Tranquilizing the Bucks: A Really Late Post!

   We tranquilized the bucks August 8th. We had one three year old and three year old deer tranquilized. The most we darted at one time was two deer. We were concerned that we wouldn't be able to work fast enough to dart more.
   The bucks this summer had looked thin and Mr. (2012 breeder) had a cough. It wasn't bad though. Then the deer in that pen all got diarrhea. We treated them with Corrid (for coccidiosis) and SafeGuard (general de-wormer) but only one deer straightened out. We also had them on ProBios probiotics to try and restore the good bacteria in their stomach that the Corrid killed.  We consulted the vet and another deer farmer and decided to tranq all of the bucks and medicate them.

Here is what was in our field kit:
   Nuflor- Antibiotic for treatment and control of Bovine Respiratory Disease and foot rot. It works well for treating respiratory in deer. We use it in lieu of Draxxin but it is NOT Draxxin.
   Ivomec- Highly effective against roundworms, lungworms, grubs, lice and mange mites in cattle and swine.
   Bovi-Sera- Antiserum for prevention and treatment of A. pyogenes, Pasteurella multocida, E. coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Mannheimia haemolytica. So yeah, it's good stuff. We had it on hand and the vet said it wouldn't hurt if we used it.
   Vitamin B Complex- Believe it or not giving a shot of B complex helps the deer deal with the stress. It helps restore vitamins that are lost.
   Darts- Before we leave the house the darts are loaded with the correct dose of tranq for each deer. If there is extra room in the dart, for instance, 1.5cc in a 2cc dart, then the rest of the dart will be loaded with sterile water.
   Salve- We glob* some on the tip of the dart before it's loaded into the gun. (*did you like that technical term?)
   Hoods- We cover the deer's face to protect their eyes from getting injured by dirt and debris. We just cut the sleeves off of a large sweat shirt and that works well.
   Tolazine- The tranquilizer reversal, you use it 2-1 to the tranq. For instance 1.5cc of tranq. would need 3cc of reversal.
   Blu-Kote- Wound dressing for the spot where the dart hit. It comes in handy for lots of things around the farm! However if it gets on you you'll be stained for a good day or so!
   Needles- You need one needle for each medicine for each deer. Unless the medication is thick or given in large quantities (we had to give both types) we try to use a smaller gauge needle. The Nuflor and Bovi-Sera needed bigger gauges. 
   50cc Syringe- Bovi-Sera is given in very large quantities in which we need a pistol grip syringe.
   List- I like to write down what medicines need to be given to what deer, the order in which they are to be given, what dose is give, and where to give it (IM or SQ). That way I know the procedure and it won't be confusing.
   Syringes- We use one syringe for each deer. 
   Latex gloves- You don't know when you'll need them.
   Fly Spray- The flies were terrible that day so we coated each deer before we worked on them.

Covering Mr.'s face

Say cheese!

 Mr. got:
6cc Nuflor IM
2cc Ivomec SQ
50cc Bovi-Sera IM (we split it 50/50 between his shoulder and butt. Ouch!)
3cc of Vitamin B IM
and then the reversal.

He was feeling pretty woozy after he came to!

Next we darted the three yearlings but the pictures are of only two of them.

We trimmed their hooves up too

Drawing the B complex into the syringe

40cc of Bovi-Sera, ouch! We divided it up into his shoulder and hip.

Here's what we gave them:
3cc of Nuflor IM
1cc Ivomec SQ
1cc Vitamin B Complex IM
40cc Bovi-Sera IM

   The yearlings were up on their feet when we left the pen but that's about all the farther they walked! 

   A few days afterwards they still had diarrhea terribly but with all of the meds in them it usually gives them diarrhea. We were concerned that it was too little, too late. We had them on high quality probiotics, but we did all we could do and it was a waiting game. We thought we were going to loose on of them and we praise God that we didn't! Eventually they straightened out and they are doing fine now. 
   Unfortunately their illness certainly did some damage to their antler growth. Our three year old ended up smaller than we  got him last year which was really disappointing! Though another deer farmer said that sometimes if you move a buck to a different farm they won't always grow bigger the next year. I hope that that is true and his antler growth will explode next year. Whatever happens God does for a reason right? 

  Mr. just after he shed his velvet. Did you know that when a buck sheds his velvet he eats it? Antler velvet is extremely high in minerals and vitamins, some deer farmers raise deer for their velvet production. If you search online for "Deer antler velvet benefits" you'll find a lot of information about it.
So that's what we have been up to, I hope that you may have learned something!

Trimming long hooves

    On Sunday we darted and tranquilized one of our biggest does, Eva, and trimmed her hooves. When we bought her last fall, her hooves were very long. Over the winter they grew longer still and started to curl. We couldn't dart her sooner because she was pregnant and the tranquilizer, combined with the stress of being darted, would inhibit her pregnancy. Rapid hoof growth isn't common and can be caused by a few different factors. A diet with too high of protein percentages, a pasture with soft dirt that doesn't allow hooves to be filed down, or ingesting to much corn at one feeding. *Believe it or not when a deer eats too much corn at one time it disrupts the PH balance in their rumen (deer stomachs are almost identical to cow stomachs) and this causes their hooves to grow abnormally fast.

We have to tranquilize our deer if we need to give shots or 'work' on them because, although they are very calm, they don't take kindly to being poked with needles! The dart gun looks a lot like a .22 rifle and propels the dart with air pressure. The tranquilizer is a mixture of two medications, Xylazine and Telazol. This relaxes the animal's muscles and puts them into sleep. However the tranquilizer is only good for about three weeks after it has been mixed. Our mixture was getting old and had lost some of its potency, the doe didn't really want to go out so we gave her another 1cc. Usually 1.5cc (or ML) of fresh mixed tranquilizer puts the deer out in 15-20 minutes or so.

Once she is knocked out we protect her eyes from dirt by sliding a camo head net (used for turkey hunting) over her head. The flies were terrible that day so we coated her with fly spray and got to work. First we evaluated her hooves checking for any unseen injuries. Deer hooves have a rubbery sole with a thick keratin covering or sheath. When over growth occurs the keratin covering is the part that lengthens, similar to your finger nails. We just want to cut the overgrown keratin off and not damage the sole if we can help it.

Taking the loppers we cut most of the keratin off.

Then we trim the corners off so that they don't splinter.

In this picture you can see where the sole meets the keratin sheath very well.

After trimming the hoof up we rasp the edges off.

 While the guys work on her hooves I gave her 3cc of Vitamin B Complex under the skin (or SQ) to help with stress and sprayed Blu-Kote on the spot were the dart hit her. Blu-Kote is an aerosol antiseptic protective wound dressing.

 Once she finished receiving her "mani-pedi" I gave her a shot of Tolazine in the muscle (or IM) to reverse the tranquilizer. When using Tolazine to reverse the Xylazine/Telazol mix you should always use a 2 to 1 ratio with the Tolazine being double the amount of the tranquilizer. An example would be 3cc of Tolazine to 1.5cc Xylazine/Telazol.

 We switched the head net for a towel to cover her eyes after her reversal shot. This way it will protect her eyes until she comes around, then she can shake it off. Poor Eva was a little slow coming out of her nappy but she is doing very well now.

Eva's little buck fawn looked on, waiting for her to wake up so that he could have some dinner. :)

*This is one of the many articles that I have read on rapid hoof growth- http://www.buckmanager.com/2008/10/10/foundering-long-hooves-on-white-tailed-deer/