Moving deer to a smaller pen.

Split-Hoof · Aug 18, 2010

Question: I will be buying deer that were raised in approx. 3 acre pens. My pen is about 1 acre. What effect does this have on the deer that are used to a pen three times the size of mine? Also in the future i will be adding an additional pen that will be long and narrow. Are long and narrow pens a bad idea? Dementions will be 300 x 80 feet.

Antlershed · Aug 18, 2010

The best advice i can give you is to recreate the bigger pen into yours, for example, if the big one has brush, you should have brush. If you dont, haul a few clumps in where the deer can get to it and hide behind it. This will comfort them a little. Even if the deer are from an open area, and your pen is open aswell, then it still wouldnt hurt to get something in there to hide behind, at least temporarily. I have used strips of flagging tape on my fence for the first few days while they get used to the new surroundings, so the deer can see the perimeter and not run into the fence.

Circle J Ranch · Aug 18, 2010

I also had a simular deal, Bigger pen to a smaller one and i purchased shade cloth to go around my pen it made a huge difference in the stress and comfort level of not only the new ones but also the ones that i had already in there

richie0033 · Aug 18, 2010

It also depends on the deer. You need bottlefed or calm deer. Then you shouldn't have a problem

AnthonyWR · Aug 18, 2010

The long narrow pens work very well. Its easy to move them out, and still gives them lots of running room.

Arrowhead Whitetails · Aug 18, 2010

Our new pens are 105x220 and they seem to work well. Just remember the bigger the pen the spookier the deer will get. (That has been my experience) Richie is spot on with the bottle feds handleing the transition easier. Good luck

Split-Hoof · Aug 19, 2010

Thanks Everyone!

The deer will be bottle raised and there is some cover for them to hide. I could have made it a bit wider but I left myself enough room on the outside to drive around, and there will be an electric fence surrounding the pen about 8 to 10 feet away. This made my pen smaller but gave me an extra barrier around it because my property isn't fenced in. I hope I made the right decision......

Moving deer to a smaller pen.

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