Getting Started With Reindeer What you need to know: Fencing: Reindeer are not 'jumpers'. They can be successfully confined by a 5' fence, however, most jurisdictions recommend 7-8' wildlife fence. For the case of reindeer this is to keep the wild deer out. This could be an important consideration since white tail deer carry some diseases that reindeer have no immunity to. Feed: Reindeer can be pastured with grass and hay but it's unlikely that they will thrive on an unsupplemented diet. In the north, their diet of lichens and a variety of northern plants is very different than our pasture grasses. In a confined area they don't have the opportunity to graze a big variety of plants that would help them to round out their nutrients. We use a specially formulated feed consisting of rolled grains, alfalfa pellets, mineral pellets and sugar beet pulp. The reindeer love this feed and are sleek and healthy. In addition they have pasture grass to graze and hay in the winter. Fine-stemmed grassy hay with a large percentage of alfalfa seems to be what they prefer. Dandelions are like candy to reindeer - their absolute most favourite plant. Some reindeer breeders say that the deer really like red clover as well. We have no experience with that at this time. Health: Reindeer have for centuries lived in northern Europe and they have not built up an immunity to a number of common conditions here in the temperate climate. Fortunately there are some vaccines you can use for a number of those conditions and good management will rule out most others. Sheep carry a viral condition that will kill reindeer, so never pasture reindeer close to sheep or on land that sheep previously occupied. Otherwise with some knowledge and sound management practises reindeer are a joy to raise and love. Handling Facilities: A reindeer owner will require some sort of squeeze type of apparatus to handle the deer although with a trained deer used to being handled this may not need to be very sophisticated. More information about this can be obtained from anyone breeding reindeer. Training: Training a reindeer is much the same as training any other animal. You need to keep them calm and familiarize them with repetitive action. They can be taught to lead at a very young age but they should be full grown (2 years) before pulling any heavy loads. Reindeer that are handled regularly and accustomed to activity will remain calm around people...even large crowds of people. They are very sensitive to touch, however, and do not like to be poked and prodded or even petted a lot. Important Consideration: Reindeer are a herd animal and become more easily stressed if they are not in the company of at least one other reindeer. One reindeer by itself is unlikely to thrive in that environment.

Page updated Nov. 2004