Hartley’s snaps up fashionable profits

For Qld crocodile farmers Peter and Angela Freeman, a premium production focus has turned an unprofitable aspect of their business into a successful side venture.

While their main focus remains tourism – operating crocodile feeding shows, lagoon tours and a wildlife park – Hartley’s also produces crocodile skins for the international fashion market.

In an effort to lift the percentage of first grade skins produced, Hartley’s has implemented a unique management system which aims to maximise animal health throughout the lifecycle.

Farm manager Nick Stevens said breeding females laid about 40 eggs a year, with eggs collected and transferred to incubators. Hatchlings go into a climate-controlled hatchery.

“We get a slightly cooler and drier season, and crocodiles are basically dormant in that time – we don’t want that,” he said. “Being farmers, we want growth rates, so we keep it at an average of about 33 degrees Celsius and 90 per cent humidity.

“Crocodiles love those sort of conditions, so we get extremely good growth rates. We probably have triple to five times the growth rates in those pens than what a wild crocodile would do.

“When you hold an animal longer on your property, you’re losing your profits.”

The crocodiles are kept in groups until they reach about 1.4 metres long – or about two to 2.5-years-old.

They are then placed in specially-designed solitary tubs, which eliminate the risk of injuries caused by fighting. These tubs – the subject of a intellectual property application – have revolutionised the quality of skins produced at Hartley’s.

“Single pens are the only way we can get first grade skins,” Mr Freeman said. “If you have an animal with 62 teeth in its mouth, its main form of communication is belting its head against the other crocodile or biting them.

“They will always fight for domination. They are related to dinosaurs and in many ways they think like a dinosaur that’s 200 million years old. They’re very aggressive.

“They do enjoy going into the solitary pens because they don’t have to worry about aggression from other crocodiles. They’re just happy eating, staying warm and growing.”

The crocodiles are killed at about three years of age, with meat used in the Hartley’s restaurant. The skins are cleaned, salted and graded in preparation for export.

Mr Stevens said unlike other livestock industries, research on genetics and breeding characteristics was hard to come by.

“Research on what makes a good breeding pair is difficult – if you touch or interfere with the animal, they can stop breeding for two years.

“Being a commercial property, that means a big loss of income for us. We’d love to do it, but it would be too costly.”