Locally produced feed ingredients for use in captive reindeer diets.
Reindeer can be successfully raised in captivity. However, the cost of shipping feed to Alaska makes the economic success of an intensively managed reindeer herd difficult. By using locally and regionally available ingredients, there is potential to develop a ration that is both cost effective and nutritionally complete. Following is a list of several projects that examine the merit of various feedstuffs both in terms of palatability and animal performance when incorporated into a complete ration.
- Growth rates of reindeer fed diets formulated with Thual barley or Finaska barley.
- Reindeer preference for diets using soybean meal, whitefish meal or salmon meal as protein supplement.
- Growth rates of reindeer fed whitefish meal or salmon meal supplemented diets.
- Reindeer preference for diets made with Thual barley or Albright barley.
- Palatability of reindeer diets supplemented with fish bone meal.Growth rates of reindeer fed soybean meal or whitefish meal supplemented diets.
- Optimal soybean meal supplementation rate in winter reindeer diets.
- Milk composition and growth rates of reindeer fed a soybean meal or fishmeal supplemented diet.
- Optimal fertilization rate and cutting regime for Smooth Bromegrass hay production for use in reindeer diets.
- Antler production of steers fed a fish bond meal supplement diet
Utilization of forage to optimize reindeer production
Smooth Bromegrass (Bromus inermis) and Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa pratensis) are common pasture species grown in Alaska. These species are readily grazed by reindeer during summer and could be used as forage sources in a feed and pasture system. The supplementary use of pasture in an intensive feeding regime based on commercial reindeer feed mixtures could reduce annual feed costs, but its effect on feed intake and production is unknown. These studies compared annual production and seasonal nutritional profiles of two pasture grasses, and examined their effect on weight gain, feed efficiency, calf growth, milk composition and meat quality.
