Summary from the deer farmers seminar
Totally Vets would like to say a huge thank you to Dave Blenkiron from Rangeview for hosting our deer farmer seminar on Wednesday 3rd March. A handful of good keen men and ladies gathered to hear presentations from four of our vets. The key points from each presentation are summarised below.
Vaccines (Ginny Dodunski)
Yersinia: There is no reason not to vaccinate. The vaccine gives substantial protection and outbreaks are still seen in late-weaned fawns (see article in March Vetnotes).
5-in-1: No real case for vaccinating hinds and weaners. Probably a case for vaccinating stags to be velveted.
Lepto: Recent studies have shown a 50g per day weight gain advantage in vaccinated animals (spring). There was also a 5% improvement in weaning rate in maiden hinds and overall a 1.3 to 9% improvement in reproductive performance. Responses depend on the background level of infection seen in the herd. These benefits are on top of the benefits to human health.
Ticks (Greta Baynes)
Greta pointed out the impact that ticks can have on young fawns. Adult ticks can suck 1ml of blood - a newborn fawn only has 600ml of blood - and fawns can be infected with several hundred ticks.
Animals need to be treated in August/September and then every 4-6 weeks until January/February for maximum effect.
Use other classes of stock to ‘collect' ticks (e.g. cattle) but remember to treat these animals on removal.
Necrobacillosis (Barny Askin)
Necrobacillosis is a disease caused by the bacterium Fusobacterium necrophorum which is common in the environment. Trauma to the feet, legs and mouth can result in this bug gaining entry to the body and causing several different disease states including severe lameness and multiple organ abscessation. This disease is very often fatal.
The disease is usually seen in weaners, so with weaning almost upon us, try hard to avoid anything that might damage the feet or skin of these animals during yarding (e.g. minimise rough edges on concrete, sharp stones in raceways, sharp edges of wire etc). Also ensure weaning onto a clean paddock and then shift the day after weaning to another clean paddock.
If you see a mob of weaners going lame after transport, please contact Totally Vets ASAP as early treatment will have the best outcome.
Maximising profitability (Trevor Cook)
Trevor highlighted how small improvements in conception rate, calf survival and weaning weight could affect farm income. Hinds less than 2.5 Body Condition Score (BCS) have lower values for these criteria and thus reduced performance. It is highly profitable to preferentially feed the tail-end (those below 2.5 BCS) and thus lift herd performance.
Handouts on topics are available at the Feilding clinic.
