Raising Reindeer
REXBURG, Idaho -- There are no red noses in Curtis Ferney's herd and none have been known to fly, but folks from all over the U.S. are interested in his animals and some even pay good money to include them in their commercials.
The 80 reindeer in Ferney's pasture are among the first to be raised domestically in Idaho and are part of a small but growing reindeer industry across the U.S. Many are raised for meat, others for their antlers, and some for commercial rentals during the Christmas season.
Ferney is one of the first reindeer ranchers to try his hand at a cow-calf operation.
"This is turning out to be a pretty good business," Ferney said. "I wasn't sure at first, but after you invest a couple hundred thousand dollars in it you realize it is a business and you're going to have to run it like that."
Ferney, a part-time cattleman, started his reindeer herd with two bulls and six cows acquired from Alaska. Since his was the first ever in Idaho, it took him 12 weeks to get Idaho Fish and Game, USDA, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permits and approvals for the herd.
Since then, he has added six dozen more reindeer to his herd, not counting those he has sold and shipped to buyers as far away as Texas, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Connecticut. They graze on 45 acres of pasture that could support 200 head, according to Ferney.
"When we first brought them down we had a hard time with their stomachs adjusting to the feed down here. What they eat up there is basically nothing," Ferney explained.
Acclimated to a winter diet of mostly moss and lichens and long, dark nights, the reindeer take about three to six weeks to adjust to Idaho's grass and weather. Ferney supplements their diet with an alfalfa-based grain mixture to encourage weight gain and during the winter free feeds them an average of three bales of hay per 50 head per day.
Compared to the feed demands of cows, the reindeer's needs are minimal. Ferney said he can feed 10 reindeer on what it takes to support one cow.
"I don't feed them on the ground other than what they pasture," Ferney pointed out. "I've got enough pasture here so they never have to eat around much fecal material. Otherwise, they'd be getting parasites continually."
Managing a reindeer herd is relatively simple. Ferney worms the animals once each spring and fall. Calving begins in April and continues through the end of May, but requires little attention. The reindeer cows were turned loose this spring and Ferney never touched them. Only four of 30 calves were lost.
"They're very 'herdy' animals," he noted. "If one goes in the corral, they'll all go. And if one gets out he'll kill himself trying to get back in. They're extremely easy keeping animals."
Getting into reindeer ranching can be costly, however. Ferney estimates spending $2,000 a head buying, transporting and taking care of the animals he's brought down from Alaska. His selling price is $2,600 for reindeer calves and from $3,200 to $4,200 for adult animals.
At those prices, butchering is unlikely. But reindeer meat is quite tasty, according to Ferney, and many reindeer ranchers raise the animals primarily for the meat industry. Other reindeer owners profit from their animals' antlers, which are believed to have aphrodisiac qualities when ground to a powder. The antlers, which adorn both sexes, are shed and replaced each year and have sold for as much as $52 per pound.
And reindeer are always in demand for Christmas promotions. Some owners earn $2,500 to $3,500 per day showing their animals at mall shows or presenting them on television commercials during the holiday season.
As for Ferney, the reindeer are a part-time business supplementing his work as an ag chemical representative. He competes regularly in calf roping and keeps cattle now only for roping practice.
Roping reindeer isn't the same, he noted. He used his ropes to capture them for vaccinations early on and learned that reindeer invariably circle left when being pursued. And they defy any attempts to be herded. "They're not cattle. You can't herd them. If you want them to go that way, push them this way is what it boils down to."
