>>My mom is wondering if I need to paint the bark with something (the areas that the rabbits chewed off).You'll see, some say leave it alone, I like to put on Dr. Farwell's...

>>Now I have limbs missing the ends--not that many, but enough that I would hate for it to continue. I suspect it is deer. What are your suggestions.Usually Deer just nip ends off a bit, never found to be a big problem,...it could be when trees are very small, then
I put a farm fence around for several years...you can see picture in the spring frost thread.

Konrad

Here is a link that might be useful: Wound seal

Thanks for the link. I wondered about the deer. Glad to know that it is not something to worry over.
Jenny

The deer will continue to eat the tender new growth of what ever they can reach. They don't like figs or citrus. All other deciduous fruit trees they relish. They will stand on their hind legs to reach if they need to. Al

I'd hold off pruning until March 1-15 or so. Pruning too early on the plains can dry out the pruned ends and kill them back some. I did this last year, pruning in February, and while it did no major damage, it did tend to cause die back a few inches, and sometimes killed what I hoped would become the new leader for that branch. The next lowest bud then became the direction the branch grew, which wasn't always where I wanted it to go.
I don't know about the deer, they can do a lot of damage sometimes. Ask around your area and see what they do.