Venison alternatives starting to move
Consolidation in the deer industry in the last five years means mainly the more committed farmers are left, which is good for the industry, says Kris Orange.
This is the conclusion that can be drawn from a one-season trial by AgResearch showing that when hind body condition scores (BCS) dropped from 3.5 to 2.8 calf growth began to suffer.
“Feeding hinds well during lactation should pay dividends,” says trial leader David Stevens. “Calf weaning weight is a major factor in determining whether a young animal reaches slaughter weight for the premium chilled market in spring and in ensuring that female replacements are ready for the stag at 15 months.”
Another AgResearch scientist, Geoff Asher, says that when pasture covers drop below 1200kgDM/ha, hinds that start lactation in good condition can protect the growth of their calf better than lighter hinds. This is because they use their fat to buffer the calf from adverse grazing conditions. “However, after about 80 days of restricted feeding, even the hinds that were originally in good condition were not able to buffer their calves.”
In the experiment, 240 hinds with a BCS of 3.5 were split pre-calving into two mobs. One was fed to maintain condition at 3.5 and the other to lose condition to BCS 2.5 before calving. After calving they were again split, with some on restricted feed (under 1200kgDM/ha) and some on ad lib feed (2400kgDM/ha). Calves were weighed every three weeks.
Lighter hinds on restricted feed had the lightest calves at weaning (47kg). Their calves were forced to graze pasture early, as their mothers were not lactating properly.
On the other hand, hinds that were light at the start of the experiment picked up quickly if they were well-fed during lactation, producing calves with similar weights (around 57kg) to those weaned off heavier hinds than had been well fed. This shows that pasture restrictions during lactation have a bigger effect on calf weight than the original condition of the hind.
Providing pasture at greater than 2400kgDM/ha during the high allowance treatment resulted in calves that were significantly heavier than calves on low allowances during lactation. This was regardless of the feeding regime pre-calving. This supports previous findings that feeding after calving is most important in species rearing a single offspring.
“The messages hold true for later restrictions – like in December/January. It is all about the rate of loss in body condition,” says Stevens. “Once their body condition hits 2.8 (from 3.5) hinds basically start to turn-off lactation.”
Monitoring condition of the hind at mid-lactation is critical, he says. This can be via binoculars in the paddock, but the best option is to bring a number of animals into the yards for individual scoring, enabling an average to be calculated. A BCS chart can be found on the Deer Industry NZ website www.deernz.org
“A calf that is heavier has a greater capacity to gain weight during the autumn and winter than a lighter animal,” Stevens says. “Lightweight weaners take longer to finish and to reach mating weights, so incur greater cost and generate considerably less income.”
Funding for the research came from AgResearch and DEEResearch Ltd, the organisation that channels deer farmer levy funds into research.
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