Deer is a wildlife which live in the wild. It belongs to the family Cervidae while the species for timorensis  deer or Cervus timorensis and Sambar deer belongs to Cervus unicolor. Deer meat also known as venison is popular among the publics where the price is between RM40.00 - RM70.00 / kg. Deer has the highest source of protein compared to other animals since it has low fat and cholesterol but high in calories. In addition, the rearing of deer also gives a return from side products such as velvet, antlers, and skin. Velvet which is the soft antler is widely used in medicine, especially in Chinese traditional medicine and received high demand from Asian countries and the Middle East such as Japan, China, Korea, Arabia and Malaysia itself. The use of velvet in medicine has also been scientifically proven that velvet promotes spermatogenesis and production of testosterone, production of red blood cells (erythrocyte) and hemoglobin, increasing body strength and people intelligence. Usually deer management here is done in extensive system which the animals are allowed to graze freely and also feed with pellets gradually. Deer care is not too complicated. Good nutrition and water supply are sufficient to guarantee satisfactory production in terms of productivity. Deer prefer no food and are less picky compared to other livestock. Although the main food source for deer is forage and grass, goat pellets can be provided as supplements. In a good management system, selected grass and high protein are given to enhance growth body weight. The recommended types of grass are the guinea grass and Napier grass which have good nutritional content and easy to plant. As importantly, deer are not immune to the threat of disease even though it is durable animals.

By Azlina Mohammad

Date of Input: 07/10/2019 | Updated: 06/10/2020 | shuhaimi_rahim