ADELAIDE Hills producer Mike Kasprzak and his wife Nancy run "Deer Farm" at Birdwood and have been farming fallow deer for more than 25 years.
Mike says there are very big opportunities for the deer industry provided it is a farmer based endeavor that serves the market. To this end, the Kasprzaks have now engaged in the venison side of the business to improve the return to farmers.
Mike says the main challenge is sustainability by ensuring "win-win" outcomes for deer farmers and meat vendors.
"There's no doubt that venison as the meat of English Kings and Robin Hood is a sustainable, sought after product," he said.
"We just need to get a fair price for the farmer."
While there are start-up costs involved with getting into deer production, with high fences needed to keep the animals enclosed, in many instances existing shearing sheds and yards can be altered to accommodate deer handling facilities.
"They are relatively easy animals to farm," Mike said.
"This is evidenced by the fact that for the last 15 years Nancy has managed the farm while I ran a facility management consultancy in Hong Kong, returning at Christmas to remove deer horn and Easter to wean fawns."
Feed is generally not an issue, with little supplementary feeding needed.
However if genetics are to be maximised, as the deer do fawn during summer, then grain supplements are important.
Genetically Mike and Nancy have bred for temperament, body weight, antler weight and conformation to the species in this order. But, in the case of their Persian hybrid herd they target fallow antlers rather than the plain Persian antlers.
"We had been using lupins as a grain ration, but their price became too expensive, and now we use barley and lucerne hay," Mike said.
The couple run about 450 mature fallow deer, and about 150 mature Persian hybrids as well as about 200 fawns on the ground this year.
Stocking rates for deer in the Adelaide Hills are much the same as for sheep, at about 10 DSE a hectare equivalent.
Mike and Nancy got involved in the Persian bloodline, about 18 years ago.
"We purchased six straws of Persian semen at auction in Victoria," he said.
"Inseminated into quality Australian Fallow resulted in a much bigger animal."
The six straws of Persian semen were used to artificially inseminate six does resulting in a single female fawn that was delivered by caesarian due to its size by Gawler veterinarian Dr Rob Auricht.
From that original seed stock, the couples now run about 150 Persian hybrids and have a reserve supply of some 200 straws of pure Persian semen purchased when the industry had a down turn about 12 years ago.
"A two-year-old Persian doe will weight from 50 to 60 kilograms, and hit up to 80kg as a four year old compared with a fallow doe at between 40-45kg," he said.
"Fallow bucks usually weigh 70-80kg and our Persian bucks go between 100-150kg, with one five year old producing a 110 kg carcass.
At two years of age Mike and Nancy select their best males (around 15 per cent) as breeders, and the rest are castrated for venison/meat.
Mike says one of the best aspects of deer farming is the lack of animal welfare issue.
"They don't have any worm problems, so you don't need to do any worming," he said.
"Deer are generally good mothers, so there's no need this day to assist with their births.
"In a way, deer are a farmer's dream to run, they are good mothers, with easy births, no need to worm, and their meat is a premium product that's in huge demand."
Mike and Nancy run groups of 35 to 40 does to a buck per season.
Bucks are kept in separate paddocks to each other, with strong fencing between them, to discourage fighting. In recent years they have electrified some fences so they can run bucks on common boundaries.
For the fallow deer, bucks are put in with the does in April until June, with most serviced in the first month to six weeks. They fawn December onwards.
Persians are put in a month earlier, with a different cycle to the Australian fallow and fawn from November onwards.
While the Persian deer are a much plainer animal than the Australian fallow, their body size makes them worth running in a herd for premium carcase weights at an early age.
*Full report in Stock Journal, April 11 issue, 2013.
