Deer Farmer

Texas John · Jul 12th 2009, 03:56 AM

Am trying to get our fawns to eat pellets.

They love the bottle and will take pellets from us by hand and like them, but just don't seem interested in the pellets we have put out for them to nibble on.

Have put "nice" pieces of grass, etc; they just aren't interested.

Any suggestions to get them to try?

Buckskin · Jul 12th 2009, 04:42 AM

I sprinkle powdered milk on the pellets. They like licking the pellets to get the powdered milk and start picking up pellets on there tounge and then chew them. We did use superior fawn starter pellets this year and they seen to like them also. We were mixing it with our regular feed and with in a week they were eating the regular deer feed. Rick

IndependenceRanch · Jul 12th 2009, 05:44 AM

Hey Texas John. Deer like what other deer are eating. Have you ever noticed that when one is eating something another one comes and checks it out to see what they are missing? If you get just one eating solids the rest will learn from that one. Use a dog if you have one, or an older deer to your advantage maybe if you think they are not learning on their own fast enough. But if not, just leave the dish in their area and they will catch on.

Scott Heinrich · Jul 12th 2009, 05:44 AM

Cherrios and raisins sprinkled on top of the feed helps get them started too. They love cherrios. Note they prefer the plain over the honey nut variety.

brianjames · Jul 12th 2009, 07:34 AM

As soon as I change from feeding 3x a day to 2x a day they all begin to chown down on the feed. I feed a textured feed though, It may make a bit of difference...

Whitetail Sanctuary · Jul 12th 2009, 08:57 AM

we mix in calf mana with our textured feed and they take right off for us but we start them from day one with it available beside their fresh dirt and water. good luck but i think they will take right off when their ready.

Texas John · Jul 12th 2009, 09:21 AM

Thank all of you for the ideas - will try. I certainly appreciate the help you all provide. Best to each of you.

IndependenceRanch · Jul 12th 2009, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whitetail Sanctuary

we mix in calf mana with our textured feed and they take right off for us but we start them from day one with it available beside their fresh dirt and water. good luck but i think they will take right off when their ready.

Awww, now what you sharing that secret feed like that.

Yep, Calf Mana is awesome. That is what we use also. We don't even provide regular deer feed any more until we start putting them in the adult pens. Then we start mixing the 2 together for a couple of weeks to let them adjust. We also provide the pellets, dirt and clovers from the first couple of days and just freshen it every couple of days. Some start right away and some take a little while. We have one fawn in the house right now who has been eating pellets since she was 3 days old.

Whitetail Sanctuary · Jul 12th 2009, 03:08 PM

SORRY, Roger i left the bag open and the cat got out