - Meeting Notes
Venue:
Present:
Apologies:
1.
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Mike Henriksen (Hororata)
2 – 5 pm.
Chanelle and Dave O’Sullivan, Mike Henriksen, Dave Duthie, Dan and
Georgie Harper, Stu Stokes, Kevin Clucas, Steve Wright, Wayne Allan
Tony Pearse, Amy Wills
Hamish Guild
Review of outcomes of the last meeting
Wean early if feed tight or hind condition poor
Feed Quality drives Production
Group wanted to gain better understanding of feed quality
Progressed targets and actions for each farm
Funding has been secured from DINZ for:
 Input from Nutrition Specialist – Greg Smith has been approached, and will hopefully
attend the next meeting.
 ME Testing of up to two pastures/feeds per farm throughout the programme.
Group members will need to give feedback on how they impact on their operations.
2. Group Expectations.
 Open discussion but sensitive information to be confidential to the group
o Balance with need to communicate key productivity findings to the wider
industry
o Minutes to go past Host farm and group Chair prior to circulation
 That group members share knowledge and experiences
 The group want to hear about both good and bad outcomes, so they can learn from
both successes and mistakes.
 Reasonable levels of attendance
o The DINZ expectation is that members attend events
o It was acknowledge that were events which prevented people attending
every single meeting
o Wayne will contact an individual if the group has any concerns
3. Monitoring Results
Pregnancy Scanning
Dave O
Steve W
Mike H
Kevin C
Yearling Hinds
94%
79%
95%
MA Hinds
99.1%
82% to AI
90% in two cycles
still to do
General Comments
 Wet but good autumn pasture growth
 Some lungworm and Yersinia reported
4. Mike Henriksen
Farm Information outlined in Handout for the day.
Mike farms on three small properties, with some hinds on a block at Sheffield and Weaners
on a block at Templeton. Hinds are run on his home block and weaners wintered inside.
Indoor Wintering - Weaners
 Fawns weaned onto pasture at the start of March (51.3 kg this year)
 Transitioned onto hard feed in early April (lucerne balage and barley)
 Mid April weaners enter the shed
o Sexed, Weighed, Quarantine drenched
 50 – 60/pen – (1.6 – 2.4 square m each).
 Feed - approximately 2 kgDM/d
o 1.2 kg barley and rest lucerne balage, may vary barley amount.
o Minerals also added, yeast also trialled this year)
 Bedding - barley straw and limeflour (added every second day or so).
 Approx 150 days in the shed, achieving up to 350 g/d
 Wintering cost, approx. $120/head including feed, power, labour.
Cost Vs Benefit
Cost
$120/head
Return
$210
If grow at 350 g/d for 150 days = 51 kg gain (102 kg)
At $4.20/kg ($7.50 net spring Schedule 56% yield)
Margin
$90/head plus Velvet
NB: Velvet is early and of good circumference.
Other Factors:
 Very few deaths (virtually Nil), and Mike has no animal health issues
 Tony P. reported that deer can be susceptible to:
o foot abscess, which can spread rapidly indoors.
o Hair Chewing
 Environmental pressure adding to appeal of indoor wintering
 Mike Trialling fodderbeet, may make shed a little wetter.
 Deer take time to transition back to pasture so this is avoided.
Key points
 Profitability driven by high growth rate
 Lights critical to the growth rates
 Need higher schedule prices to be rewarded adequately for the effort
5. Mikes Targets
Target 1:
Increasing weaner weight from 51 to 60 kg at the start of March
55 kg in 2014.
Actions:
 Fed 10 T barley over lactation. Considered breakevn but hinds in better condition.
 Upgrading the genetics of hinds, by sourcing better replacements.
 Mating all hins to a wapiti sire
Group suggestions:
 Purchase sires with good Breeding Values for growth.
 Consider alternative summer feeds for late lactation (eg Red Clover, Lucerne)
Target 2:
Increase ave. carcass weights from 50 kg up to 65 kg at 10th September
Actions:
 Increase weaning weight worth about 5 kg carcass weight.
 Better genetics for growth (hind and stag)
o 10kg carcass weight = 18 kg liveweight
o Need additional 120 g/d (350 – 470 g/d)
Group Suggetsions:
 Target March/ April growth
 Focus on calving as early as possible.
 Identify, and cull, hinds rearing small fawns
 Continue to trial feed formulation, utilise faecal testing.
 Compare production from fodderbeet and compare economics
 Palm Kernel Expeller?
 Reduce feed costs by growing own feed.
Monitoring
The group agreed that monitoring weaner growth rates was important:
Weaning weight
1 June Weight
Slaughter weights and dates.
It was agreed that 30 randomly selected animals per mob was sufficient for a representative
sample.
Reproductive performance: Those that are interested can request a monitor sheet from
Wayne. (Steve Wright asked for a monitor sheet to be forwarded to him).
Other areas for Monitoring:
 Environmental
 Objective measures for sire stags
 Continue pasture quality tests
 Animal Health eg Drench Tests
 Herd Structure – Age and replacement rate
No conclusions were reached, but as the programme progresses some areas could be
incorporated into the Advance Party meetings.
The group was reminded of the invitation to Weka Farm (Kevin Clucas) for a Landcorp Deer
Discussion Group on Tuesday 24th June.
Next Meeting – Quartz Hill (Dan and Georgie) – late August
SFF have also offered for the group to view Mike Henriksen’s deer being processed (early
September).
Notes prepared by Wayne Allan