| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| kirsty |
Posted - 20 Oct 2010 : 9:40:16 PM
Hi
I know some of you have posted on this subject before and having spoken to my vet it seems there have been several instances of Deer attacking horses. When I got back from Belgium I turned my broodmare Burrowshot Lass (Hannah) out with Billy as when she is in foal they live together. When I arrived this morning Billy was in the wrong field so but stood the opposite side to the fence next to Hannah. I went to investigate and found one of the water containers smashed and the handle to the electric broken hence why Billy was in wrong section of his field. Despite calling Hans she wouldn't come to me so I went to investigate. Nothing could of prepared me for the state I found her in. She was covered in blood from head to toe and had multiple puncture wounds on her face and back legs and there was a trail of blood around the field. The largest of these wounds is the size of my fist. I phoned the vets and they straight away got hold of their chief vet Tessa as the foal that Hannah is carrying is Tessa's foal. We got Hans up to the top stables and hosed the wounds/blood off as we needed to see the extent of the damage. She has multiple wounds on her face/back legs and both the vet and I think they have been caused by a deers antlers. Billy didnt have a mark/any blood on him but was definately in shock about something. Hannah is the dominant mare and none of my horses including Billy will mess her about, in fact he asks her permission to enter the stable etc. Billy isnt a brave horse and would of run away from the deer but Hannah would of fought it and it looks like she protected Billy. She is on regular checks and has managed to eat a sloppy feed and a apple but is in severe shock, has raised respiration and pulse and her face is very swollen. The wounds arnt stitchable at the moment and we had to cut off a huge lump of flesh that was hanging out of the wound.
Kirsty
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| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| alpacastoo |
Posted - 01 Nov 2010 : 3:22:02 PM
Been offline for a while, only just caught this thread. Wishing her a speedy recovery. Do keep us up to date. Best wishes, Jan |
| Offira |
Posted - 01 Nov 2010 : 2:10:25 PM
The poor girl, I wish her a very speedy recovery. One of mine appears to have befriended a doe and I watched them quite nervously last night. I have seen the buck about but he seems quite shy and has small antlers, maybe if they have a lot of head armour they are more inclined to have a go.
What a brave girl to take on a stag. |
| Pasha |
Posted - 01 Nov 2010 : 1:23:40 PM
I can't believe I missed this before - how awful for you and Hannah! Keeping everything crossed she continues to improve! I had no idea Deer would attack a horse, but I guess a hormone charged Stag is capable of anything! (((HUGS))) to you both x |
| precious |
Posted - 01 Nov 2010 : 12:57:41 PM
Por hans keep us posted on her x |
| debs |
Posted - 30 Oct 2010 : 07:51:52 AM
How awful, glad she is back to herself, that must be so encouraging. Hope she continues improving and is back with her friend asap.
The flies must be such a niusance, I have seen a fly blown sheep before, horrible!
Keepimg everything crossed for you |
| kirsty |
Posted - 30 Oct 2010 : 07:05:42 AM
Thanks everyone Hans is a great mare and really trying hard we are hoping that the paralisis she has on her mouth is only temporary and that there isnt any permanent nerve damage. Hans is being so brave legs have healed well, face is horrific We now believe that it has to of definately been a deer to cause this as the wounds are multiple puncture wounds, some of them are several inches deep. The main wound is 6" by 4" and 2" deep, the damaged flesh is falling away, it going to get worse before it gets better. She is now in a fly mask by day to stop the flies laying eggs in it as earlier in the week we had a problem with blue bottle eggs and ended up with maggots in it. I pack it with cotton wool by day with the fly mask on top of this, she needs to go out to keep her legs down/circulation going/encourage her to eat. She has oedema on her belly. She is eating the stud cubes well and is back to her cheeky demanding self, Billy is missing her as they have spent every winter she is in foal together. Once all the infected/dead flesh comes away hopefully it will begin to heal
Kirsty
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| Libby Frost |
Posted - 30 Oct 2010 : 06:54:39 AM
Oh really sorry to read of this hope your mare gets well soon what a bloody awful thing to happen and how random!!  |
| Guesty |
Posted - 29 Oct 2010 : 1:29:12 PM
Do hope your mare is ok. xxx |
| precious |
Posted - 28 Oct 2010 : 3:36:41 PM
kirsty hows your mare doing x |
| jamie |
Posted - 24 Oct 2010 : 8:08:48 PM
have also just found this thread - what a shock - we have deer around here running through our fields but not encountered any problems so far - poor brave Hannah - hope she and her foal made a good recovery x |
| Paresh |
Posted - 24 Oct 2010 : 11:57:34 AM
have also just found this thread hope your girl continues to improve, good job she is a fighter. |
| buffy |
Posted - 24 Oct 2010 : 10:26:32 AM
I have only just read this thread and I am so sorry Kirsty, what a terrible ordeal for you and the horses...
Although I know how aggressive stags are towards each other during rutting, I had no idea they would attack other species.
This reminds me very much of what happened to Buffy (in her case it was a pack of dogs). Being the 'herd' leader, they have protected the others and paid the price. She sounds a brave and strong girl and these qualities will stand her in good stead as she recovers.
Such an dreadful thing to happen, especially as she is carrying a foal. Hope that she continues to improve and heals well.
Hugs and best wishes,
Sandra
x
Edited for spelling! |
| barbara.gregory |
Posted - 23 Oct 2010 : 09:46:46 AM
So sorry to hear of Hannah's horrific ordel. I had no idea that deer wouls attack a horse. We have a lot of deer around here but I haven't seen any other than muntjacs in the horses fields.
I hope she is feeling better soon. Ask the vet about giving her Visorbin (think that was what it was) as that is good for anaemia and also for increasing the appetite.
Barbara |
| Debbie |
Posted - 23 Oct 2010 : 07:37:59 AM
OMG...what a horror story but I am glad to hear your mare is on the mend!! When we lived on exmoor, we often had up to 25 deer at one time grazing with the horses including a fully antlered mature stag and some young ones. Luckily the horses weren't spooked and never had any incidents. My best deterent was my deerhound who used to chase them off the fields at full speed!! |
| Cate |
Posted - 22 Oct 2010 : 7:40:04 PM
Glad to read Hannah is on the mend. What a terrible shock for all involved. We have dear running through our fields and they are often in my woods. My horses have never liked being too far away from the house, and we thought it was a big cat (because there have been sightings) but the whisperer said she picked up from one of my mares that there are deer in the bottom fields and the horses don't like going down there. I've had my horses panicking to get in as the night draws in and left our Welsh Sec C till last a few years ago and I had to race back down because he was screaming to get in. Very unusual because he was such a sane boy, but he was so frightened. We put it down to a big cat, but now I'm wondering if it has been the deer all along. |
| Tricia |
Posted - 22 Oct 2010 : 6:21:45 PM
We have had a real problem with the deer getting into our fields. Just recently I found a huge red stag tangled up with its antlers in my electric fencing - it had broken its neck. They are obviously trying to get down to my lake so we have now taken down the fencing in that field and thereby lost the grazing as it has caused quite a lot of problems. Strangely the horses have never liked it in that field! |
| Julie Bridges |
Posted - 22 Oct 2010 : 2:01:34 PM
I am so very sorry to hear of the injuries to your mare and pray she will soon make a speedy and complete recovery.
If you are in a deer area you need to be aware that Deer are rutting now (for about another 2 to 3 weeks)and stags can be very aggressive during the rut. I have three big groups of Fallow on my farm with 4 mature stags plus some young hopefuls. Although they look magnificant, I never get too close and never get between the boys and the girls, especially in October.
Keeping deer out of fields (unless you spend a fortune on high deer fencing) is almost impossible. I have not tried electric fencing so do not know how successful it is.
If the stag is to be shot, there are certain regulations about the type of gun / ammunition etc.
I hope there are no more attacks anywhere else.
Julie Bridges |
| precious |
Posted - 22 Oct 2010 : 12:19:23 PM
glad to hear hannah is on the mend slowly, fingers crossed the stag has vanished now and wont come back!
Keep us posted on hannah x |
| kirsty |
Posted - 22 Oct 2010 : 09:01:19 AM
Hi Everyone
Thank you ever so much for your good wishes. Hannah is slowly improving but we have a long way to go yet, thank god she is strong willed and a fighter (but not a good idea to fight with a deer). Her blood count was very low showing that she had lost a lot of blood she has passed droppings at last and eaten some hay pony nuts. Her pulse is still very high (70) Her face is very swollen which makes it hard for her to get food in/eat and we have found she manages nuts better as she can get them to the back of her mouth easier than sloppy feeds. She is on 2 lots of antibiotics and iv pain relief etc. The vet is coming again later and will be coming daily at least for the next week, she has been great to handle despite being in pain even if she is giving Tessa strange looks at times. Hubby saw 4 roe deer in the field this morning but we think it may of been a seeker deer come in from the woodland opposite that did this to Hannah. A local retired vet who is a deer expert is going to come and try to stalk the deer if he can (he has a open licence./is ministry approved so can shoot in our fields hubby licence isnt open so cant shoot in our fields.
Kirsty |
| arabian |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 11:21:10 PM
what a terrible thing to have happened sending you healing thoughts and keeping everything crossed for a speedy recovery x |
| Nicky F |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 6:26:02 PM
Poor Hannah, what an awful shock for you, hugs and positive vibes coming your way :-))
Nicky
x |
| precious |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 4:40:26 PM
OMG what a shock!!!
Sending hugs x
Come on Hannah and foalie you can both do it xx |
| MinHe |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 3:44:16 PM
What a horrible thing to happen. Sending positive thoughts your way for Hannah and foalie.
Keren |
| Susie T |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 3:07:04 PM
Oh gosh what a dreadful shock for you. Poor poor Hannah - I hope she is starting to improve, and that Billly is OK too. xx |
| Nichole Waller |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 2:33:33 PM
Poor Hannah, i hope she recovers soon. Sending lots of heeling vibes and hugs.  |
