TB & B Testing

Monday was my first run through of the testing. It ended badly. The vet called and said he would be there at 3:30 and i was supose to have the deer "ready". well at 3:30 I had one doe in the box in front of the chute and then had the other 3 (one buck two doe) right back from my box in the last 30' of my alley way, blocked by my last gate. They all stayed pretty calm except the vet did get there till 4:10 by this time they were getting worked up. So we put the first doe up in the chute. I dont know what happened but the doe must have jumped alittle when right bf the floor dropped bc when i opened the window she was back on her butt with front hooves swinging. Needless to say I caught severl in the face resulting in me bleeding. So adreniline kicked in and i pretty much grab her and she gets pulled down into the chute where she should be but in all the excitement i guess i was chocking her. So vet does his thing (the whole time she is bawling). so the deer in the last part of the run get scared and start banging the fence. So when we go to let her out of the chute she collapsed. Here she must have passed out. Mostly my fault due to being worked up from the repeated beating in the face. she lay there for a while and slowling starts breathing better. Finally she getts up and runs off. By this time though the other 3 deer in the 30' section have jumped the 8' gate and are now trying to get out of the rest of the run. (buck now have tore up part of his antler. So being that we can stop now we regroup and get the rest into the chute. They all go in but were not happy at all in the chute.



I check on the deer later all are "fine" as good as they can be. Buck has stoped bleeding but has part of velvet hanging.



Fast foward to yesterday (72 hr. wait time) now I waited till the vet was here bf doing anything. But as you know they know what is going on. so we only got two out of the small pen into the run. We just go ahead and send them through the chute. Flawless!!! Dont you love it when a plan comes together. These two tested good and are released to the big pen. We then put the other doe and buck now in the run. They proceed through the chute great. All 4 just kind of hung there not doing anything since they were not stressed out. These 2 also test good and are released to the big pen.!!!!!! WE WERE 4 FOR 4 NO SUSPECTS!!!!!!!!!



I know alot of your are probably asking y i tested now and the answer is in another month i would have had two more that would have be of age for testing plus having to deal with fawns. I know most would have never tryed that with a growing buck but, with a limited budget you have to watch every penny. All in all im pretty happy with how every thing went minus the beating i took monday and the injuries to the two deer monday. Nothing reall serious they are fine now. Im just glad im good for the next 3 years. by then i know of a few things to change, but thats how it goes i guess trial and error.

Since you usually have 30 days either side of your test date, if you did it a month earlier next time around it would be better for both the does and the buck. We typically do our testing in January - its cold but you don't have to worry about the does then. We usually saw our bucks as well, so no problem with them at that time of year either.

We just finished our first run through our system a few weeks ago and I know the feeling of relief your feeling to have it over. We wanted to do our testing in early march but when our vet came out he said that we needed more boxes,more gates and more shade cloth to do it right. We had worked so hard to get it ready before the bucks put any antler growth and the does were not as far along in their pregnacy but we took his advice and waited. We made the changes and when he came back out we ran them through with no major problems. I just hope the does all fawn ok. The vet says it gets eaisier the more you do it and I hope he's right. Congradulations on a job well done. Rick

Glad to hear it all turned out ok for you Jared........hey believe me the more you do the run throughs the easier it gets for everyone......unfortunately no matter how many time you run the deer through the system though your stress level will always go up........its just the thought of something happening to one of your deer that keeps your stress level on high alert!!

Hey dennis I used Dr. stienback from up at Huffnagels. He was a great guy I am glad I found him young and just starting into deer him self. Hope to progress through this with him as we both evolve. He said he was doing your stuff as well. He had nothing but good things to say about you are your farm.

Thats why i like to just dart mine less banging around and less stress on deer. No mater what its always sressfull wether darting or running threw shoot.

i will be just starting a deer farm this fall and was wondering what it costs to have the vet out and get these tests done, also how often do they need to be checked. i want to have them credited from the start. thanks

Chris they need tested every three years.....so that is something you need to consider when buying your first deer....make sure you find out if they have been tested and when they are due next............vet costs vary depending on how long they are there how much medicine they use and all that good stuff so it would be hard to give you an exact price without knowing the details....

Chris that everty three years is for PA not sure what the other States are....

I agree with Wild Rivers early spring is the best. Cooler and nothing is going on. Give an idea of our facility I move the deer (does) from pen to pen and now into sorting for the fawning. I have done everything by myself and put them thru chute and vacinate, walking up and down the isle 600 feet back and forth is the worst setting up pens. Had my wife out helping but she did not know closed from open so better she stays in house and watch grandson. A few years he will help me I hope. His first words was deer, and I have a fawn name Solice and he says that also. Training him right.



Wicked the only way you learn is to try and don't be afraid to change set ups and do it again. Everyone has their own techniques of doing things. Do what you feel is confortable.

the best people to help when you are working with deer are those who don't get offended when they are hollered at.......repeatedly, the ones who listen and do what you ask without asking ...BUT WHY??? first, are good too.

Wicked,



Sometimes when a deer reaches the front of the chute before the floor is dropped, they start to try to climb the walls so to speak. When this happens they usually end up upright or even flip completely over onto their back. Either way it is not a pretty sight when this happens and the next few moments can be very exciting.

Curtis you got that right, it does get intense at times. Everyone goes thru it.

Does anyone know where or how far along the TB blood test has gone as far as being approved for use? Any responses or replies would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks, Mike

Mike, we attended the USAHA meeting in N. Carolina in Oct. and had a private meeting with USDA and 2 companies that are working on a TB blood test. One test is very near meeting requirements and the USDA said they were making the blood test a priority. However, that was before the election and things may have changed since then. Most seem to think it is still 3 to 5 years away from getting certification from USDA. Calling your congresspeople and telling them how important this test is would certainly not hurt.