title: A cross-sectional study of reproductive indices and fawn mortality in farmed white-tailed deer.
abstract: Data were obtained from a questionnaire administered to a random sample of Canadian and United States white-tailed deer (WTD) farmers. Reproductive indices and survival of fawns from birth until 1 y of age were examined. Major factors in limiting herd increase were a low reproductive rate (88 fawns per 100 does exposed to bucks) and a 30% mortality of fawns from birth until 1 y of age. The latter figure differs from reported mortality rates in fallow deer and red deer/wapiti. The unacceptably high neonatal mortality on WTD farms was determined to be as important to herd productivity as failure to produce a live fawn. Industry wide, "benchmark" estimates of reproductive performance, mortality rates, and productivity are provided, allowing farmers to compare their herds against these "benchmarks" to identify areas needing improvement.
authors: Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon.
authors: Jerry
authors: J
authors: Haigh
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Berezowski
authors: Murray R
authors: MR
authors: Woodbury
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D019985:Benchmarking; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003670:Deer; D005260:Female; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012098:Reproduction; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology