The Rural Voice, 1987-09, Page 21While some farmers maintain that
deer farming is not as time-consuming
as sheep farming, there is still plenty
of work involved. Kebbell is one of
the growing number of deer farmers
looking at modern livestock -breeding
techniques. He has begun to tag and
sex the calves at birth. The hinds
make good mothers and it is not un-
common for females to mother anoth-
er hind's calf. To keep the records
straight, Kebbell monitors the hinds
when they go into labour, sometimes
spending hours waiting a short dis-
tance away. When the calf is born,
the mother will hide it so carefully that
Kebbell has found himself spending
long hours hunting for the offspring.
At Siberia Deer Farm, 600 to 800
hinds plus stags are reared on two
fenced blocks of 77 and 51 hectares.
Deer are not unlike beef cattle. They
graze all year except during the two
months when they are shut off the
spring grass. They're fed silage
during the late winter or during a long
dry spell. Winter feed is supplement-
ed with grain and maize.
In March, all stock is drenched,
as cattle and sheep are, to kill lice and
worms. The weaners are continued on
a drench program repeated every three
weeks until the end of July. This
helps the animal adjust to handling,
Kebbell says.
While deer are relatively disease-
free, tuberculosis is a problem many
farmers face. According to Dr. Peter
Wilson, a Massey University veter-
inarian specializing in deer, it is a
major problem, and 412 farms are on
movement control because of the
disease.
The New Zealand Deer Farmers
Association has a tuberculosis control
program in which deer that test posi-
tive are slaughtered and the farmer is
compensated from a fund. But as the
testing continues and funds run low,
many farmers are refusing to have
their animals slaughtered for fear of
losing their breeding stock. The asso-
ciation is facing the fact that tuber-
culosis could become hard to control.
Dr. Wilson says he believes total
eradication of the disease in deer im-
possible because of the feral reservoir
of tuberculosis and because of "rogue
farmers prepared to circumvent the
regulation."
Deer are not unlike
beef cattle. They graze
all year except during the
two months when they
are shut off the spring
grass ... Winter feed is
supplemented with
grain and maize.
On a positive note, farmers are
looking for genetic improvement in
their stock, and to help meet the need
there is a national recording scheme
called the Deer Plan.
At Siberia, the breeds include
wapiti, reds, and a Canadian elk cross.
Deer were first imported in the mid -
1800s from England and Scotland,
where by sheer force of numbers they
had been causing damage that led to
severe erosion. The wapiti, a North
American breed, is similar to the red,
which is imported from Germany,
Yugoslavia, and Sweden. The elk
were introduced to Fiordland in the
South Island at the turn of the century,
and it is from that introduction that
Kebbell eventually acquired his cross-
bred elk.
As Kebbell drives from paddock to
paddock in his four-wheel-drive jeep,
some of the stags approach him for a
rub. But they are naturally skittish, a
quality that Kebbell believes accounts
for the lean quality of venison.
The Game Industry Board which,
like the Deer Farmers Association, is
controlled by producers, looks after
Deer have not only
been found to have a
high conversion rate of
pasture to meat, but they
also have a long breeding
life. A few farmers have
introduced vension
products from their own
plants with some very
satisfying results.
the marketing of venison and velvet.
Markets for deer velvet are being de-
veloped. Highly prized in the Orient
for use in preventive medicines, the
velvet is harvested about mid-October
(spring). The tissue grows quickly,
taking only 50 days to reach 12 to 20
inches. There has been some opposi-
tion to the harvest from animal wel-
fare groups which have presented evi-
dence that the cutting of the velvet can
cause hairline fractures of the skull
and either kill the animal or cause it
to suffer.
Kebbell says that in his ten years
of deer farming he hasn't lost an
animal because of the velvet harvest.
The animal is drugged and given
a local anesthetic before a tourniquet
is applied and the velvet cut off. The
animal is then given an injection to
reverse the drug. In half an hour it is
all over and the deer are as "good as
gold," Kebbell says. There is no
hemorrhaging.
Deer have not only been found to
have a high conversion rate of pasture
to meat, but they also have a long
breeding life. A few farmers have
introduced venison products from
their own plants with some very
satisfying results.
It is a standard joke in New
Zealand that after admiring all the
deer farms you head to your butcher
to buy some venison and find they
don't sell any in New Zealand. It is
all exported. New Zealand is in for
a treat that many other countries have
been enjoying for some time.0
SEPTEMBER 1987 19