The Farm

Animals
In addition to our research activities on the Seward Peninsula, the Reindeer Research Program maintains a captive herd on the UAF campus, at the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station farm located next to the Georgeson Botanical Garden. The purpose of this herd is to augment our work with free-ranging herds by developing management strategies for captive herds. It also provides an opportunity to address issues that are difficult to study under field conditions.

Our herd is steadily growing towards a target size of 60-70 breeding females. Currently, we have about 40 breeding females, ranging in age from 2 to 11 years. In order to maintain a bull:cow ratio of 1:15-20, we keep 3 breeding bulls, a number that will increase as our brood herd grows. In addition to our brood stock, we have a number of young animals that are used for various nutrition and meat research projects, and who may eventually end up as breeders.

We have a few favorite deer, most notably the animals that we use for educational presentations. Elsa is an older female who came to us in 1997 with our original shipment of animals from the Seward Peninsula. She is known to countless local kids as a result of her appearance in classrooms over the years. Rip is a steer who, shortly after his birth in 2003, was abandoned by his mother and bottle raised by RRP staff members. He began working in classrooms almost immediately and remains a minor celebrity at the farm. Ali and Annie, a pair of orphans born in 2004, now do the brunt of the school work as we continue to use reindeer as a teaching tool in classrooms throughout the Fairbanks area.

You can read more about reindeer management throughout the seasons by clicking here, or get general information affecting reindeer production by going here.

Facilities
Utilizing the space that once housed cattle and pigs, reindeer are currently the only livestock species maintained at the farm. The deer are distributed among several pastures and pens, totaling approximately 45 acres. The herd is fed a barley and hay based feed, which is offered ad libitum. This ration is formulated, mixed, and pelletized on site.

Projects
Our research herd is used primarily for nutritional studies, specifically towards the development of a balanced and cost-effective ration made from Alaskan grown products. Over the past several years, we have conducted a series of feeding trials investigating the ways in which various barleys, hays and protein sources affect both feed palatability and animal performance.

In addition, we are interested in the ways that these various rations affect meat quality and flavor. Reindeer in Alaska are typically range fed, though there is increasing interest in developing the market by providing supplemental feed or raising animals in a farm type setting. We are interested in comparing the meat of range fed deer to that from farm raised deer, as well as investigating the effects of various protein sources on meat quality. This is a particularly interesting question as it relates to the use of fishmeal as a protein source, since it is well documented that various feedstuffs have the capacity to alter attributes of the meat.

Name our calves
Each year we enlist the help of the public, particularly school-age children,to help us name our new calves. Click here to submit your suggestion.

Photos
To see pictures of reindeer on the farm, visit the farm gallery.