The Tail White Ranch

Aslan

The Red Coats are coming.

Something else that is fun to watch in the spring the change from the grey winter coats to the red summer coats. When you look at them and see their battle scars, (Areas where their hair has been rubbed off, usually by the hoof of another deer. ) In these pictures you can see that Red summer coat coming in under that heavy gray winter coat.

Aslan and Thunder

Well its that time of the year again, where we start watching the antler development in the bucks. This year we are watching Aslan who will turn 2 next month and Thunder who will turn 6 months old this month. I have some pictures of the deer but they are coming out of winter and need to put on some weight and they are shedding a lot so they look a little rough right now. I have been dealing with some issues with these guys but I believe I am getting the ahead of it now, we are making some major changes in their feed that we are hoping will help the deer put on a little more weight and grow to their full potential. Keep on eye on them this summer and see if it all pays off by this fall. On a side note we have tried to limit the breading and we are not expecting any fawns this spring. We may be surprised but so far we don't have any reason to believe that we will see fawns this spring but there was some times when some of the does were mixed with the bucks, the question is was the timing right. We will see.

Here is Thunder and Aslan as of this morning.
Check out the size of Aslans base for his antlers. I am expecting a big rack from him this year.
Thunder is just 6 months old being born last October, he got a very late start but because of that he did not have any antlers to shed last fall instead he got an early start on growing his antlers. So I expect he will probable grow a couple spikes or at best a couple of forks but you never know.

 

Dealing with changes in spring

Spring time is a great time of year. For the deer it is a time of fresh vegetation to consume and an increase in the matabolism. There is also the begining in the chnage from their thick brown winter coat to the light red summer coat. They are shedding heavily right now, and for the fawns they begin a second season of rapid growth to reach their adult size. The bucks did shed their antler at the end of winter and begins the process of growing new ones. This time bigger and heavier then the ones before. At least till around age 5-6. Then there are the worms and diseases to worry about. We have to give them a wormer and other medications and vacinations. So spring can be a difficult time and present some challenges, but when all is done you can be rewarded with big healty and beautiful deer.

Here at the Tail White Ranch we have been dealing with some issues regarding deer health. Observations showed that with the spring growth came some signs that the deer were not at their optimal weight and the growth and changes they were going through were creating some signs of stress on some of the animals. I have been working with my vet and talking with other breeders and we are currently focusing on the feed. So I have been talking with some nutritianilists and it appears the feed is lacking some helpful ingredients that would improve the quality of the deer through this time of changes. So I am taking a 2 pronged approach, I am going to get some supplements tomorrow that should meet thier needs throught the rest of this batch of food then I will be changing brands with my next order to a higher quality feed. I have two options before me right now. There is one that really looks promissing but currently is not available locally. If it works out they will have some thing locally for me very soon. If that does not work out I have another provider that will drop ship the food to me as it also is not available locally either. But in any case we now have some plans in process to further improve the quality of life for our deer, thus allowing them to grow in to the big beautiful deer they should be. We are constantly striving to provide the very best environment for our deer, and we believe these changes will have a positive effect on the entire herd.

How sweet is that

Bella and Thunder have formed a bond that I find a little surprising. Thunder was raised inside for most of his first 6 months. He was put out occasionally and as the weather got warmer and he got more fur we started putting him out more and more. Bella and Thunder seemed to form a bond that I have not seen in any of the other deer. When Thunder started sleeping outside we found Bella always seemed to be near by. Even more recently when I would take a walk in the woods, when I would find one I usually would find the other. Well Thunder is reaching an age of maturity and we felt it best to put him in the bucks kennel to keep him from getting the does pregnant. So this morning I had the opportunity to put Thunder in with Aslan. He was adjusting well and seemed to accept his new surroundings. Later this afternoon I was doing some work on the fence and I saw Aslan and Thunder laying down and chewing their cud. Then over by the fence was Bella laying right up against the fence. She got as close as she could to Thunder. It so very cute to see how she wanted to be close to him.

Everything is back to normal

We did a little round up and got all the girls in to one kennel and Aslan in one by himself. The next day I was able to repair the gate and re install it. The fun was trying to get Aslan back in his kennel and not let him mix with the girls. They were not cooperating and we finally had to wait until they all decided to go back in the woods. We were then able to get Aslan back to his kennel. And all has returned to normal now.

Aslan finds a way out

Aslan got a little rambunctious today and found a way out his kennel and in to the kennel with the girls in it. Here is a picture of his handi work. And he did this with out any antlers.

you tube video

I just created a you tube channel and uploaded our first video.
This video is of some of the doe fawns playing in a little water hole.

Aslan is back in isolation

Aslan got a little to excited after being let out of his kennel. He became a bit more aggressive and was chasing the does, so we decided to but him back in his own kennel.

I also have been noticing that Thunder has now caught up in size to the doe fawns that were born months earlier then him, He is now as tall or taller then all the doe fawns. Also his buttons are quite large now and we are waiting to see if they break out and start growing antlers.

Aslan rejoins the herd

We decided that once Aslan would shed his antlers that we would open all the pens to all the deer. This turned out to be incredibly interesting. When I got home from church this morning I went out to see Aslan and took some pictures. Then we opened up the gates to his pen that connected with the other pens. Aslan went out and slowly walked around. Even though we was in the other pens before the rut started last fall he acted like it was all new to him. He was very inquisitive and checked out a lot then he would start to run around a bit. I think it was a bit of overload for him. The amazing thing to watch was the does and how they acted. First when Aslan came into their pen they all came up to him and really checked him out. After a while of that they all made their way into his pen and really investigated. It was really interesting to see all these does walking around and investigating everything. At one point my wife and myself were standing at one corner of the pen when one of the doe fawns came running toward us all the other deer thought that since she is running we should run and we had the whole heard come running past us with tails full up and wagging. It was the closed thing I have seen that was like a stampede. It was totally awesome to see all these deer big and small come running past us. I even had my camera on and in my hands but was engrossed in the moment I didn't even think to take pictures. I wish I had but it was incredible to watch. Today was a big learning experience for us the behavior of all was unexpected but also very fun to watch. Here are some pictures from today.