THE MOVEMENT OF FARMED RED DEER THROUGH RACEWAYS

The movement of eight groups of six farmed red deer through raceways w as observed and the effects of race width (0.5 m or 1.5 m), race shape (straight or curved) and light intensity (bright or dim) were measure d, with each group tested on each of the 8 treatment combinations. Dee r took less time to enter wide races than narrow races (6.9 versus 2.7 sec, P < 0.001). There was also a shorter latency to enter curved rac es than straight races (P < 0.05). Deer moved faster through wide race s than narrow races (1.3 versus 1.0 msec, P < 0.01), as they were able to move as a group rather than in single file. There was also more ov erlapping between individual deer in wide races than in narrow races ( P < 0.001). Neither race shape nor light intensity significantly affec ted moving time or spacing between deer. Deer quickly became accustome d to moving through races, as there was a significant (P < 0.001) incr ease in the speed of movement on the second occasion they moved throug h the races, with little change thereafter.