COMMON QUESTIONS ASKED BY FIRST TIME ELK BREEDERS:
(Excerpts of an interview from Sharrie Doshier, Manager of Timberline Elk Ranch)

WHEN PURCHASING ELK, NEWCOMERS TO THE ELK BUSINESS ARE OFTEN UNSURE OF WHAT CHARACTERISTICS ARE MOST VALUABLE AND WHAT THEY SHOULD CONSIDER IMPORTANT WHEN BUYING THEIR FIRST ELK. WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER IMPORTANT THINGS TO LOOK FOR?

HERD SIRE: You want to make sure the herd sire you are going to purchase is registered with NAEBA and has been DNA profiled in order to insure that his calves can participate in the NAEBA registration programs. Next look at the bulls pedigree and production records, consider not only the bull himself but his sire and dam, any siblings of record and most importantly, his offspring. I want only a bull that has proven that he can consistently pass on his positive genetic traits to his offspring.

Some bulls are "flash in the pan" meaning that they grew great antlers themselves but have never produced a son with record antlers or a daughter that produced offspring with significant antler growth. If you are looking for antler growth you only want a bull that produces offspring that have much larger than average antler growth. Because antler growth is easily measured and of great economic importance in the industry, that is what producers are focused on at this time. You need to decide what type of elk you want to produce, hard antler trophy bloodlines or velvet antler bloodlines - there are a few "crossover" bulls in the industry that produce both great velvet and high scoring hard antler but they are few and far between. Because the confirmation of the antler itself is diametrically opposed for either a trophy rack (long brow and bez tines, long main beam, long tines and a wide spread) or a winning set of velvet antlers (main beam that is large at the base and grows larger in circumference as it progresses to the 4/5 tines, small brow and bez tines set close together, short main beam length and heavy, webbed tops) the successful breeder will choose the bull that best exhibits, and more importantly, passes on, the traits he considers important. If you pick one trait and concentrate of breeding for that one characteristic your breeding program will be much more successful that trying to breed for 3 or 4 different traits. You also want to stay away from an overly aggressive bull or one that is sired by a bull that is unmanageable. A producer can cull his elk to eliminate disposition problems and the headaches that go with that type of animal, you certainly do not want to take the chance of breeding disposition problems into your herd so don't use a herd sire that is known to have a poor disposition.

VELVET BULL: It costs just as much to feed a good velvet producing bull as it does to feed an inferior one so it only makes sense to choose your velvet bulls strictly on the amount and quality of velvet they produce. It is extremely hard, if not impossible, to determine what type of velvet production a bull calf or spiker will ultimately produce; at two years you will get some idea of the structure of velvet (remember you want large pedicles, a main beam that has good mass and gets bigger as it goes up the antler, shorter tines with the lower two spaced close together and the greater mass of the horn being in the upper end) and by three you can really tell what type of producer the bull will ultimately be. Ask for his past weights and grades and my recommendation would be to pass on anything less than 7 lbs at 2, 11 lbs. at 3, 15 lbs at 4, 19 lbs at 5 and older.

BREEDING COW: Performance of her calves - I can not say it any clearer. Demand to see accurate breeding records. Check to see if she is calving each year (if she missed 1 that is not uncommon but pass if she does it twice in a row) see if she is having early calves (if all her calves have come in late July you might want to pass on her) and look at her offspring if possible. Make sure her offspring and her pedigree exhibit traits of the types of elk you want to produce. I prefer large, long bodied cows myself. We are now identifying cow bloodlines within our herd that are outstanding producers no matter what you breed them to, those are the type of cows you want in your breeding program.

WEANLING CALF: I look at its parents first and judge them on the criteria listed above. I would like to see some of its brothers and sisters to see the type of quality that is in the bloodline - I want to see uniform, consistent characteristics within the herd. I prefer a calf that is born in May or June, is taller in height and greater in weight that others in his age group because to me this represents that the calf has been managed correctly from the start. I would like to have a DNA match to sire at the very least.

IN PRACTICAL TERMS, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE QUESTION OF WHETHER CALVES SHOULD BE WEANED OR LEFT WITH THE HERD? IF YOU WEAN CALVES, TELL US AT WHAT AGE AND HOW YOU MANAGE THEM AFTER WEANING.

We wean our calves two weeks prior to breeding our cows in late August/early September. This gives your breeding cows a chance to regain a little condition and be on a rising plane of nutrition prior to breeding which increases conception success. Early weaning gives your calves a "jump start" before winter sets in by getting them on high quality feed and then allowing them to gain weight and grow out their frames all winter long. Calves get fed twice a day for the first 60 days and encouraged to eat all the cubes and highest quality alfalfa hay available.

WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE OPTIMUM NUMBER OF COWS PER EACH BREEDING BULL?

A lot depends on the age and body condition of the bull. A spiker that was a early born calf and matured early is capable of breeding a few cows as a spiker, in my opinion 5 - 7 cows. A two year old in good condition should be able to breed 10-15 cows easily. From 3 years old on, as long as the bull is in good condition prior to rut, they should be able to breed an average of 20-25 cows in a single sire breeding scheme where only 1 bull is used for the entire season and up to 30 if you are rotating bulls every 3 weeks.

WHAT, IF ANY, SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS DO YOU MAKE FOR CALVING?

First time calvers are moved to small paddocks close to the house around May 15th where they can be watched more closely and are in a location where they can be moved easily into the working facility in case of trouble. The rest of the cows are allowed to calve in their normal pastures (ave. 40 acres). We observe cows 2 times a day in calving season and keep careful records of udder development, calving dates, if they bring up their calves regularly, etc.

WHAT PROCEDURES DO YOU FOLLOW WITH NEW BORN CALVES? (TAGGING, WEIGHING, INJECTIONS, ETC.)

I used to try to tag calves as soon as a found them and I had cows tap dancing all over my head! Now I just walk the pastures twice a day during calving season and note new calves, which cows have calved, which ones are nursing calves, etc. When the calves are one month old I bring everything into the working facility and tag them all at that time. I keep the calves up for 12 hours, then let a few out at a time - they run directly to their mother to nurse and I can match the tag numbers easily. From tagging time to weaning time I also match the number of the cow tag with the calf tag at least 3 separate times so I know I am getting the right cow with the right calf. Occasionally you will have a cow that steals another cows calf, or a cow that is nursing two calves for some reason so DNA matches are the only way to know for certain that you are getting all the matches correct.

IN GENERAL, WHAT VACCINATION SCHEDULE DO YOU MAINTAIN?

We worm mature cows twice a year (late March and prior to rut) and mature bulls once a year (at antler drop or during TB testing). We vaccinate everything once a year for blackleg (8-way), vaccinate the cows and breeding bulls for lepto prior to breeding and give pre-calving shots to the pregnant cows to boost their immune systems prior to calving and let them pass that on to their calves. 8 days before we wean the calves they are given a 8-way vaccine with clostridium which helps with any toxicity problems you might run into getting them on full feed during the weaning process. The calves are wormed 4 times during their first year.

WHAT SIZE PASTURES DO YOU RECOMMEND FOR YOUR REGION AND HOW MANY ANIMALS WOULD YOU USE IN YOUR AREA?

Our cow pastures average 40 acres each and we have a bachelor bull pasture that is 80 acres, however, 30-40 acre pastures seem to be the most efficient in our operation. We also have several small paddocks up near the facility and house that are 2-3 acres in size - these are very convenient for feeding your competition bulls, weaning calves, and watching first time calvers. We can even open up 2-3 of these together to put a small breeding group in. Because we supplement feed every day our carrying capacity averages 2 adult elk per acre, but we try to run 25 cows in a 40 acres pasture and around 50 elk in the 80 acre pasture - we usually still end up cutting hay off some of the pastures. Plan your pastures for easy movement of animals into your working facility, easy access for feed trucks and 3 main components: 1) an open grass pasture area for grazing, 2) a wooded over-grown area for cover, shade, hiding and calving and 3) a pond for cooling off and recreation. All our pastures incorporate all 3 types of habitat and I feel that all three are essential for healthy, contented elk.

WHAT ADVISE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR NEWCOMERS TO THE BUSINESS?

Join you state or regional association as well as NAEBA. This is where you will learn how to manage elk in your geographical area. Go to all the conventions, seminars and sales that you can to become acquainted with elk and the current markets for elk and elk products. Visit elk farms in you area and ask a lot of questions. See first hand how they manage their animals and farm and facility layout. Elk people are WONDERFUL about answering questions and sharing information and experiences. Go to the antler competitions and study the results to enable you to make informed decisions on bloodlines and other breeding strategies. Buy elk in your geographical area when possible so that they are already acclimated to your grasses, climates and environmental conditions. Most of all, just get in the business - there is not any better agricultural endeavor for fun and return on your investment.