Vermont Farm Family Raises Fallow Deer

Vermont Farm Family Raises Fallow Deer LIVESTOCK Exotic Animals Hank Dimuzio and his wife Rhonda Roberts say raising fallow deer has been an excellent side business to utilize the woodland pastureland and cropland on their historic Middlebury Vt farm An 8-ft tall fence encloses about 100 acres where 600 fallow deer graze raise their young and grow The couple markets the meat from about 100 to 120 animals a year directly to consumers grocery stores and restaurants Dimuzio says venison is a high-dollar protein and he adjusts his prices regularly to suit market demand with an eye on his bottom line Dimuzio and Roberts weren’t raised on a farm but he and his wife decided in 1991 when he was an emergency room ER doctor that they wanted to live on the land “I guess that working in our family’s 3/4-acre garden when I was young had a lasting effect on me ” he says Soon Dimuzio and Roberts bought a historic dairy farm and named it LedgEnd after the bedrock edge of limestone that ends on the farm In 1995 they began raising fallow deer choosing the animals because they didn’t require much daily care which fit Dimuzio’s ER work schedule “Milking and higher care animals like goats were out of the question and we do like deer so that’s the route we went ” he says Fallow deer native to Europe and Mesopotamia are smaller than whitetails Their coats vary from light rust with fawn-like spots to deep burgundy The male’s antlers are broad flat and palmate similar to their distant moose cousins Females produce one fawn a year They’re typically disease-resistant and not susceptible to chronic wasting disease like the whitetail population Dimuzio and Roberts raise their deer in pastures and feed them hay and protein during winter months Protein pellets have the added benefit of enticing deer to move into different pastures or the yard for sorting and culling Dimuzio culls mature does from the herd when they’re no longer producing fawns They yield 45 to 50 lbs of meat He markets the bucks at 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years old They produce 70 to 90 lbs of meat They market the fine-grained tender and flavorful cuts directly to individual customers grocery stores and restaurants Dimuzio says fallow deer are naturally curious and generally easy to raise except for young males “They’re skittish and dangerous to be around because of their sharp spike-like antlers They can easily side kick 4 to 5 ft high when they’re nervous ” LedgEnd’s handling facility has lanes next to a building and outside walls nearly 10 ft tall to protect the deer and handlers By Vermont law antlers on male deer going to market must be removed which is a quick and painless process because the antlers have hardened off Deer are then kept in a pen and calmed in the barn for a few weeks before being loaded into a trailer for the processing plant There the meat is cut vacuum packaged and labeled The processor makes LedgEnd’s all-venison sausage and keeps the hides as partial payment for their work Dimuzio says the fallow deer business has its challenges including annual fence inspections hungry bald eagles that can capture 8 to 10-lb spring fawns and a shortage of large animal veterinarians knowledgeable in wild animals High processing costs and inspection fees are also a factor along with fickle consumers Despite these concerns Dimuzio and Roberts say they enjoy caring for their amazing animals and providing people with local high-quality meat Contact: FARM SHOW Followup LedgEnd Farm 1288 Munger St Middlebury Vt 05753 www Ledgendfarm com

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