Roe farming

[nell]

Have it on good authority that Roe farming is starting up in the uk,curious to know more about it if any body has any info?? never thought this would be easy due to the lifestyle of roe deer,could this be the beginning of the end for wild shot deer????

 

[N.F.W.M]

Hmmm to be honest I would think it doubtful. The returns would be negligible due to size and weight. Roe are not easy to keep in captivity due to dietary requirements.

 

[nell]

Hmmm to be honest I would think it doubtful. The returns would be negligible due to size and weight. Roe are not easy to keep in captivity due to dietary requirements.

That's what I thought, watch this space.....

 

[willie_gunn]

Why would you farm roe?

They suffer from capture myopathy, which will complicate matters as a farmed animal.

Also given the significantly smaller size of roe compared to fallow and red, I struggle to see how roe farming would be economic. The general public see venison as just that - venison. They are not sufficiently educated to differentiate between species, so it might be hard to justify a higher price for roe venison in order to make the venture economically viable.

So far as velvet you'd also get far less from roe than you would from red or fallow.

I just don't see how the numbers would stack up.

 

[StalkingKent]

Roe deer would get very stressed in enclosed and fenced area's, it has been tried on many occasions and quickly abandoned on welfare issues.

 

[limulus]

Perhaps being farmed for trophy size rather than venison?

 

[willie_gunn]

The more I've thought about this the less convinced I am that farming roe would be viable. The venison and velvet yield per beast isn't going to come anywhere near red or fallow and if - as Tony suggests - the market is trophies then I can't see that business model working either, as I'd imagine the mortality rate for roe in captivity would be high. Also I can't see how they would "sell" trophy hunting in this way as the roe would have to be enclosed, so completely artificial.

If we were nearer 1st April I'd be tempted to think this was a wind-up, but if someone is actually serious about farming roe it will be fascinating to see how it develops.

 

[NeilG]

Why would you farm roe?

They suffer from capture myopathy, which will complicate matters as a farmed animal.

Also given the significantly smaller size of roe compared to fallow and red, I struggle to see how roe farming would be economic. The general public see venison as just that - venison. They are not sufficiently educated to differentiate between species, so it might be hard to justify a higher price for roe venison in order to make the venture economically viable.

So far as velvet you'd also get far less from roe than you would from red or fallow.

I just don't see how the numbers would stack up.

Hello Dom.

Just picking up on this thread, but have never heard of harvesting deer velvet before.... So with that in mind, what do people use it for as I am amazed that there is even a market for it ?? That said, how is it harvested, as that brings up some disturbing pictures ??

Don`t want to hi jack the thread away from Roe Deer farming, but if it is within this context I would be fascinated to understand.

All the best.

Neil.

 

[merlin]

Hello Dom.

Just picking up on this thread, but have never heard of harvesting deer velvet before.... So with that in mind, what do people use it for as I am amazed that there is even a market for it ?? That said, how is it harvested, as that brings up some disturbing pictures ??

Don`t want to hi jack the thread away from Roe Deer farming, but if it is within this context I would be fascinated to understand.

All the best.

Neil.

Just found this on t'interweb:
http://www.drugs.com/npp/deer-velvet.html

 

[Erik Hamburger]

Have it on good authority that Roe farming is starting up in the uk,curious to know more about it if any body has any info?? never thought this would be easy due to the lifestyle of roe deer,could this be the beginning of the end for wild shot deer????

Yeah, great, Roe in a fenced-off area, so stalks in the enclosere will count towards the DSC2 portfolio

 

[User00003]

Hello Dom.

Just picking up on this thread, but have never heard of harvesting deer velvet before.... So with that in mind, what do people use it for as I am amazed that there is even a market for it ?? That said, how is it harvested, as that brings up some disturbing pictures ??

Don`t want to hi jack the thread away from Roe Deer farming, but if it is within this context I would be fascinated to understand.

All the best.

Neil.

chinese medicine, same with red deer tails, etc etc. You should see the boxes and boxes of velvet stag antlers I have seen at game dealers getting cut up for China- all from wild stags shot out of season under fc licenses, and I mean hundreds of them at a time often 8 to 14 pointers..its no wonder reds are thin on the ground in Scotland these days

 

[McKenzie]

I may be wrong here but I was under the impression that you weren't allowed to remove antlers in velvet from farmed deer as they are still sensitive. Big business in NZ though.

 

[bewsher500]

I may be wrong here but I was under the impression that you weren't allowed to remove antlers in velvet from farmed deer as they are still sensitive. Big business in NZ though.

Having dehorned bullocks I can tell you that is bloody sensitive too.....

 

[merlin]

Having dehorned bullocks I can tell you that is bloody sensitive too.....

....just need to mop coffee out of my keyboard, having snorted it out when I mis-read that.....

 

[willie_gunn]

Hello Dom.

Just picking up on this thread, but have never heard of harvesting deer velvet before.... So with that in mind, what do people use it for as I am amazed that there is even a market for it ?? That said, how is it harvested, as that brings up some disturbing pictures ??

Don`t want to hi jack the thread away from Roe Deer farming, but if it is within this context I would be fascinated to understand.

All the best.

Neil.

Neil

Deer velvet contains a growth hormone called IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1). It's long been used in oriental medicine as a treatment for inflammation, to aid recovery and to boost fertility (they seem to take a lot of strange things for this!).

People believe it helps the body recover from various aches, pains, sprains, breaks, etc. The Russians did some work in the 1980's on the effect of velvet on athletes, and found that it improved muscle recovery and increased muscle density, hence why it's commonly used by athletes and bodybuilders. Scientific studies are still in the early stages, but that doesn't stop it being big business!

Check out here: Deer Antler Velvet—What Is It, How Does It Work?
here: How is Deer Antler Velvet Collected? Deer Antler Spray
here: What is the Composition of Deer Antler Velvet? Deer Antler Spray
and here:

Bear in mind the last three above are from one of the biggest commercial deer farms in New Zealand.

 

[NeilG]

Well, that is a first for me I have to say..... Interesting video, and information Dom, thanks for posting....

All the best.

Neil.

 

[Border]

+1.
I didn`t realise that they used the whole antler.
I had visions of them scraping it off the antler.

 

[liongeorge]

There,s hundreds of roe farms round here. They all run as a cooperative to save them putting fences up between themselves and the deer can wander around as they please.

 

[paul k]

I can't see any logic at all for farming roe deer, frankly I won't believe it until I see it.

 

[sussex stalker]

Thats correct - its illegal to harvest velvet in the UK, deer farming in the UK is mainly for meat & genetics..

I may be wrong here but I was under the impression that you weren't allowed to remove antlers in velvet from farmed deer as they are still sensitive. Big business in NZ though.