Laverne Beechy and seven other Amish farmers are raising a new type of livestock on their land around Jamesport — deer.
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The first of the deer farms was started in 1996, but Laverne didn’t begin raising his own deer until 2001. He started it as a hobby.
"A hobby that will hopefully make some money," he said.
The Amish deer farmers help one another with this new agricultural venture. Laverne has about four acres, which is sufficient for the number in his herd. Others have close to 10 acres. All together there are between 200-250 deer on the farms.
Laverne started with two bred does and one buck and a couple of fawns that he bought from other breeders. He has 36 total deer now. Of those deer, 11 are bucks, 11 are does, and 14 are fawns. The last born fawns are about six months old.
The deer are enclosed behind a high, strong eight-foot fence. The pens are divided into separate sections, one area for the does and another for the bucks. They are fed a little in the mornings and more in the evenings. They get a grain mixture of corn, beans and oats with some vitamins and minerals mixed in. The deer are vaccinated regularly. If one is lost, it is tested for chronic wasting disease.
Laverne has never had a deer jump fence, but he has heard of it happening to other deer farmers.
"Sometimes the deer hang around, and we can use a dart gun and tranquilizer and get them back in," he said. "Some disappear and they’re just gone."
Does breed from the first to the middle of November and the fawns are born mid May to the last part of June. The tan and white spotted fawns are hard to keep track of even inside an enclosed pen.
"It doesn’t take much grass for them to hide in," said Laverne.
The newborns are tagged when they are less than a day old.
"It’s very important to keep track of the lineage," Laverne said.
That’s because deer are bred for their most desirable traits, namely their antlers. Most of the does will go to other breeders. Some of the bucks will go to private hunters who’ll pay top dollar for a trophy rack. The biggest buck Laverne has raised so far had a 26 point antler. That awesome buck rated a 268 on the Boone and Crocket scale, a system of measuring key antler parameters.
The doe fawns are bottle fed.
"It helps them to be more calm and easier to work with," he said. "We don’t bottle feed the bucks unless we have to."
Even when they are born in captivity, the deer remain skittish around people.
"They’re always shy," said Laverne. "They’re used to me, the guy that feeds them. They always know a stranger. Some get used to people, but most of them don’t."
Despite the fact that he has a pretty ample source of venison just outside his door, Laverne said he went deer hunting this season.
"I haven’t eaten any of my own yet," he said. "I go out and get my wild one. I was waiting on the big one. He didn’t come along."