Hayden is a
veterinarian at Vetlife Pleasant Point
Growing good fawns or weaner deer starts with decisions made the year before. When hinds calve earlier, they have more time to rear fawns that will be bigger at weaning. Earlier-born fawns have the benefit of getting off to a good start before pastures lose quality in summer.
Hind body condition score (BCS) is critical to good milk production and early conception at mating. Hind BCS should be maintained around score 3.5 (BCS 3 being moderate and BCS 4 being fat).
The challenge of summer-dry conditions is managing the impact on hind BCS. In the situation of dry summer conditions, or even drought impacting pasture availability and quality, providing high-quality supplement such as baleage, grain or concentrates is important in order to maintain hind BCS and milk production. The provision of supplement also benefits the fawns and trains them for after weaning if necessary.
Many farmers, in summer-dry regions in particular, pre-rut wean. The choice of pre-rut weaning versus post-rut weaning is a balance between weaner weight (this year’s production) and hind conception and mating date (next year’s production).
Pre-weaned hinds conceive 7-12 days earlier than post-rut weaned hinds. This is due to the positive effect on BCS from lactation being switched off. Weaning should be completed by early March to allow sufficient time for hinds to get over the stress of weaning and to achieve improvement in BCS.
It is critical that pre-rut weaned weaners are provided with good quality nutrition to reduce stress, maintain health and maximise growth.
The process of weaning is about minimising stress on the weaners. Farmers will have refined farm-specific approaches, but these usually involve returning weaners to a paddock that they are familiar with, perhaps even one that they have grazed a day or two beforehand whilst still with the hinds. It may also involve leaving a couple of quiet hinds or so with the weaners for a few days for guidance and reassurance.
Ideally, any animal health treatments or procedures, such as Yersiniavax® or tagging etc, will have occurred before weaning. This will have familiarised the fawns with the yards and shed, and allow minimal handling on the day of weaning.
As previously mentioned, Yersiniavax® is frequently administered to fawns/weaner deer. It can be a challenge balancing vaccinating early enough to have some immune protection prior to the stress of weaning against the potential of sub-optimal immune response in later-born weaners. A third vaccination may be beneficial in later-born weaners, but discuss this with your veterinarian.
Leptospirosis is another disease that can impact deer health and productivity. In the absence of experiencing clinical disease, i.e. redwater, jaundice, abortion or even death, it can be difficult to know if it is having an effect. For example, the Lepto strain – hardjo-bovis – is widespread in deer but causes only mild infections with no obvious clinical signs. However, it can reduce growth rates and reduce calving percentages, particularly in first-calvers.
Any decision to initiate Lepto vaccination would likely involve a discussion with your veterinarian, along with some blood testing to look for the incidence and level of antibody exposure.
The usual suspects of trace element supplementation, in particular copper and parasite management, with consideration for lungworm, require a plan for which your veterinarian can, of course, provide advice.
