I have a doe that for the last two years in the spring the other does eat the hair off of her. It is completely down to the skin on her sides. I removed her from the pen last year and they strarted on another one. It just happens in the spring. I called my vet that does about 15 other farms and he said that there were 2 other farms had the same thing happening but didn't know what the cause was. Also said the deer looked to be healthy just like mine. Has anyone had this happen and know a solution?
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It's fairly common. I have 2 at my place that are looking rough because of the hair eating/pulling. If you do a search you can probably find out more info on it.
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Yeah i believe someone else had that problem on here a while back.I think those deer were in an open pen with not alot of brush.If i remember right the owner went out and cut a bunch of brush,saplings,ceder,ect,ect and that helped alot.One of my pens are kinda like that but mine were starting on the my ceder fence posts.I went out and did a little cutting and made them happy campers.
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I have the same problem. My button bucks all pick on one. He looks so so rough and i am in the woods. I have no idea what is going on.
Some decent second cutting clover and grass hay will help as well. They will eat it like crazy for a day or two then want nothing to do with it after that time. I think it's something they get from lichens, leaves..ect that they are missing.
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fars said:
Agree, hair pulling is most likely a symptom of lack of roughage.
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ThunderRidge said:
Not sure about that... my does get high quality western cut alfalfa every single day and there are still 2 in the pen that are half bald.
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I quit trying to figure it out quite a while ago.
Some will, some won't.... so what
Some will, some won't.... so what
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in my doe fawn cage they started eating each others ear tags. i put hay in there and it stopped. it could just be a bored habit.
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I agree Curtis!! never could put my finger on the cause!
Rick, I am sure you would get a few deer that would pick at the forsythia out of curiosity, but they might not go crazy for it (you never really know though, unless you try), i have a bush that grows in my pen, not sure what it is but it is ALOT like fosythia, with those really tiny leaves. The wierd thing is that it is the only bush that is not touched, it stays green all summer. They only eat the new growth off in the spring, so my guess is what ever it is it must have a strong bitter taste, and i would imagine forsythia would be bitter to them. You could try offering a small amount to see.
I believe its more than likely similar to cribbing or chewing in horses as an example. Although cribbing involves the whole air sucking thing, my point is, its much more likely to be boredom, stress (social order type stress in herd animals) and also dont forget mineral inbalances. Personally, no offense meant here, but I dont think its a fiber issue either. When all your trees bark is chewed above browseline and theres not a blade of grass or a dead leaf to be found in the pen, then you have a fiber problem. Dominant/assertive animals seem to do it as part of the pecking order, just like false mounting with does.
Just for the heck of it, throw a good quality mineral block in there as a barometer.
Just for the heck of it, throw a good quality mineral block in there as a barometer.