New Zealand farming. Hides and skins – Glossary of terms

 

Dr Clive Dalton

Wool, Hides and Skins 

Cockle: Defect in a lamb or sheep pelt  seen as nodules that have developed over the pelt surface.  Can be prevented by appropriate dipping.

Dressing skin:  Woolly lamb skin, which is suitable for processing into leather after all wool has been removed.

Fellmongery: Factory or department in abattoir or freezing works where wool is removed from lamb and sheep skins.

Grain: Surface layer of a pelt, hide or leather containing and showing wool or hair follicles.

Green skin: Undried skin from a farm or slaughter facility, which does not have long-term keeping quality.

Hide:  Skin from a mature cattle beast or calf.  Also used in deer.

Liming: Alkali chemical treatment of a hide or pelt to make it softer and pliable

Paint:  Chemical mixture to penetrate the skin to loosen wool. 

Painting: Applying paint by spray or other means to the flesh side of  a sheep skin to remove the wool.

Pelt: A lamb or sheepskin after wool has been removed.

Pickled pelt:  Lamb or sheep pelt preserved for export with brine and sulphuric acid.

Pinhole:  Defect in a lamb or sheep pelt seen as small holes in the pelt grain caused by wool fibres growing in groups, and most prevalent in fine wool breeds.

Rawhide:  See green skin.

Ribby pelts:  Pelts of wrinkly sheep breeds such as Merinos, which greatly restricts their value.

Skin: Derived from sheep, goat, deer, opossum or rabbit (not cattle).

Slink: Skin from young dead lamb or fawn in utero or just newborn.

Skins from these dead lambs (slinks) will be processed for high quality gloves.

Slipemaster:  Machine used to recover wool from pelt trimmings in a Fellmongery.

Slipe wool: Wool recovered by a wool puller, after chemically loosened with sodium, sulphide and hydrated lime mixture.

Sweating:  Method of dewoolling skins which depends on induced bacterial degradation to loosen the wool. Used mainly in France.

Wet blue: Hide or skin tanned with chromium salts and kept in a wet state, which also make it a blue-green colour.

Wool pull: The estimated weight of wool able to be removed from a skin.

Wool puller:  Person or machine who removes the wool from a lamb or sheep skin after it has been chemically loosened.

New Zealand farming. Deer - Glossary of terms

 

Dr Clive Dalton

Farmed Red deer hinds

Deer in New Zealand

All deer were introduced into New Zealand in the late 1800s by the early European pioneers for sport, after which they multiplied to become classed as noxious pests due to the damage they did to native bush and were then subject to government culling programmes.  Later in the 1960s deer were successfully farmed (see * in list) for the export of venison, velvet and other body parts.

Breeds

*Red

*Fallow

*Wapiti

*Rusa

Virginian (white tail)

Japanese Sika

Sambar

Himalayan Thar

Chamois

Antlers:  Distinct from the permanent horns of sheep, cattle and goats which grow on bone structures which are part of the skull.  Antlers grow anew each year from pedicles which are permanent growths on the frontal bones of the skull. They are shed in September/October (early spring) each year and new growth starts almost immediately.

Bugle:  The  sound made by male Wapiti during the mating season to attract females and to challenge other males.

Coronet: Ring or burr around the base of antlers.

Doe: Mature female used for breeds other than Red deer and sometimes Wapiti.

Havier:  Castrated male deer.

Hind: Mature female Red deer and sometimes Wapiti.

Hummel:  Castrated male deer.

Male deer:

Buck: male Fallow deer.

Bull:  male Wapiti

Stag: male Red deer

Spiker: juvenile male with two spikes which will eventually grow into full antlers.

Juveniles:

Calf:  Red deer and Wapiti.

Fawn: Fallow deer, but also used for other breeds.

Mane: Increased growth of hair on the enlarged neck of male Wapiti and Red deer during the rut.

Palmation: By about their third or fourth season fallow deer develop a distinctive flattening or palmation at the end of their antlers. The edges of the palms are marked by a series of points called spillers or snags.

Pearling: Knobbly or ridged texture or the antlers on some species of deer.

Pedicle: The first part of antler grown on a deer’s head from which the antlers grow.  Often called the button.

Pelage: The coat of deer.

Roar:  The sound made by male deer of some species during the mating season to attract females and challenge other males.  The mating season is sometimes referred to as ‘the roar’.

Rut:  The mating season when males start to attract females and challenge other males.

Slink: Deer calf or fawn in utero valued for its skin.

Snags:  See palmation.

Spillers:  See palmation

Spottie:  Young deer (usually fallow) up to three months old when it still shows the spotted coat pattern.

Young Fallow deer showing spotted coats

Tine:  The points or branches off the main ‘beam’ of antlers.  The number increases each year with age and are given names e.g. brow, bray, tray.

Velvet:  Early vascular growth of antlers before they harden off. Characterised by soft velvet coating which dies and is rubbed off by deer as antlers mature and harden.  Deer are very protective of their antlers when in velvet and avoid challenges among males.

Red deer stags in velvet

Facial Eczema (FE). Farmer Information. Part 1. Cause & symptoms.

Agriculture, animal husbandry, Facial Eczema, causes, symptoms, cattle, sheep, deer, goats

By Dr Clive Dalton

Original 1991 information written by Dr Barry Smith and Dr Neale Towers, Ruakura Agricultural Research Station, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Part 1. Cause and symptoms.
Facial eczema (FE) is a disease of sheep, cattle, deer and goats, which causes death and lowered production from liver injury. During periods of warm humid weather between January and April, the pasture fungus Pithomyces chartarum multiplies and produces spores which contain the toxin, sporidesmin.

Spores are easy to identify as they look like brown hand grenades.  

If they look black, they are old and less toxic.

Sporidesmin causes injury to the liver, the bile ducts become thickened and may be completely blocked. The damaged liver then cannot rid the body of wastes and a breakdown product of chlorophyll accumulates in the tissues and causes sensitivity to sunlight. Sunlight causes immediate and severe skin inflammation to exposed parts of the body.

 Damaged liver

FE can be so severe and stressing that it causes death. Animals can survive and recover from the disease, but the effects of the acute disease on growth, body weight, wool and milk production can be dramatic. Even if the liver damage is insufficient to cause photosensitisation, there can still be "sub-clinical" effects on the production of meat, wool and milk.

In any FE outbreak, many animals with liver damage show no clinical signs - but they suffer from sub-clinical FE. The appearance of the clinical condition results from spore consumption some 10-20 days earlier and the toxic spore level may have taken one to several weeks to develop.

Toxic conditions
For rapid growth and spore formation, the fungus needs warm, moist conditions and these are frequently supplied by the flows of tropical air from the north and east common during the autumn. Humidity is normally very high and 4-5 mm of rain or even heavy dews, in conjunction with 2-4 nights when grass minimum temperatures remain above 12-13°C, are sufficient to initiate rapid increases in spore numbers.

Spore counts rise even more rapidly when higher grass minimum temperatures (1 5-1 6°C) are associated with high humidities and/or light rain. Generally it takes two or three such "danger" periods before spore numbers reach dangerous levels, each spore rise providing the base for the next increase in spore numbers.

However, prolonged periods of warm, humid weather early in the season can accelerate the onset of toxic pastures. There is no such thing as an unqualified "dangerous spore level".

• The toxicity of a pasture at any one time depends on several factors: The spore count.
• The age of spores in the pasture (old spores are less toxic).
• The grazing intensity and level of the pasture being consumed. (Animals grazing down to the base of the pasture are at most risk.)
• Prior exposure of animals to toxic spores (makes them more susceptible).
• The susceptibility of different breeds and species.
• The length of time for which the high spore level is present and consumed.
  

Depending on the above factors, the level of spores on pasture may prove to be toxic anywhere above 40,000 spores/gram of grass (wash count), and long-term ingestion of low levels of spores may also lead to FE. Spore numbers can vary within and between paddocks depending on the topography, aspect, altitude and previous management practices.

Clinical signs
Species vary in their susceptibility to FE. Fallow deer and sheep are most susceptible, followed by dairy cattle, beef cattle and red deer, then most resistant are goats. Breeds vary within species, as do flocks and herds within breeds.

Sheep
The earliest signs of FE are increased restlessness, head shaking, scratching, rubbing of the head and shade-seeking behaviour. The exposed areas of the skin about the face and ears become swollen and thickened. The ears will droop. Later there is exuded serum and scab formation. This may be worsened by damage to the skin by the animals rubbing. Other areas affected are the vulva and the coronet above the hooves. Severely affected animals show jaundice.

Cattle
The first sign of FE in dairy cattle is a marked drop in milk production occurring soon after the intake of toxic spores and this occurs again after the onset of clinical FE. The animal will be restless at milking time, seek shade, and lick its udder. The clinical signs of FE are the thickening and peeling of exposed unpigmented or thin skin. Areas most affected are the white areas, the escutcheon and inside of hind legs, the udder and teats, and the coronets. The tip of the tongue is sometimes affected.

Deer
Deer appear to be more disturbed by the irritation of photosensitisation. Affected deer are more restless and irritable and actively seek shade. They frequently lick their muzzles and lips and the tongue tip becomes ulcerated. The lips and muzzle and areas about the eyes become affected and temporary blindness may develop. Deterioration rate and mortality appear to be higher in deer. Fallow deer are more susceptible than other species.

Goats
Goats develop crusty lesions about their eyes and lips and the ears may become thickened. Occasionally little more than a sunken weepy eyed appearance is seen. They will seek shade.

Disclaimer

This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Facial Eczema (FE). Farmer Information. Part 17. (Deer). Management.

 Agriculture, farming, animal husbandry, animal health, disease, Facial Eczema, zinc, deer, management

By Dr Clive Dalton

Original 1991 information written by Dr Barry Smith and Dr Neale Towers, Ruakura Agricultural Research Station, Hamilton, New Zealand.

17. FACIAL ECZEMA: (Deer). Management.

• Red deer are more susceptible to FE than cattle. Fallow deer are more susceptible than sheep so they need more protection than Reds.
• Make early preparations - in December or early January.
• Learn about spore counting - contact your veterinarian.
• Find out which are your worst paddocks (by spore counting) - avoid grazing them during danger periods.
• Never make stock graze into the base level of pastures. The fungus grows on the litter at the base of the pasture and the spores are concentrated there.
• Choose an appropriate prevention option.
• Spray pastures with fungicide. Check that spray unit is properly calibrated and purchase fungicide early.
• Regular spraying with fungicides provides the most appropriate control method for preventing FE in deer.
• Start the spraying programme early while spore counts are low.
  

Zinc

• The effectiveness and safety of zinc as a prevention has not been researched.
•  If used, dose rates as for sheep (Fallow deer) and cattle (Red deer) should be followed.
• Because of low water intake, zinc in drinking water is not effective.
• Provide supplementary feed such as hay, silage, meal or crop. Use to reduce the grazing pressure on toxic pastures.
• Get rid of all surplus stock early before spore counts become high. This will relieve pressure on the remaining stock.
• Early and compact fawning allows for early weaning and good growth before disposal of sale stock.
  

Care for affected stock.

• Confine in shaded area, barn etc.
•  Provide access to water and quality feed. Deer with clinical FE will prefer to graze at night or in overcast conditions.
• Take care moving affected animals, temporary blindness may cause extreme distress and result in self-inflicted injuries.

Footnote 2009:  Zinc boluses are now available. Contact your veterinarian before using them on deer.

Disclaimer
This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Animal behaviour and welfare: Deer Part 1

DEER BEHAVIOUR BASICS: PART 1

Farmed deer: Terminology: Senses: Social behaviour: Feeding

By Dr Clive Dalton

Deer in New Zealand
Man has hunted the various species of deer since early times. Deer were introduced into New Zealand and released by the early settlers for sport and are now classed as noxious pests in some areas because of damage they do to bush and exotic forest. Shooting and poisoning are the main control methods.
So now in New Zealand we have feral deer and farmed deer and they provide:

• Meat - farmed venison and game venison.
• Skins for clothing and housing.
• Hard antler for tools.
• Velvet antler for medicines.
• Other body parts for special markets - e.g. penises (pizzles), sinews, tails, teeth.
• Hunting - for meat and trophies (tourism)
  

Commercial deer farming

Commercially farmed Red deer

• Commercial farming of feral deer developed in 1960s and 1970s when hunters turned to capturing deer alive and trapping them for sale to deer pioneers who believed they could farm deer like cattle and sheep.
  
• NZ now has a thriving export market for venison, velvet and deer by-products.
• Previously the market was for "game" meat, but now the export market demands slaughter in licensed premises under strict animal health and welfare conditions.
• The velvet market is a secondary market, and prices fluctuate greatly. Strict veterinary and animal welfare standards (Codes of Welfare) are now in place for the harvesting of velvet from stags.
• Harvesting velvet is seen as inhumane in many parts of the world, and an affront to the dignity of the stag.
• The deer species farmed in New Zealand are mainly Red deer, Fallow deer and Wapiti (Elk), but there are also Sika, Rusa, Sambar, White tail and the rare Pere David.

Sika deer in a zoo - not farmed commercially

Terminology
This varies with the species:

• Red Deer - stags, hinds, calves, they "roar"
• Fallow - bucks, does, fawns, they "roar or grunt"
• Wapiti - bull, cow/hind, calf, they "bugle"
  

The innate behaviour of deer

• Are NZ deer domesticated? At this stage it would be best to say no. They are still wild as judged by their fight/flight distance and over time with selection, they should become less fearful of humans and hence fully domesticated.
• There is some selection for temperament going on by some breeders, but it's not very intense at this time.
• Deer have evolved in the forest fringes where they graze the open pastures and then take cover in the trees which they browse. They can do great damage to trees by eating out the top leader.
  
• Deer will seek out shade for both comfort and security and this is seen as a major welfare problem as on many deer farms shade is not available.
• Deer use speed to escape threats and predators, so they are very fleet of foot and nervous.
• Deer also like to wallow, especially stags during the rut.
• So it would be easy to conclude that farming deer is depriving them of the 5th freedom to show normal behaviour and are stressed. Experienced deer farmers will disagree with this.
  

Senses


Sight

• Deer have very acute vision.
  
• They recognise their usual handlers but strangers cannot fool them even when wearing their regular handler's clothes. They are clearly very alert to shapes and pattern of movement.
• They have wide monocular vision with much narrower binocular sight.
• They are very alert to movement on their periphery when grazing, and immediately raise their heads to check the threat with their binocular sight.
• They notice very small changes in their environment e.g. when traps are set for them.
• Their long neck aids their ability to see threats from a distance - predators moving in the grass.
• They have a blind spot at the rear like cattle, but they use their very mobile neck to check behind them all the time.
  

Smell

• Deer have an acute sense of smell.
• They can be easily panicked by smells that they associate with death or danger, especially of being trapped.
  

Social behaviour

• Wild deer have a clearly defined grazing area or home range. They graze these home ranges in defined social groups of mainly females. Different groups may overlap and share the same home range.
• At mating in autumn the stag forms and leads a harem of females. In the wild the areas where the stag gathers his harem are well established (and used each year) within these home ranges. The are called "stands".
• Farmed deer running in mobs have a social order of sorts. It is clearer among mobs of males than females, as fights among males are more obvious.
  
• But there is a clear matriarchal dominance in females and this may be of significance at mating for the attention of the male.
• The social order is sorted out by head butting and threat displays using a lot of body language.
• In confrontations, deer tilt their head and neck, partly rise on their hind legs, then rise fully and thrash with their front hooves.
• They grind their teeth as a sign of stress and threat. After teeth grinding, look out for the rearing and feet flying.
  
• They will also bite with head tilted, upper lips raised, tongue protruded showing the whites of their eyes and hissing.
  
• Deer are a classical lying-out species and hinds with young fawns hide them in long grass or scrub. The fawn communicates by a high-pitched squeaking sound when stressed.
• The males use their antlers to thrash bushes and gouge the bark of trees to mark their presence and territory and feral stags can cause devastation to forests in this behaviour.
• All deer species/breeds use flight to escape predators except Wapiti (Elk) who are not as fleet of foot and have evolved by spending a lot of time standing in water. Elk tend to back in to a safe corner and confront the threat head on with their large size.
  

Feeding

• Deer are ruminants and enjoy a wide range of diets from lush clover to woody browse. They are grazers and browsers too and appreciate variety in their diet.
• Farmed deer have similar feed preferences to cattle and sheep and this has allowed their rapid adaptation to farming.
• They enjoy grain and concentrate feed and this is ideal to tame them. They soon learn to follow a food truck and individuals will learn to eat out of your hand or bucket.
• In the wild in cold climates, they learn to survive on mosses and strip bark off trees in winter.
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Deer Part 2

DEER FARMING BASICS: NUMBER 2

Capture: Stress & aggression: Handling: Calming: Welfare issues

By Dr Clive Dalton



Capture

• Being captured is very stressful for feral deer, and individuals vary greatly in the time they take to settle. Capture methods used are:
• Finding calves at birth and hand rearing them.
• Building a trap in their territory and attracting them in with feed.
• Shooting with tranquiliser darts.
• Bulldogging (leaping on them) from a helicopter.
• Netting from a helicopter.
• Mustering with helicopters or dogs.
• Captured deer may need to be treated with appropriate drugs to counteract stress.
• Release after capture can be very stressful too.
• Deer need to be released into a large area to allow them plenty of space, with trees for cover and left undisturbed for as long as possible.
• After capture their first reaction is usually to pace the fences and then go into cover and sulk.
• Water should be available and if possible a wallow provided.
• Don't release newly-captured deer into groups of strangers as they'll be upset and this will stress them even more.
• Red deer in panic tend to pace the fence and try to leap it from an oblique angle. Fallow run along the fence and tend to run at it head on and burst through the mesh.

Stress and aggression in deer

Deer farmers have been slow to provide shade and are criticised for this as causing stress.

What is stress?

• Stress is the biggest cause of death in deer.
• It is related to a number of things:
• Season.
• The way they are handled.
• The environment.
• Climatic conditions.
• Physical abuse.
• Stress is very contagious among deer and will spread rapidly through stock in yards.
  

General signs of aggression in deer

• Panting.
• Dribbling.
• Urinating.
• Bleating, roaring or barking.
• Climbing on top of each other.
• Flighty running around the pen.
• Shaking and sweating.
• Ears flopped down.
• Burrowing under other deer in yard.
• Hair loss.
• Tongue hanging out.
• Grinding their teeth.
• Hair raised especially on the rump.
• Glands in front of the eyes open.
• Stags may lower their heads to charge.
• Raise their heads in dominant stance.
• Back into the corner of a pen.
• Ears may be pricked up and pinned back.
• Hinds will rear up on back legs.
• Lash out with front feet.
• Kicking with hind legs.
• Biting/chewing the yards or walls.
• Biting other deer.
• Biting handlers.

Damage to pasture caused by stress
A classical sign of stress and response to fear seen in the paddock is 'fence walking', or running up on to high ground for security and get a better view of the threat. Once the sole of the pasture is broken up by the deer's sharp feet, rain runs down the shallow path which then erodes more with more rain. In no time, there is a major erosion problem which is difficult to fix without removing the animals.

An example of fence walking damage. This paddock was like this for years and was only solved when the farm went out of deer.

This deer paddock was near the road and every time the deer panicked they ran
to the top of the hill. The area had to be fenced off and planted in trees to stop more erosion.

Physical factors causing stress in deer

• Climate.
• Overcrowding in yards or truck.
• Overheating in yards or trucks.
• Condition of the yards or trucks.
• Mud or dust in the yards.
• Changing their routine.
• Rough handling when mustering and yarding.
• Strangers in the yards.
• Driven in by strangers.
• Dogs.
• Motorbikes or noisy vehicles.
• Incompetent handlers.
  

Human factors causing stress in deer

• Rushing around when handling them.
• Sudden movements.
• Lack of confidence in the operator - the deer can sense this.
• Handling them in a different way.
• Aggression toward handlers.
• The way you approach deer.
• The way you approach deer in pens.
• Sticks or prodders.
• Lack of patience.
  

Effects of season and age on aggression in deer

• Aggression in deer changes with the season.
• Red stags in the roar from mid Feb to May, with a similar season for fallow deer.Aggression increases with age.
• Up to 2 years old can be handled safely but with care but over 2 years - use extreme caution.
• Hinds fawn November - December and may show more aggression to fawning.
  

How to handle aggressive deer

• Very carefully - with patience.
• Get some experienced help.
• Be assertive without being loud.
• Use aids such as a proper shield.
• Use door from the yards if necessary.
• Draft out aggressive deer into another pen.
• Talk to deer in calm soothing manner.
• Raise your arms full length in the air.
• Use smooth flowing actions.
• Walk away if necessary - this will calm you too.
• Use other deer as a protective shield.
• Shift deer in a different way through the yards.
• Determine when enough is enough.
• Respect farmer's advice (ask questions).
• Never turn your back on an aggressive deer.
• ALWAYS have an escape route.
  

Calming stressed deer

• Talk to them in calm soothing tones when working with them.
• Walk in calm steady movements and display total confidence.
• Let deer know where you are, especially before opening doors.
• Separate out agitated deer into smaller mobs.
• Where possible allow standing time in yards for them to settle.
• Have a radio playing to lessen sudden noises.
• Give them more space in the yards - but this may give them more room to panic.
  

Animal welfare issues with farmed deer

• Handling to avoid stress.
• Lack of shade and shelter leading to heat stress.
• Lack of cover in calving/fawning paddock.
• Mortality of young calves and fawns.
• Dystocia with crossbreeding.
• Fence walking caused by stress.
• Harvesting velvet without due regard to the Code of Welfare.
• Transport - stress and injury caused by long journeys.
• Slaughter - meat bruising, hide damage and low pH.
• Offering farmed deer for tourists to hunt.
• Live deer recovery from the wild to boost farming operations.
• Animal health and environmental issues.

Tb in deer.

• The spread of Tb into Tb-free deer areas.
• Escape of deer into deer-free areas with resulting environmental damage.
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Deer Part 3

DEER BEHAVIOUR BASICS: NUMBER 3

Reproduction: Birth behaviour: Handling: Capture

By Dr Clive Dalton

The female

Red deer hind

• Females come into oestrus in the autumn with declining daylight and the "rut" of the male stimulates this further.
• Farmed red deer females reach puberty around 16 months old when they weigh about 65kg. Body weight is important and hinds below 52-55kg generally do not conceive. Few problems are seen in the wild where stocking rates are lower and animals may be better fed and less stressed.
• In the wild, females are attracted to the stag's rutting areas by his roaring. They may drift from one of these stands to another before they settle.
• Red hinds come into heat every 18 days (26days for fallow) and will continue for about 8 cycles if she does not become pregnant.
• Oestrus in Red deer hinds lasts about 24 hours during which she will be served by the dominant stag or other lower-order males.
• The hind in oestrus produces a secretion described as having a strong penetrating smell. This combines with another sweet musty odour she produces. She will also smell strongly of the stag after mating.
• Hinds on heat hold their tails high and there can be fights or threats between them.
• They may try to interest the stag by running past him with head low and neck extended and chewing. On one of these forays the hind may stop and let the stag mount if she is at peak oestrus.
• She urinates and this excites the male further to drink the urine and lick her vulva.
• Pregnancy in red deer is from 228-231 days (229 days in fallow).
• Male offspring are generally carried longer than females. As a result dams suckling males are less likely to breed next season (or will calve later) than dams suckling females.
• Wild red deer in Scotland on the island of Rhum had about 12 calves in their lifetime when well fed but well-farmed deer should produce more. In farming situation females would be replaced long before old age.
  

The male

• Red stags reach puberty between 9-15 months old and fallow form 12-15 months. In the wild a stag does not have the status to set up a harem before about 5 years old, but this depends on competition among other stags.
• Stags show a definite rut brought on by declining day length in autumn, and in the wild they move to traditional stands where they roar and attract a harem of females.
• They are at their peak of sexual prowess during the rut but will go on mating and be fertile for about 6 months after. After that they are generally sexually quiet.

Antlers

Red deer stags in velvet

• Antler growth is related to this sexual cycle, starting by the male growing velvet antler in spring and culminating in hard antler in the rut. Then antlers are cast before the following spring to restart the cycle.
• Antlers are not horn. They are laid down as cartilage which is then converted into bone. Antler is one of the fastest growing tissues.
• Increasing daylight and declining testosterone (the opposite to autumn) stimulates velvet growth. Velvet is rich in blood and is very delicate so stags avoid conflict at this time to protect it. If they fight they rear up and use their feet rather than their antlers.
• Antlers gain extra tines with age. Young red stags are called "spikers" and fallow "prickets" as they have just one basic antler or spike.
• Antlers have a number of functions:
• In the velvet they help to regulate body temperature (a debatable fact).
• They give off a scent after the velvet antler has been rubbed over the subcutaneous glands under the hind legs.
• Hard antler is used as tools to dig for feed in snow and mark trees or "threshing" marking of the territory.
• Antlers enhance social status and are used as a means of recognition by other deer.
• Damage to antlers or their loss, especially during the rut causes and immediate lowering of status of the stag and he will be quickly challenged.
• Antlers are designed to lock into another stag's antlers and fighting is really a pushing game to gain status. Stags threaten their opponent during the rut by lowering their heads and pointing their antlers in threat.
• Only when one stag is weakened can its opponent usually get a side attack and cause serious damage to soft tissue of the body.
• During the rut in the wild, rival stags may have antler clashes interspersed with a threat display where stags move on a parallel path to each other over short distances, showing their lateral prowess, body size, main and neck, then roaring for periods of 3-15 minutes.
• This then can erupt into head fights, with the challenger always making sure of an escape route.

Castration

• Castration of males early in life (during the first year) will stop the development of the pedicle from which the antlers grows so the animals end up polled.
• These castrates are called "haviers", and naturally polled fertile males are called "hummels".
• Males castrated later when more mature will shed any antlers they have within a few weeks of the operation, and future antler growth will continue for about 4 months after castration.
• Castrates can develop other male characteristics such as an enlarged neck, mane growth and deepening voice. They can still be dangerous in the rut so care is needed.
  

Stag behaviour during the roar

Fallow buck in velvet

• Stags urinate and ejaculate along their bellies up to their chests, and will wallow in mud if they can to attract females with their strong odour rich in pheromones.
• There is about a 4 second interval between roars, and they do this while carrying out challenges to other stags, going around with neck outstretched.
  
• The tone of the roar reflects the stag's social status, so many less dominant stags will not even challenge them and this prevents encounters.
• Stags herd their harem with chin extended in a threat posture, running around the group of up to about 20 red deer hinds in farmed conditions.
  
• Studies on Rhum showed red stags have harems of 6 or more and there is plenty of interchange between harems. The largest harem was 20 hinds. Eighty percent of hinds on Rhum were held in harems.
• The stag smells the vulva of each hind about every 30 minutes and he also smells the ground where the hinds have been lying. After a Flehmen response he investigates them further.
• The odours excreted by the hind excite the stag and he starts teeth grinding and tongue flicking. After smelling her urine he will show the Flehmen response.
• Stags regularly chase hinds trying to mount them while flicking their tongue.
• The stag guards hinds coming into oestrus for up to 12 hours before they will stand for mating.
• Young stags from 2-7 years old are unable to defend harems against older dominant stags in the wild. On farms this inter-stag competition is prevented when farmers are selective breeding, and in any case stud stags are too valuable to risk injury through competition.
• Mating is very quick. The stag pauses for intromission and after a pelvic thrust leaps forward leaving the ground during ejaculation with a near-vertical body posture.
• After dismounting the stag roars repeatedly, urinates, stands with his head low and then begins to guard the hind again. He may attempt to mate her again in half an hour.
  

Farmed stags

• One stag to 50 hinds is an effective joining ratio for genetic improvement, and replacing a single sire every 3 weeks will ensure a high conception rate and reduce the risk of a sire having low fertility.
• Swapping stags during the rut can be a dangerous management procedure, especially if they have antlers. Antlers should be removed for safety but some breeders selecting for antler production leave the antlers on to show clients the quality of the stag's "head".
• Stags needed for group mating should be mixed prior to antler growth if possible to allow them to learn to live together.
• During mating if the dominant stag becomes exhausted, he should be removed to let other stags do his job.
  
• Subordinate stags search out females but the dominant stag claims the mating.
  

Birth behaviour

Hinds before birth

• In late pregnancy hinds spend more time resting.
• A few days before calving they become restless and farmed hinds may pace the fences.
• Some become aggressive and bellow more frequently.
• The hind's swelling udder and vulva are signs of approaching birth.
• About 2-22 hours before birth they'll try to separate to the fringes of the herd into a quiet place if possible. This is no problem in the wild but can be one in farming.
• Hinds prefer high ground for calving, presumably for security reasons.
  

Hinds during birth

• With the onset of strong contractions, the hind stops grazing and settles on her birth site alternatively standing and lying down.
• With heavy contractions she rolls and strains heavily.
• After the calf is born, the hind may lie for up to 5 minutes and then get up and lick the calf and all excess birth fluids, presumably to clean up the birth site so as not to attract predators.
• The afterbirth is passed from 2-5 hours after birth and the hind carefully eats this.
• Birth weights of farmed deer are 7.5-9.5kg for reds and 3.6-4.5kg for fallow.
• Few difficult births have been observed but mortality is highest is young (above 10kg) calves and those that are very small.
• Mortality at birth increases with crossbreeding by mating to larger terminal sires (e.g. wapiti x red), and for hinds with their first calf.
  

Hinds and calves after birth

Fawns like to hide in long cover and are 'planted' there by their mothers

• After being licked, it takes about 30 minutes for the calf to stand and start to follow its dam off the birth site.
• The calf seems to be very attached to the birth site in the early days of life, but in farming situations, some do move around more with their dams.
• Time intervals between birth, finding the teat and starting to suckle vary from 10-130 minutes. The chances of survival drop rapidly with long intervals.
• After suckling, the calf moves away from the hind and drops down in the grass or bushes to lie very flat and merge with the environment.
• The dam will graze within about 50 m of the hidden calf and with time this distance is increased to as much as 1km.
• Studies showed that dams will visit their calves to suckle about 2.8 times/day in the first week, reducing to once per day during week 4.
• The average suckling times last about 150 seconds in week one, dropping to 50-80 seconds in week two.
• While sucking the calf moves around all four teats and some sucklings could last up to 4 minutes.
• Recorded milk intake of fawns was measured and peaked at 1400-2000g/day soon after birth and dropped to 150-630g/day in early lactation. Some well-fed hinds have produced up to 140-180kg of milk in a 150-day lactation.
• Calves start to nibble grass at 3 weeks old and will graze regularly by 6 weeks of age.
• Hinds are very alert and nervous as they approach their hidden calves for suckling, compared to their more-relaxed behaviour during grazing.
• During suckling the calf is stimulated to urinate and defaecate by the hind licking its perianal area. If you rear an orphan calf, remember to imitate this action with your fingers.
• The hind then eats these waste products and she does this for the first two weeks after birth. She will keep on licking the perianal area for up to 6 weeks after birth.
• While the dams are with their calves for suckling, the pair may go for very short excursions from 3-30m. When calves leave their dams to go and lie down again, they usually don't go more than 20m.
• After about 2-3 weeks, calves will follow their mothers and settle into normal herd life.
• There is considerable social communication in the herd between hinds and calves. Hinds bark at other hinds warning them not to come too close to their lying-out calf. The high-pitched piping notes of the calves are answered by muted mewing-lowing sound of the hind.
• Fallow does may combine barking with foot stamping and this is very effective in spreading alarm to others. They also lift their tails to expose their underside as another alarm signal.
  

Handling calves

• Handling calves, e.g. for tagging has the potential to upset normal maternal behaviour. They may squeal and this upsets their dams that stay about 30m from the handler.
• If calves are handled during the first two days they "freeze" and their heart beats drop from the normal of 140-170 beats/min to 50-60/min. Normal rates resume within a minute of leaving them alone.
• After 2-5 days old, calves will run off when disturbed.
• With newly-captured deer in heavily stocked paddocks with little cover, dams have been seen to take their calves in their teeth and flail them with their forelegs after being touched by the stockperson.
• If you have to handle calves for recording, do it on the first day after birth and wear gloves which may reduce smell. Some handlers claim it makes very little difference.
• Force the calf to freeze in the area they were found in. Tag the calf and move away as soon as possible, and record the dam-offspring details later using binoculars.
  

Effect of human handling

• Bottle fed deer have been shown to be strongly bonded to their human caretakers, and when tested at 4 years old did not mix with other deer and were more aggressive towards them.
• Hand-reared deer can become a problem as they mature. They are very big and can be very cheeky and pushy when they have lost their fear of humans.
• Hand reared stags are a liability and should be slaughtered before 15 months old. They can be very dangerous in autumn and human deaths are on record in New Zealand.
• Hand reared deer will come to a call up to 1km away. They can be useful as Judas animals to lead others to new paddocks.
• Weaning a calf from the hind doesn't seem to cause her very serious stress as seen in sheep. Hinds keep up their normal grazing and stop calling for their calf after about 24-30 hours after removal.

Capture and release of deer

• Being captured is very stressful for feral deer, and individuals vary greatly in the time they take to settle.
• Capture methods used are:
• Finding calves at birth and hand rearing them.
• Building a trap in their territory and attracting them in with feed.
• Shooting with tranquiliser darts.
• Bulldogging (leaping on them) from a helicopter.
• Netting from a helicopter.
• Mustering with helicopters or dogs.
• Captured deer may need to be treated with appropriate drugs to counteract stress.
• Release after capture can be very stressful too.
• Deer need to be released into a large area to allow them plenty of space, with trees for cover and left undisturbed for as long as possible.
• After capture their first reaction is usually to pace the fences and then go into cover and sulk.
• Water should be available and if possible a wallow provided.
• Don't release newly-captured deer into groups of strangers as they'll be upset and this will stress them even more.
• Red deer in panic tend to pace the fence and try to leap it from an oblique angle. Fallow run along the fence and tend to run at it head on and burst through the mesh
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Deer Part 4

DEER BEHAVIOUR BASICS: NUMBER 4

Stress: Aggression: Handling: Welfare issues

By Dr Clive Dalton

As soon as farmed deer see strangers or dogs, they use speed as a defence. With bad handling they can charge the fences in blind panic and injure themselves.

What is stress?

• Stress is the biggest cause of death in deer.
• It is related to a number of things:
• Season.
• The way they are handled.
• The environment.
• Climatic conditions.
• Physical abuse.
• Stress is very contagious among deer and will spread rapidly through stock in yards.
  

General signs of aggression in deer

• Panting.
• Dribbling.
• Urinating.
• Bleating, roaring or barking.
• Climbing on top of each other.
• Flighty running around the pen.
• Shaking and sweating.
• Ears flopped down.
• Burrowing under other deer in yard.
• Hair loss.
• Tongue hanging out.
• Grinding their teeth.
• Hair raised especially on the rump.
• Glands in front of the eyes open.
• Stags may lower their heads to charge.
• Raise their heads in dominant stance.
• Back into the corner of a pen.
• Ears may be pricked up and pinned back.
• Hinds will rear up on back legs.
• Lash out with front feet.
• Kicking with hind legs.
• Biting/chewing the yards or walls.
• Biting other deer.
• Biting handlers.
  

Physical factors causing stress in deer

Deer in the wild prefer forest verges where they can come out to feed and go back in to hide. These conditions are rarely found on commercial farms

• Climate
• Lack of shade and shelter
  
• Overcrowding in yards or truck.
• Overheating in yards or trucks.
• Condition of the yards or trucks.
• Mud or dust in the yards.
• Changing their routine.
• Rough handling when mustering and yarding.
• Strangers in the yards.
• Driven in by strangers.
• Dogs.
• Motorbikes or noisy vehicles.
• Incompetent handlers.
  

Human factors causing stress in deer

• Rushing around when handling them.
• Sudden movements.
• Lack of confidence in the operator - the deer can sense this.
• Handling them in a different way.
• Aggression toward handlers.
• The way you approach deer.
• The way you approach deer in pens.
• Sticks or prodders.
• Lack of patience.
  

Effects of season and age on aggression in deer

• Aggression in deer changes with the season.
• Red stags in the roar from mid Feb to May, with a similar season for fallow deer.
• Aggression increases with age.
• Up to 2 years old can be handled safely but with care but over 2 years - use extreme caution.
• Hinds fawn November - December and may show more aggression to fawning.
  

How to handle aggressive deer

• Very carefully - with patience.
• Get some experienced help.
• Be assertive without being loud.
• Use aids such as a proper shield.
• Use door from the yards if necessary.
• Draft out aggressive deer into another pen.
• Take to deer in calm soothing manner.
• Raise your arms full length in the air.
• Use smooth flowing actions.
• Walk away if necessary - this will calm you too.
• Use other deer as a protective shield.
• Shift deer in a different way through the yards.
• Determine when enough is enough.
• Respect farmer's advice (ask questions).
• Never turn your back on an aggressive deer.
• ALWAYS have an escape route.
  

Calming stressed deer

• Talk to them in calm soothing tones when working with them.
• Walk in calm steady movements and display total confidence.
• Let deer know where you are, especially before opening doors.
• Separate out agitated deer into smaller mobs.
• Where possible allow standing time in yards for them to settle.
• Have a radio playing to lessen sudden noises.
• Give them more space in the yards - but this may give them more room to panic.
  

Animal welfare issues with farmed deer

• Handling to avoid stress.
• Lack of shade and shelter leading to heat stress.
• Lack of cover in calving/fawning paddock.
• Mortality of young calves and fawns.
• Dystocia with crossbreeding.
• Fence walking caused by stress.
• Harvesting velvet without due regard to the Code of Welfare.
• Transport - stress and injury caused by long journeys.
• Slaughter - meat bruising, hide damage and low pH.
• Offering farmed deer for tourists to hunt.
• Live deer recovery from the wild to boost farming operations.

Animal health and environmental issues

• Tb in deer.
• The spread of Tb into Tb-free deer areas.
• Escape of deer into deer-free areas with resulting environmental damage.
  

Deer Glossary

Antlers: The permanent horns on a deer. Composed of bone (not keratin as in horn). They grow anew each year from pedicles.
Bugle: The vocal call of a wapiti bull during the rut.
Bull: Male wapiti.
Calf: juvenile red deer or Wapiti.
Coronet: Ring or burr around the base of the antlers.
Doe: Mature female deer in breeds other than red deer.
Fawn: juvenile fallow deer, and other species other than red deer.
Havier: Castrated male deer.
Hind: Mature female red deer.
Hummel: Castrated male deer.
Mane: increased growth of hair on the enlarged neck of a bull wapiti and red stag during the rut.
Palmation: By the 3rd or 4th season, fallow deer develop a flattening or palmation at the ends of the antlers.
Pearling: Knobbly or ridged texture of antlers of some deer species.
Pedicles: Permanent outgrowths of the frontal bones of the skull from which antlers grow.
Pelage: Coat of deer.
Roar: Sound made by male deer of some species during the rut. Used to describe the mating season.
Rut: Mating season.
Slink: Calf or fawn before birth and valued for its skin.
Snag: Same as spillers.
Species: In New Zealand the farmed deer are:

• Red
• Fallow
• Wapiti
• Rusa
• Sika

Spillers: Palm points of fallow tines.
Spottie: Young deer (usually fallow) up to 3 months old.
Tines: Points or branches off the main beam of antlers. These are names according to their position eg, brow, bray and tray.
Velvet: Early soft vascular growth of the antlers before they harden. Males rub it off when antlers mature. Used in medicines.
Weaning: When calves or fawns are removed from their dams at either 2.5 – 4 months, before the next rut, or at 5-8 months in winter-early spring.