The Rural Voice, 1991-02, Page 28LIVESTOCK
CONFINEMENT EQUIPMENT
Dairy • Pressure Washers • Hog
Free
Stalls
• Cemented
in place or
suspended
Comfort
Stalls
Calf
Pens
11 Iii lI 111.1111 II nIIII Ili
II` I�I�� III
Gestation
Stalls
111111144.141%
model 80
• Self Supporting
• up to 10'
For Weaners or Sows
V
B
a
r
Slats
Hog
Feeders
Double or
single sided
For More Information Contact Your Local BSM Dealer
ATWOOD GRANTON
KROPF BROS AVONBANK
CONST. FARM EQUIPMENT
519-356-2249 519-225-2507
ZURICH
SOUTH HURON
AGRI-SYSTEMS
519-236-7424
BRUSSELS
HURON FEEDING
SYSTEMS
519-887-6289
MILDMAY
MIDWAY FARM
SYSTEMS
519-367-5358
KINCARDINE
LOWRY FARM
SYSTEMS
519-395-2615
TARA
H. NICHOLSON
AND SON
519-934-2343
WELLESLEY/RANNOCH
PROGRESSIVE FARMING
519-656-2709
519-229-6700
24 THE RURAL VOICE
squeeze to calf pens. Scott puts the
price of materials at S6,000.
A 930' raceway solidly reinforced
at the shed entrance with white oak
and ash leads through pasture enclosed
by cyclone deer fencing to a collection
diamond with access to five fields.
The fenced -in area consists of a 14 -
acre field and an adjacent 22 -acre
section surrounding a six -acre swale
providing natural habitat. All outside
gates interconnect.
The last gate was hung 10 minutes
before Scott's first lot of elk, 10 preg-
nant cows, arrived May 27, 1990. The
first calf dropped a week later, follow-
ed quickly by nine more. By a stroke
of good luck, seven were females.
Scott has purchased a bull and 10
more cows. The rest of the herd, now
grown to 64, are owned by John
Barber and several other investors.
Mature elk are fed four pounds of a
blended ration of oats and corn per
head per day, plus concentrate and a
mineral mix developed specifically for
elk. The 50 adults ate 600 pounds of
free choice hay in the same period.
Wayne figures the same one acre
of pasture will produce 250 pounds of
beef or 500 pounds of elk.
Few elk will end up on a plate at a
ritzy restaurant just yet. Both the
breeding stock and the markets must
increase before that happens. Wayne
predicts a meat industry will be in
place within 15 years. "There is great
potential as long as people eat meat,"
he notes.
In the meantime, he is raising
breeding stock and velvet, and
counting on a pre-tax 20 to 25 per cent
return on investment.
In December, Wayne enlarged his
operation with the acquisition of 20
exposed New Zealand red deer hinds
from Coldstream. He plans a breeding
program that he hopes will result in
hybrid breeding stock ready for sale
by the fall of '91.
Wayne welcomes inquiries and is
proud to show off his facilities.
Before winter closed in, 40 to 50
drivers a day stopped on the road
beside the elk pasture, and many came
in to find out more about game
farming. Wayne didn't mind the
interruptions. "It's good PR. I want
to help others get started. The more
in, the more stability," he reasons.0