Behavior Modification

This is one of our buck fawns. He wasn't bottle fed. We’ve been working on behavior modification with our deer and we’ve seen some amazing results. They aren’t normally this tame unless they’ve been bottle fed and handled when young. This one was only touched once when newborn and we did our initial tagging, microchipping, etc. I started working with him about 1 month ago. He'll start standing on his back legs for a cookie as soon as I walk in the pen. I was in the pen yesterday and "felt" someone was looking at me. He was behind me on his back legs looking over my shoulder!

If we can alter behavior to make the deer more tame we believe stress levels will be lower and health will be improved. I also believe the bucks will have more antler growth. Less stress should also result in higher growth rates, better milk production, and better body condition. The main disadvantage for tame bucks is they are more dangerous during the breeding season. NEVER trust a buck in hard antler!

Ruptured udder

We ran a doe through our Papa handler to insert a CIDR. She was very tame. Once in the handler she kicked violently until the hood was on and she calmed down. When she came out, her bag was loose and hanging.

The next day, her bag was swollen. We were able to milk her while she stood in the pen. She had a little blood in the front quarters. There are many blood vessels in the udder area and we assume some of these had ruptured. We started her on antibiotics and Banamine using our veterinarians' suggestions.

After two weeks, the sides of the udder were raw where her legs had been rubbing. She seemed to be developing sores that we thought may be abscesses. We put her back in the handler to inspect and doctor it. Once she was in the handler and she was squeezed in the wedge, her bag ruptured and the entire bottom opened up. Several pieces of baseball sized tissue came out with bloody liquid. There must have been an abscess inside the bag. We disinfected the area and sprayed it with AlumShield to protect it. The next morning she had cleaned all of the Alum coating off.

We kept her on antibiotics and sprayed for insect control. She gradually healed and within 2 weeks was almost back to normal. She may not be able to produce milk next year but her genetics are good enough that we'll bottle feed her fawns if necessary.

If she had not been tame, we may not have been able to save her. Being persistent after an injury can end with good results. Tame animals make treating them more successful as well.

Cheek Absceses

I've had problems every year with a few fawns getting abscesses on their cheeks and jaws. Sometimes they will finally rupture and drain but I've had to lance some myself and drain them.

Fusogard is a vaccination for foot rot. The bacteria that causes foot rot also causes abscesses commonly found on the cheeks, especially young fawns. Vaccinating the fawns with Fusogard may prevent the abscesses. I've heard from another deer breeder and two veterinarians that substantiate that claim. It's certainly worth a try if you're handling your fawns anyway. As always, ask your veterinarian for his advice.

Semen Collection

James Chenvert and Lori Parker from Genex in Baton Rouge collected semen on some of our yearling bucks last weekend. We were very pleased with their work. If you need collection or storage give them a call at 225-578-3294.

LSU Veterinary School

Saturday, November 7, 2009 LSU veterinarians and students were at our ranch along with Genex from Baton Rouge for semen collection on some of our yearling bucks. We hope allowing students to participate encourages their involvement in the cervid field when they graduate. We need qualified veterinarians to help us in our ever growing industry. The veterinarians, Dr. Christine Navarre and Dr. Marge Gill were great. The students were interested in what we were doing and very eager to lend a helping hand. Thanks to all of you.

Pasteurella Causes Deaths

Pasteurella is a bacteria normally found in the upper respiratory tract of animals and in the environment. Although very common, they may be difficult to control because of resistance to antibiotics. A culture may need to be run to determine which drug will work. DON'T WASTE TIME! You need to get this under control as quickly as possible.

I was reading a University of Florida article. As I always say, controlling stress greatly decreases health problems. The article stated:

"Prevention: All you have to do is ..... Don't stress the animals and don't expose them to IBR, BVD, PI-3 or BRSV.... they won't get sick with pasteurellosis. But animals do get stressed, and these viral infections are commonplace across the United States. We try to prevent the disease pasteurellosis by keeping the resistance level in the animal above the disease challenge level. The tools we use to maintain this separation are: minimizing stress, vaccinating, and antibiotics. By minimizing stress on the animal we may keep the animal's defenses from being compromised. Remember .... the animal's normal body defenses keep the Pasteurella infections in check and since IBR, BVD, PI-3 and BRSV infections reduce the natural respiratory tract defenses, keep the animals vaccinated against these viruses." 1. 2.

Footnotes

1.

This document is VM-63, one of a series of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Date reviewed May 1996. Please visit the FAIRS Web site at http://hammock.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

E. J. Richey, DVM, Professor and Beef Cattle Specialist, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.

Artificial Insemenation female condom collection

I haven't been able to find much information available on collecting semen using female condoms. If anyone reading this post has any information please let us know.

Female condoms for collection are used for horses. The condom is inserted in the female and the male is allowed to live-breed. The condom containing the ejaculate is retrieved. I would much rather run a tame doe in my handler and remove a condom than tranquilize an expensive buck.

Sounds like a great idea but I just haven't found the information I need to get started.

Herd Dogs

We recently added 2 Great Pyrenees dogs to one of our deer pens. We've been very pleased so far. These were grown dogs that had been with goats. We started them off in a pen without deer but next to pens that had some. They tolerated the dogs after just a few days. The Pyrs never barked at the deer or chased them along the fence. After moving them to a pen of whitetails my fears of the deer becoming alarmed and bouncing off the fence have been dismissed. I still wouldn't put them in a confined setting like an alley or small holding pen together but in a larger pen they do quite well.

These great white dogs have a long history of herd protection. They are very gentle and calm. I haven't witnessed it but everyone that has experience with them says they can be vicious in protecting their territory. They were bred to fight bears and wolves while protecting sheep in France. If they can do that, then surely I won't worry about dogs or coyotes getting in the pens. We plan to expand our dogs to include them in every pen.

If you want more information, feel free to contact me or Google them. Here is one link with some facts about this great breed. The website is www.greatpyr.com

Internal Parasites of Fawns

One of the most common problems of fawn death is internal parasites. Does should be wormed just before fawning, as parasites can be transmitted to the fetus in the womb. Fawns may be wormed at birth if you're handling them anyway. Check with your veterinarian for proper dosage and administration.

It's been suggested by a veterinarian that the EHD virus can be transmitted by saliva and feces. If you have an infected animal it's best to remove it to quarantine if possible. I add a small amount of chlorine to my water troughs every day. That may reduce transmission through the water but they would still possibly contaminate the feed. We're still in the learning phase of EHD but Blue Tongue is so similar and so much research has been done, especially in Europe that we might be able to use some of their practices to aid us.

Symptoms that a deer had EHD.
One of the symptoms that a deer has had EHD is that the coronary band at the top of the hoof will be very red. The normal color is a sort of clear gray. You may have to move the hair back from the hoof to be able to see it. Sometimes it's so noticeable that you can see it if you get close enough and use binoculars without having to touch the deer. After you see this sign you may eventually notice hoof sloughing or the deer may just walk tenderly because of pain in the hooves.

Back Rub for Deer Insect Control

This is one of the things I do to help control the Culicoides gnat that is the vector carrying the EHD and Blue Tongue viruses. I ordered my back rubs from Jeffers Vet Supply using the rub and flyps. I use diesel and a permethrin product Ultra Boss. It's marketed for cattle. As always, check with your veterinarian for their suggestions on using anything that may be off-label use. I start out with the rub uncharged and hanging as high as I can get it, usually 7 or 8 feet. I hang it where the deer will have to use an opening to go for food or water. After a day or so I'll start lowering it a little each day until I get it to the height I want. Then I charge it with the mixture. I haven't had any problems of the deer not using it. If you place it where the use is voluntary you probably won't get much benefit from it. This is the link for Jeffers http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc/. Use their search window. Enter "Cow Life Cattle Rub", "face flyps", and "UltraBoss" to find the products. Jeffers has great prices.
http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc/

Welcome to our Deer Information blog

Welcome to our new blog. You can go to our website to learn more about me, The Deer Man, Charles Black at www.WhitetailRackRanch.com. The purpose of this blog is to learn more about the health and nutrition of pen-raised white-tailed deer. With my educational background in wildlife behavior and lifetime livestock experience including deer I hope to be able to help others as questions come up about health and nutrition issues. I also hope to learn from other participants. Topics are not limited to these perspectives of deer but that is the general focus.

We have a white-tailed breeding facility where we work full-time. EHD (Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease) can be devastating. We have experience learned through the school of hard knocks but more importantly we've learned so much more from working closely with the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine and Ag Center.

Much of the information that you come across is anecdotal. It doesn't mean that the information is bad but it isn't based on scientific evidence. An example of anecdotal evidence that wouldn't be worth much can be like this example.
Example: I have a pen of deer that are dying of what I suspect is EHD. I start throwing marshmallows in the pen and the deer stop dying. From that, I can deduce that the marshmallows cured the deer. That is anecdotal evidence. Couldn't it be that the virus ran its course and the deer stopped dying for that reason? We should always look for an answer in science if possible.

The problem we as deer breeders have is that there is so little scientific research on white-tailed deer health and nutrition, especially pen-raised ones.

I'll be posting more information as often as I can. Please feel free to participate. We need to have an outlet where we can focus on issues that are so critical to our success. I'll be asking some of the leading veterinarians to assist me in posting useful information based on science.

Thank you for visiting and please check in daily.