Buck vs Doe kids

sh1kar

Well-Known Member
For some reason this year almost all the Roe kids I have seen with mum to date have been does. This is across a sample of c 25 does with kids. It did get me wondering what a normal gender spread would be and whether ground, feed type, current population dynamics etc etc had any impact on gender ratios in any one year

This article would tend to indicate our does are far too happy! Birth-sex ratios and local resource competition in roe deer, Capreolus capreolus | Behavioral Ecology | Oxford Academic


And this somewhat inconclusive but some similar findings Contradictory findings in studies of sex ratio variation in roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) (PDF Download Available)

Are any of you in a management plan actively trying strategies to increase buck ratios?

S
 
I have generally been finding that the does in my area produce two kids a buck and a doe, based on fetus inspections, however by the time the crops come down I will usually only see one with the doe and it is generally a doe as well so often wonder what the survival rates are?

I have also generally found that I will have about 3 mature does to each buck with a doe kid or two, so I often wonder where all the bucks go?

However I know that nature will always find a way to keep the balance, providing we also do our job right
 
Trying not to show my lack of knowledge here but at what stage do the buck kids start to show signs of actually being a buck i.e. testicles descended etc. I remember reading somewhere that in the early stages after birth it was hard to sex them and ashamedly to be very honest I either haven't tried or not been able to.
 
Bucks and Does are born in equal numbers but as in many species Doe kids seem to be stronger and have a better survival rate over the first year of life .
 
I normally expect in about September to be able to tell a buck kid from a doe as if you look carefully they are starting to show small buttons on their head. You need good eyesight / optics and head held at the right angle to see them.

I have shot a fawn in August before as it wasn't looking healthy and had a bad limp. Penis well developed, but testicles still small. It had a nasty spetic cut on front leg. Could n't sex it definitively before the shot, but given the injury it wasn't going to do well if it survived so a cull animal.
 
You can't always be 100% certain, usually it's just an educated guess which is then normally confirmed as they develop, I don't always get it right either! :confused:
 
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