Permit conditions
Changes in permit details
Conditions of a permit to kee red or fall deer apply to all permit holders. The permit is issued to a particular person (not a business name) for keeping particular deer species at a particular location and for a specified period. That is, the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Regulations 2013 require an expiry date to be included on the permit. If there are changes to these details, DPIRD must be informed to avoid the permit becoming invalid.
Note: this includes extensions to the amount of deer fencing erected on a property - any new fencing must be approved by inspection to ensure it will prevent animals escaping.
Handling yard specifications
Deer do not handle as easily as other stock, but they need to be collected into handling areas for certain husbandry tasks and for marking. A suitable yard, a handling pen and a loading race must be built within the confines of the boundary fences as detailed below.
It is recommended that the yards have the following features:
- walls at least 2.1 m high, with at least the lower 1m closely boarded
- a purpose-built handling pen
- no iron sheeting as this can be noisy and frightening to deer
- no sharp projections
- a central crush pen.
A crush must either be present on the property, available for hire when needed or a vet or other authorised person must be readily available to administer chemical immobilising agents when required. A crush is needed to handle deer, with a drop floor type suitable for fallow and a hydraulic crush best for red deer.
Yards should be centrally located for ease of stock movement. Paddocks should be serviced by a wide laneway system to allow movement between paddocks and yards. It is also strongly recommended that deer are handled regularly so that when handling is required, they will not be stressed.