Youngins havn Youngins

I have searched the posts for some time now and I know that this subject has been touched. However, I would like to dive deeper and hopefully get some questions answered before its too late in the year. The topic of discussion is 9 month old fawns breeding. My question is how is the health of the fawn affected by either being AI'd or covered by a yearling buck? It has been kicked around that alot of people do live cover their fawns once they come into season (usually February). I have also seen fawns being AI'd at that time. I would like to hear the pros and cons of this and obviously the health risks that it poses. I dont want to cause unwarranted damage to a fawn. On the flip side, if there are no apparent problems then I dont want to miss out on a breeding.



Thanks,

Mulberry River Whitetails

Also, can someone touch on the breeding cycle if a fawn is bred; can they be AI'd or covered the same year in November one induced into heat?

From my opinion, there is no health issues if the fawn is bred her first winter. Live breedings happen all the time in the wild. BUT, I am not sure I agree with the part of inducing the heat and AIing the same fawn. If it happens naturally OK, but not causing it. Another eason is the fact that AIing this deer with a straw of semen will only produce 1 fawns. But that is just my opinion.



As far as the deer breeding and then delivering the fawn that has always went normally for me. The part of them breeding back in November has never caused a problem. As a matter of fact, many of the does that bred as fawns and then delivered in August, were the first ones to cycle and breed back in November. This in turn causes them to deliver first the following spring.



Like I said, these are just my opinons and observation from what I have seen in 12 years of deer farming.



GOOD LUCK !!

i had two fawns one born may 5 2011 the other may 16 2011,they were both bred(live cover)one on jan 1 2011 the other jan 3 2011,on 7-15 20 the older doe and the one bred on jan 1(that day i saw buck mount her)fawned one doe fawn and it is in good heath and growing very fast.the other doe did not fawn.

that is my expererence with young does breeding.i am going to let them breed this year also.

So Mr. Oliver, the fawn is live covered on her first year of life and fawns the following summer, are you saying that it is ok to induce her into heat and then AI her that November when all of the others are AI'd? The that doe's fawn would be 3 months old in November..........How would it do when the mother is taken from it to another location to be AI'd? Again, I thank you all for your comments and readiness to give knowledge. It is really appreciated!

We usually cover our fawns with a fawn or most of the time a yearling..Generally i think you will average between 30-50% fawning..I've had one to come in and have twins ..all the others have singles. Every fawn i have left on the mother survived so far except one. Most of them fawn around the middle of june..we have never ai'd or put a fawn in heat.. so i dont have any experience with that..

We are covering all of our doe fawns this year with a fawn also. This spring, one of our largest fawns (big single buck fawn) came from a fawn that was bred the first week of December. The buck fawn we're using this year is a Superwide Ranger/Bambi Escalade. We're hoping at least a couple come into heat. We'll pull the buck fawn by the second week of December as we try to avoid late fawns if possible.

That brings me into my next question..... my fawns were born on May 28th and June 1st. When do deer of that age usually come into heat? December seems a little early and if they came in heat in January or February then they would fawn too late to be induced into heat the following November. Wouldn't they? Thanks for the help. As you all can see, this is my first year farming.

mulberry river whitetails said:

That brings me into my next question..... my fawns were born on May 28th and June 1st. When do deer of that age usually come into heat? December seems a little early and if they came in heat in January or February then they would fawn too late to be induced into heat the following November. Wouldn't they? Thanks for the help. As you all can see, this is my first year farming.

Click to expand...

If they were born in aug or sept and you pulled them from the doe to bottle feed them you would be ok and she would be good to go for breeding in nov. I myself try not to let my fawns breed. I think it sets them back in body size alot of times and i would rather not take the chance of something going wrong. I know your fawns should be some of your best on the farm but im not in any hurry so i wait most times to breed them as yearlings.

i second what mike is saying, pulling the late fawns will allow the doe to cycle at the normal time the rest of the doe herd cycles. However, one year i had a doe give me fawns on Aug. 30, left them on her not expecting her to breed on time anyway, and then she had fawns again on May 16th the next year, you just never know, four fawns in just over 9 months.

Thanks for all of the replies. Your knowledge is invaluable.

mulberry river whitetails said:

So Mr. Oliver, the fawn is live covered on her first year of life and fawns the following summer, are you saying that it is ok to induce her into heat and then AI her that November when all of the others are AI'd? The that doe's fawn would be 3 months old in November..........How would it do when the mother is taken from it to another location to be AI'd? Again, I thank you all for your comments and readiness to give knowledge. It is really appreciated!

Click to expand...

Normally fawns are born on average about June 1 each year. Most of us will wean our fawns on or around September 1. At that time those fawns are approx. 3 months old. So, YES it is fine to have late born fawns ( lets say Aug 15), and then theoretically AI the same doe that delivered late on or around November 15. That fawn would be approx. 3 months old. The same age the average fawn is weaned from mom. Besides it is normal for late born fawns to grow a little faster than early fawns. Most of the time they are singles and getting more milk and attention from mom. Also the seasonal temperatures and moons are stimulating them to eat more.



This is just my opinion and observation from 12 years of deer farming.