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/