Any financial profit in breeding deer?

[riflehunter583 58]

I have a small, small holding

 

My question is, to any deer managers out there. is it worth putting the high fences up and breeding deer or are other livestock a better choice in terms of hassle, and financial return?

Edited August 21, 2012 by riflehunter583

[bigredhelmet 17]

I know many who keep red deer on roughly the same sized plot, some a fair bit smaller than yours, they say they make more return than any of their sheep and cows. Can have them as tame as you like too.

Im pretty sure that theres a deer farmers association or similar, they probably have all the relevant info on the web that you need to get started.

 

Have you thought about wild boar? I keep cross bred boar on my holding, but planning to get pure once we get the fence done. The fence dosent need to be as big as for deer, licence is a doddle to get, and they make a tidy profit if you make a few calls to secure the right buyers. They are, however, heavy rooters, and will turn the land if not rotated properly. They benefit hugely from having woodland as well as pasture to roam and forage. They are, if properly raised, very biddable and not aggressive, but the sows may get a bit grumpy when their with small piglets, plus the boars can get somewhat fiery too when a female close by is ovulating. Pretty much the same with red deer, which will attack if you go for the calf to tag it, as ive found out before!

[riflehunter583 58]

I know many who keep red deer on roughly the same sized plot, some a fair bit smaller than yours, they say they make more return than any of their sheep and cows. Can have them as tame as you like too.

Im pretty sure that theres a deer farmers association or similar, they probably have all the relevant info on the web that you need to get started.

 

Have you thought about wild boar? I keep cross bred boar on my holding, but planning to get pure once we get the fence done. The fence dosent need to be as big as for deer, licence is a doddle to get, and they make a tidy profit if you make a few calls to secure the right buyers. They are, however, heavy rooters, and will turn the land if not rotated properly. They benefit hugely from having woodland as well as pasture to roam and forage. They are, if properly raised, very biddable and not aggressive, but the sows may get a bit grumpy when their with small piglets, plus the boars can get somewhat fiery too when a female close by is ovulating. Pretty much the same with red deer, which will attack if you go for the calf to tag it, as ive found out before!

 

thanks for the advice will check out a deer farms association, do you recon it would make as much as say 5k of profit per year?

i have though about some kind of pigs for the wood as where the smaller trees are the wood floor is thick with brambles and I hoped that pig might get rid of brambles.

 

the idea of deer came due to the beauty of such animals.