Went out tonight to give one of my very tame yearling bucks a shot of antibiotics ( he has a small knot on the side of his jaw, otherwise in perfect shape). Just as I had emptied the syrynge another deer spooked him and he lunged away from me breaking off a 22 gauge x inch and a half needle in his ham. Now do I need to knock him down and try to extract the needle or is it nothing to be concerned about? I know that metal alone will not hurt him( I have all kinds of metal in me from an accident) but maybe a sharp object in a very active muscle might cause a problem. I may be wrong but it seems to me that broken needles would be fairly common in darting(?) What should I do? Tom
I'm by no means an expert but just my opinion I would try to knock him down and get it out. Just thinking it could get irritated and possibly get infected and then you will have a much bigger problem. Hope all goes well!
Tyler Schmidt
www.RockyMeadowWhitetails.com
Tyler Schmidt
www.RockyMeadowWhitetails.com
Broken needles have a tendancy to migrate inside the boddy/muscle. If this deer is going to be butchered by someone other than you, then that should be considered.
Tom - Broken needles are not common in darting. Without having any experience with a broken needle in a deer, I think I would go ahead and knock him down and get it out. Best of luck! Oh - am curious, what kind of antibiotic are you administering through a 22 gauge needle?
Tom,
I agree....I would remove the needle.......it will more than likely cause him more problems in the future.....best of luck!
I agree....I would remove the needle.......it will more than likely cause him more problems in the future.....best of luck!
Joined Nov 2010
704 Posts | 0+
Annville, PA
I agree, get someone there to remove the needle. We only sell 18g needles due to that very reason, even 20g can bend easily.
Mark, I would normally use a smaller guage (larger) needle but it was all I had at the time and this little buck is so easy to work with I didn't think it would be a problem. I'll know better next time. The name of the antibiotic is Ceftriaxone 500mg, a broad spectrum antibiotic that has always worked well for me. The broken needle thing has been bugging me so bad that I knocked him out this morning and my wife was able to pull it out with some tweezers. I don't know about the deer but I feel alot better now!! Thanks, Tom
