The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Other => Topic started by: plumseverywhere on November 13, 2010, 07:40:57 pm
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Just googling for more info but wondered if anyone here had any experience of keeping santa's little sledge drivers!?
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wow good luck ive no experience but would love too good luck xx
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so far I've found out you need very high fences, no electric fencing, keep away from sheep and that they eat loads of hay (sounds a bit like the goats lol!!) reindeer babies look verrrrrrrrrry cute though ;)
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what are you keeping them for pets or meat they give a beutiful hide i nearly bought 1 the other month but the mrs caught me :P
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Why not go out shooting instead of trying to breed them. Some breeds don't have a close season,and they are trying to keep the numbers down..
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i think santa may be a bit upset if you shoot is deer. we fancied deer but the fencing would cost a fortune plus if they were to escape the local crofters may just get a little mad.
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I think the fencing has put us off, as well as the price to buy the deer (found some starting at £1250 a head!!) think we'll go with southdown sheep, nice teddy bear types. can always train my castrated billy goat to pull a sledge!
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there is a person near us in Devon that offers consultancy in deer keeping and farming have toyed with the idea myself, not reigndeer but perhaps a smaller breed which do not require such high fencing! :D
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Lidal has started selling reindeer steaks, they were talking about it on This Morning yesterday.
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that'll be where my sister in law got hers from then!! she was ssaying on facebook that she had reindeer for tea - my kids would be heartbroken, rudolph, blizten and the gang all eaten before xmas!
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smaller breed which do not require such high fencing
good luck ;D ;D
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i heard that there is a much much smaller breed that are quite rare will do some research and let you know ;)
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There used to be a guy near Bristol that kept them Ill try and track him down, was few years ago but you never know.
Big contraversy over Lidles selling it at the moment, sad sods all the more for me ment to be deliciouse, santa will have to walk ;D
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i heard that there is a much much smaller breed that are quite rare will do some research and let you know
i ment the jumping, not finding the small breed (just to clarify), i have wittnessed a roe deer clear a 10 foot fence from a standing start :D
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There are 2 deer farms within a few miles of me, one open to the public as a visitor centre with the usual courtyard of shops and a cafe around the edges but they have several breeds and can no doubt talk you through the pros and cons of breeds including reindeer.. The other produces farmed venison and is actively supporting the growth of the UK industry so would also no doubt be happy to advise depending what you were planning..
Happy to get you details if it would help - north Fife as a holiday/factfinding trip?
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Thank you everyone :) the neighbours were all very excited when I said we had considered reindeer!! to be honest, its not for us, not this year anyway. the thought of having to sort out 8ft fencing is very offputting for a start, still getting to grips with goats!
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There are 2 deer farms within a few miles of me
Fletchers? and the scottish deer centre?
there are also a few private herds in the relative area including one 3miles from me, and a few feral herds roaming in the forests such as tentsmuir and falfield(peat inn) due to breakouts.
you gotta love deer but thay can be so destructive to young trees
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Our neighbour had deer, and last xmas some a$Se broke in, nicked a load of them. The police issued warnings not to buy any meat as they were not for eating - they were either fed or injected with something to make them unsuitable but I dont know why he did that. Maybe its a requirement for keeping non-eating deer?
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standard warning when any meat is stolen to frighten the tollies that stole it their is that element of dout?????????
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We were reading up about reindeer but were put off by an article (will see if I can find it again) that said they were very prone to suffering badly from worms, coccidia etc. and needed a very large area to roam over. And that they were rather aggressive :-\
Decided to stick with goats too!
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i think the word aggressive would have put me off too! and they look so cuddly in pictures. I suppose rutting season would see a difference in personality too. too much unknown. at least with the goats I feel a bit more confident and having 4 small children, can't be risking grumpy animals!!