Reindeer farm celebrates calving season

BUTTE — The snow is nearly finished melting and the days are getting warmer. Spring is in the air and the Reindeer Farm is coming to life, literally.

It’s baby season on the farm and a total of 21 reindeer have been born since April 2 and, according to farm manager Lauren Waite, there are plenty more on the way.

“We always look forward to it,” Waite said.

Out of the 21, nine are girls and 12 are boys. Waite is expecting about 40 more calves by the end of this year’s birthing season. She said they should end up with about 150 calves total. She said that’s a fairly normal average and suits their resources.

“One hundred to 150 fits comfortably on the farm,” Waite said.

Mother reindeer, or cows, typically bare one calf per year, according to Waite. The calves come out walking and each one is tagged, examined and receives vitamins and supplements. She said they have to catch the calves within a 12-hour window.

“Or else they can outrun us,” Waite said with a laugh. “Yeah, they’re pretty cute… now they just run around like maniacs.”

The calves tend to be fairly active and that makes sense since they need to be ever active and vigilant in the wild, according to Waite. She said that she understands how the cows feel with their offspring running around because she chases around her lively toddler, Jaycee.

“She’s a real farm girl,” Waite said.

Jaycee hopped around the farm, exploring and petting reindeer. Some yearlings like May and April love to eat people’s clothes. Waite said that now that they are tall enough, they nibble at her hair constantly.

“They’re so funny because they’re all so different,” Waite said.

Reindeer calves usually come out around 15 pounds when they’re born. After that, it’s a nonstop eat and grow fest. Waite said the calves end up 10 times their birth weight by the time they’re yearlings, gaining a half-pound to a pound per day. She said they won’t reach maturity for a few more years and a select few will need to be bottle fed for a time.

Waite said that calves watch their mothers graze and usually start trying to chew within the first five days of life. She said that it’s important for the calves to learn how to be “real reindeer” and they try to get the bottle fed calves weened and onto grazing within a reasonable amount of time. She said that some years have more bottle fed calves than others, usually with first-time mothers.

“It just depends on the year,” Waite said.

Sometimes, an overwhelmed cow will abandon their calf. These calves are the ones who end up bottle fed and allotted the chance acclimate back into the herd. Sometimes, calves don’t make it. Waite said that in the wild, these calves would normally fall behind and get eaten by wolves.

“And that’s the natural circle of life,” Waite said.

Waite said that one of her favorite things about baby season is all the “firsts” they experience such as their first time seeing a raven, their first snow fall, their first time nibbling someone’s shirt.

“Everything is new,” Waite said.

Tom and Gene Williams are the founders and owners of the Reindeer Farm and it’s a family run operation. Waite is very familiar with this farming lifestyle. Wait has helped run the farm for the past nine years.

“We’re still going,” Waite said.

The farm opens for the summer May 1.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com