Task B (Practical Husbandry) - Routine Preventative Care
Topic Summary:
The evidence shown in this section depicts routine preventative care measures I have taken for our animals in my role at the Deer Centre. It includes:
- A photograph of preparation of a worming agent in food for a carnivore species, with supporting information
- A candidate report describing my role in a faecal sampling scenario
- A faecal sampling record sheet I have completed for our deer species, with dates from 2015 and 2016.
- A witness statement describing my role in deep cleaning a carnivore enclosure
- A candidate report detailing the steps I took to implement a prophylactic medical treatment plan for our Short-Clawed Otters involving a dietary additive
Preparing Otter Wormer in Quail
Routine Worming
A significant aspect of our preventative health care protocol at the Deer Centre is the administration of routine worming treatment to all animals every six months.
Faecal samples are collected two weeks prior to worming in all species and tested for worm egg oocysts, however even if these reveal no concerns, worming is still carried out on a prophylactic basis to safeguard against prospective worm burdens.
For most deer species, the worming agent - which is rotated between Panacur and Ivermectin every two years to guard against worms becoming resistant to it - is poured over food, which is then split between multiple troughs dependent on how many deer are present in herds, to maximise the chances of each deer receiving as near to the desired dose as possible. Our Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) and Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), and our two hand-rears are wormed using a spot on treatment, delivered topically to their coat / skin as it is possible to get close enough to each of them to do so. The Red Deer herds are run into the barns for this purpose and released into a corral one by one. The wormer is delivered as each of them is allowed through the doorway.
For smaller herds, we are also currently investigating the viability of using a worming agent in a drop-out dart, as this could be a more successful way of ensuring each deer receives its correct dose.
For carnivores, wormers are given either in tablet form or granules in food items. For our Wildcats, Wolves, Lynx, Fox and Bears this is relatively uncomplicated, as they ingest their food in large enough mouthfuls and quickly enough that they rarely notice the wormer inside it. For our otters, it is more complex, as their skull morphology and dentition means they can only take in and chew small pieces at a time, and therefore are more likely to pick up on unusual tastes, such as from worming agents, in their food. These therefore have to be concealed extremely carefully in food, and usually split between several pieces to limit the amount and therefore strength of the taste in each piece.
In the photograph to the left, I am shown inserting Panacur worming granules into gaps I have cut in chunks of quail for the otters. On this occasion, I was successful in worming four of the five otters. Subordinate female Olivia did not take her full dose. In future, I hope to build upon the existing Positive Reinforcement Training I carry out with the otters (see 'B - Effective Handling & Restraint') to include their voluntary co-operation for injections, in which case I would seek to move towards an injectable wormer as an alternative to the current method, on the advice of the vet.
Photo authentication:
|
Candidate Signature: |
Date: 22/12/2015 |
|
|
Witness Signature: |
Date: 22/12/2015 |
Routine Monitoring of Faecal Matter
Whilst worming is carried out on a six monthly basis, faecal samples are collected for testing every three months (or more often if required) in order to monitor animal health and allow early intervention if needed.
This has been particularly important over the past three years, in which winters have been relatively mild and have given rise to higher worm yields in enclosures, with the normal pastural worm drop off rate not reached due to higher than normal temperatures and damp weather. For some species, such as the Fallow and Pere David's Deer, samples have been collected more often than every three months over the winter of 2015/16 due to the extremely damp, mild weather we have experienced.
Shown below are a candidate report detailing a recent faecal sample scenario I was involved in, and - to the right - a faecal sampling record sheet I have completed for our deer species, which allows us to track the dates samples were most recently collected, whether they were tested in-house or by the vet and their results.