New Baby reindeer to my herd

Have you considered one of those long handled grill scrapers/metal wire brushes instead of Brillo pads? Might be worth a trip to the local hardware store.

 

Brillo pads... ...I didn't realise Reindeers could wash up @BoHoKaren . Do send one over to mine as Domestic Goddess, I am definitely not .

Seriously though, how does that work? If it is all down to hormones and a natural process then shouldn't the Reindeer be left to do it in their own time or has it all got to happen within a certain time frame? Do the Reindeer feel it on their antlers if you're 'scrubbing' at them? Is it safe? (I'm sure you wouldn't do anything that would harm these lovely creatures Karen and I'm certainly not questioning your knowledge so please don't take my questions to be off in any way. I am just curious as to how it all works and why/how human intervention is required? I find all this absolutely fascinating so please forgive the endless questions. Am I assuming correctly that when you refer to the castrates being lazy that, that is because with them being castrated, therefore not having the enormous amounts of hormones kicking in, that they then can perhaps, 'take it or leave it' shall we say? 'The itch doesn't need to be scratched quite so desperately'.....

 

Questions are great, makes me realise when I haven't explained well enough ..
The velvet stripping is mainly hormone induced ready for the breeding season, entire males first, then females. When we have already interfered (gelding a male) then they only half heartedly strip as their hormones are very reduced, not only do they look scruffy (and like something that should appear on Halloween) as they will leave most velvet on and rest just dangling but you can get infections start under the remaining velvet. Helping them remove the rest doesn't hurt as such, maybe similar to having the dentist clean your teeth. The antlers once they have become hard have no feeling as such but are attached to the skull so there would be some vibration. And yes it is very safe, they are sweeties (except a bull during the rut).

 

Thanks for the additional explanation!

(BTW: If you are replying to the last post, you need not use the "reply" button to quote that post. Just reply. This is why your "quote" is getting edited out by the mods. Using the "reply" is only necessary when there have been more posts after the one you are replying to.)

 

Great info! Perhaps you can send a video of cleaning antlers to the makers of Brillo- who knows, maybe they will be interested in this new use for their product.

What is the determining factor for gelding males (I tried looking back thru posts, but may have missed you commenting on this)?

 

Thanks for info Noelle - I didn't realise (seen edit by Mod before and wondered if I had put an unacceptable word in - ie to do with rut)
Willow
Reasons for gelding are several. Entire males during the breeding season are very dangerous (breeding season is usually only September/October) BUT occasionally they come back into rut and you really wouldn't want that to happen while they are surrounded by children at Christmas. Gelded males, like gelded horses are far more tractable year round. During the breeding season two males of a similar size can fight to the death so all would need to be kept separate, with their own ladies and in paddocks that we humans don't need access to. One entire male can "run" with many females so few "entires" are needed. In some countries excess males go into the meat industry (but not here) they are castrated and used as working animals, visiting children, the sick, pulling sleighs (which you shouldn't ask the girls to do as they should be in calf at Christmas).
Edit.... Oh and forgot to add... entire males loose their antlers in November (once the rut is over) - So close your eyes unless you want to know that Rudolf has to be a girl or a castrate!!!
Hope that all makes sense...
A picture taken today while Monty was calm (no "mean" eye) - thought he looked particularly handsome

 

Thank you for the explanation; thought it might be to lessen the number of "active" guys. Didn't know they could go back into rut.

 

I love your pictures and your explanations BoHoKaren, very informative.

 

And for all you "Little Lotte" fans. Her eye is looking so much better today... not right yet as still a blue tinge BUT so much better than it was since the antibiotic cream administered. Some vision back already. Catching eye infections early is so crucial, the earlier treated the less likely of permanent scaring. I officially hate flies that spread eye diseases.... As an aside I have a few reindeer with silly long eyelashes that have never had an eye infection... I was always jealous of Boris' eyelashes but only from a vanity point of view... but oh boy they work!

 

Thanks for all the great pictures and great information! I believe you said the males lose their antlers what happens to them? You may have answered that many times sorry for that!

 

Sandollar - They just drop off.
All reindeer lose their antlers annually and grow a new set every year. Each year bigger and more elaborate and they grow again in under 3 months once they start growing again in the spring.
As to what I do with them from past years - at the moment a bride has borrowed them for her decorations for a Pagan wedding!

Picture is Boris in April - he lost one in the morning and the second dropped off in the afternoon. (The blue is an antibacterial spray I administered - not necessary but make me feel better!).

 

Here in the US, antlers (not reindeer but others) are used as a base for chandeliers, cribbage boards (a card game), door/drawer pulls and other decorative items. Sometimes they are just mounted as is for display on walls. IDK if anyone does anything with reindeer antlers here but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

Google Antler Art images if you want to see any.

 

@BoHoKaren, Thanks for the answer, it is nice to know that they can be used in some way as they are beautiful and come off naturally!

 

Once they come back from Bride I have been thinking about seeing if anyone wants them but that's another story... They do take up a lot of room!!!

 

Sections of antlers can be purchased at the pet store for dogs to chew. I doubt they come from reindeer though.

 

Lab M I have seen this too but sawing them up into dog chews is a little difficult for me (as yet). It's a full year cycle to grow their antlers and would prefer someone to mount or make a walking sticks etc... In time maybe I can cope with sawing up for dog chews..... but not yet!!! Would prefer appreciation rather than profit!!!

 

I'd love to have some! Just as they are. I love anything natural and the fact that they would've come off naturally is key as I wouldn't want anything from an animal that had been hunted/killed. What would I do with them? I 've no idea...a place to hang hats perhaps (even though I don't wear any . They could be quite a danger I guess if not put high enough up on a wall. I could see myself being impaled by one accidentally. Imagine going to A&E with an antler stuck in/up a body part....

Scarf holder???

 

I have a set of antlers at work (just ordinary antlers) and some antelope antlers (amazing what you find in cupboards that have been locked for years!) which I get out periodically; the kids love them and it gets them to appreciate wildlife.

 

TC, the antelope is actually called a Pronghorn as the head ornament is a horn, not an antler. From Wiki:
The Antilocapridae are a family of artiodactyls endemic to North America. Their closest extant relatives are the giraffids with which they comprise the superfamily Giraffoidea. Only one species, the pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), is living today; all other members of the family are extinct. The living pronghorn is a small ruminant mammal resembling an antelope. It bears small, forked horns.
In most respects, antilocaprids resemble other ruminants. They have a complex, four-chambered stomach for digesting tough plant matter, cloven hooves, and a similar body shape to antelopes. Their horns resemble those of the bovids, in that they have a true horny sheath, but, uniquely, they are shed outside of the breeding season, and subsequently regrown. Their lateral toes are even further diminished than in bovids, with the digits themselves being entirely lost, and only the cannon bones remaining. Antilocaprids have the same dental formula as most other ruminants:

 

Great info Noelle

Today Katya has joined the ranks of naked female reindeer (antlers anyway) but she has left a rosette on the top - sure it will be gone tomorrow...
Have decided that I should record velvet stripping dates to see if there is any correlation to calving dates... The girls don't show obvious signs of oestrus unless you happen to see a chase at dawn .. and it's only the chase that gives a clue (or last year a very lame Katya come morning! - only guessed but calving seemed to correlate)