I know very little about Sika, much less the subspecies Manchurian Sika. What can the brain trust at THF tell me about this species?

I've read the text at All About Exotics as a start.

How will they interact with my Axis, Fallow, Black buck and whitetail? Will they compete for the same food sources or dominate a certain type of terrain?

I've got corn feeders and free choice protein (adding another one this weekend), do they favor either or will they push out the other species from the feeders?

Thank you for the info as always,
Tim

Sika will interact well with other species of exotics but all exotics are more aggressive than WT. So the more exotics you have the tougher it will be on your WT unless you have lots of feeder locations. The Sika will be more of a browser than the other exotics you listed. They love thick cover and do well in Hill Country broken terrain. Sika can become and stay very wild and elusive in thicker rougher terrain. IME with Sika they tend to be more of a smaller group animal than a larger herd size- just a couple of 2-3 hd together. Also for some reason on Jap Sika they tend to be a host for internal parasites more than the rest of the exotics. If you emphasis is on raising trophy WT then you will need more feeders to insure your WT get a chance at the feed. Exotics as a group will homestead a feeder. They love free handouts. IME a herd of less than 7 exotics at a feeder and WT will eat with them when you get 7 or more hd of exotics then the WT will shy away and may or may not come back as often. Blackbuck can be the most aggressive of the species you have listed year round and fallow bucks during the rut can be aggressive around feed and other animals.

We have a herd of about 30 pure manchurian sika that we've been raising for about 8 years now. Very neat critters.

There are about 26 subspecies of sika, but basically can split them into 3 for Tx purposes - Japanese (island sika), Mancurian (Eastern mainland), and dybowski (northwestern mainland) - Increasing body size in that order. As far as horns, manchurians & dybowski's grow similar amounts of bone, but manchurians tend to be shorter and heavier with more points (5x5 and sometimes 6x6 showing up) - 26-28 inch beams with 7-8in bases or so. Dybowski's can be above 30 inch beams and a little longer tined, but are usually 4x4's and a little thinner antlered.

IME - Japanese sika are the most aggressive and most elusive. Manchurians are quite a bit calmer, but males are just as aggressive towards each other (we've lost several males to fighting).

As far as feed, they'll eat it all. Ours go thru a bunch of free-choice protein, and corn's the candy. Like alfalfa too. They graze and browse, very similar to an elk or red deer.

Rut like an elk - call of a manchurian is deeper & longer than a jap - little closer to a red stag roar with a wistle at the end. You can call them in with a cow elk call - fun way to chase them.

Breeding season & gestation seem to be a little longer than a jap. Our manchurians will drop calves from about mid June - mid Aug.

Will compete with the other critters just like any other exotic, but on free choice, it's not like they'll guard it.

Thank you both for your insights. Txnrog, that is some interesting info and good to know on the antlers for this subspecies. I can't wait to hear them roar or bugle this fall!

I was offered a small herd at what I thought was a good price today so I had them dropped off at my place. I got 14 head and was told they were the following: one 5 year old buck, one three year old buck, one buck that is about to be two years old, 10 pregnant does that are about to drop and one little one.

The most interesting thing is that one of the does has antlers growing. The trader I made the deal with said that in all his years of doing this he has never heard of or seen a sika doe with antlers. That is the only one with an ear tag and she'll definitely be off limits for a long time.

Now it is time to clear out some black bucks!

Thanks again,
Tim

That herd will definately get you started. Do you know if they are pure or not?

How big a pasture are you putting them in? Only reason I ask is you might need to watch the bucks fighting if it's a breeding pen or small pasture. Shouldn't be an issue if they've got room to get away from each other.

BTW, they breed up very quickly. You could easily have 50 in a couple years if you don't mess with them. We started with 5, lost 3 bucks and harvested one, and have brought in one additional buck. Now we have 30 or so.

Txnrog,
I was told that they are pure Manchurian, but I can only take the trader and former owner at their word.

I'm put them on my 224 acre ranch north of Junction. It is one large pasture with no cross fencing. There is a nice draw running the length of the property, north to south, that adds some degree of terrain to the place too.

I've read that they only fawn once a year and twins are rare. Of course, starting with 10 pregnant does it won't take long as you said.

Tim

Never had a twin that I can recall, and they only calve once a year, but they have a high rate of pregnancy, and good calf survival in our experience. They should do well on that acerage

PM sent.

They are very territorial. But most Sika are generally. We are getting rid of our small herd of Debowski Sika because they have killed 3 animals alone this year. One of which I caught a glimpse of in action which just happened to be one of our better blackbucks 23" straight tape. Some folks have better luck with them than us but I'm not taking a chance with them any longer. The only animal on our ranch they tend to not have problems with is the axis.

Can you show pictures of both. I don't know the difference....Pat

Hoping that photo would resurface on this thread. Great way to compare - Manchu = left Dybowski = right

Those are pretty cool looking. I haven't been interested in going after normal Sika (Japanese) because they have such unipressive antlers. The Manchurian & Dybowski are a little more interesting.