FAWN PROTOCOL PROVIDES WESTWARD
MOVEMENT
This article was originally printed
in the August / September 2000 issue of Tracking The Industry. .
.
Canadian Whitetail Genetics Inc. is a
partnership between Rob Dunham, Saskatchewan, John Kerkvliet, Ontario, and Harm
Spangenberg, Ontario. Our goal is to develop a superb line of trophy whitetails
for the Saskatchewan hunting market. With Rob's expertise as owner of High
Caliver Ranch, and the producer knowledge of raising outstanding trophy
whitetails supplied by John and Harm, this partnership was an excellent
match.
We attended several conventions in
Saskatchewan and Alberta during the past winter and received many awards for
our trophy sheds, including the highest score for a non-typical. With
confidence in our genetic program, we turned our attention to ways and means of
bringing our genetics to Saskatchewan. This required participation in the
neo-natal fawn protocol.
A review of the protocol initially overwhelmed us.
The changes we would be required to make to our existing facilities were
numerous. We began by calculating the amount of area we would need per doe
according to the protocol, in order to determine the minimum size of the
pasture. The pastures are all double fenced with a minimum 10 foot buffer strip
in between. The buffer strip is tilled and maintained with lime the pastures
were covered with a copper sulfate solution. Wooden corrals were erected as
part of the catching area.
The interior of the barn consisted of a
feeding / shelter area for the does, a handling facility and squeeze for
applying the eprinex and pens for the fawns. We also installed a kitchen area
for preparing the formula, cleaning the bottles and keeping the
records.
The does were eprinexed and transferred
into their new facilities by mid May. As they were located next to the house,
we were able to keep a close eye on them. We were suprised to see how quickly
they became acclimatized to their new surroundings.
The success of applying the requirements of
the protocol could not have been achieved without the cooperation of Louise
Greenberg and Rusty Hawryluk of Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food and Ron Hind
at Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management. Their willingness to work
with us in interpreting the protocol was appreciated. It was apparent that we
all wanted this project to succeed.
As the fawns were born, John would watch
and identify the mother and subsequently remove the fawns within 24 hours of
birth. Each fawn was identified with a dangling tag and placed in a pen. Fawns
of similar age were housed together. The first 24 hours in the barn are
critical to the fawn. Milk formula must be offered slowly but frequently and
bathroom relief should be done often. The amount of the formula should be
adjusted to the size and age of the fawn. As more fawns entered the barn, the
amount of time needed to complete a feeding grew. At our peak of 50 fawns and 5
feedings a day, there was little time for life outside of the barn.
We followed the health of our does
carefully. We liked the natural birthing atmosphere as fawns were born in the
pasture, unassisted. The does regained their shape following the birth of the
fawns and did not suffer any ill effects from removal of the fawns. We were
also concerned about eprinexing the does every 30 days. We were cautious to
select cool, low humidity days, when possible. We also made some modifications
to our padded squeeze to accommodate our very expectant does. Overall, we were
pleased with the manner in which our does came through the protocol.
As our barn swelled with fawns, we began to
investigate the various options for transporting them to Saskatchewan. We
reviewed the possibility of using the pet carriers via Air Canada. However, our
fawns were too large to be comfortably and safely housed in the pet carrier and
with a three pet carrier limit per flight imposed by Air Canada, this option
was not feasible. Instead we engaged the services of a professional livestock
carrier to transport our fawns. The carrier was eager to accommodate our
concerns including a night time flight, a quiet area to load our fawns and our
wish to accompany our fawns on the flight. We bought a brand new crate with six
compartments to house our fawns. All 39 fawns in this shipment were
successfully transported to Saskatchewan. We brought milk formula along in a
large thermos container and were able to feed our fawns at the airport under
the supervision of the CFIA veterinarian. The fawns endured the transportation
arrangements with little stress. They were treated for shipping fever before
they left the farm. They immediately bedded down in the trailer on their way to
the airport, and again laid down when feeding was complete and they were
instaqlled in their crate, ready for the flight. They were quite calm
throughout the flight and maintained their curiosity about their surroundings.
Upon their arrival in Saskatchewan at 4:30 a.m., they were greeted by a CFIA
vet, Brent Mitchell and Mark Tartaryn. John stayed with the fawns for several
days and then returned home.
While we enjoyed working with the fawns, the
paperwork required to wupport the protocol was frustrating. We were required to
maintain records for our fawns, which wasn't a problem. The difficulty came
when trying to complete the transportation paperwork and acquire the import
permit. Before proceeding on any plan, there had to be unanimous agreement from
our attending veterinarian, our CFIA vet and representatives from Saskatchewan
Agriculture and Food. Satements and declarations had to be written, signed,
witnessed and forwarded to Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, where revisions
were requested and the procedure above repeated. Each step along the
transportation route required required statements from anyone who was involved
with the fawns. Then there was the paperwork required by the carrier and the
insurance company. By the time the fawns left, our fax machine was worn out
too.
We are currently feeding some fawns which
will be shipped at the end of July and thus close the protocol for this year.
While we feel the protocol was a success in terms of the stress on the does and
the fawns, the costs incurred were higher than we had originally budgeted, but
still realistic enough to make the endevour economically viable in order to
establish our quality genetics program in Saskatchewan.
Lizeanne Kerkvliet
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