New Fawn W/problem

One of the tecniques we use to remedy this type of problem is to take a piece of PVC pipe (select appropriate size and length) split it longwise, then secure a layer of foam rubber to the inside with adhesive. Then this "clam-shell" arrangement can be used as a padded splint to help get the hooves positioned in their proper location. The padding makes the device much more tolerable and prevents chaffing as is customary with a "stick-splint" arrangement.

Good Luck!

Great idea Scott. Do you normally run the splint to just below the knee?

I had triplets last year with this problem......only all there leg joints were weak.....when they stood it looked like their legs were broken at every joint.......I let nature take it's course and they all slowly but surely just from daily use strengthened their joints and now walk around pefectly healthy with normal legs.....I think sometimes the fawns are born a little early and their joints are just weak.....but with time and from daily use they will strengthen up just fine.........I just saw a fawn walking that way this past weekend at a friends farm and it is just fine now......unless they are truly deformed I would just let time heal them.........

I think you are getting a lot of good advice. I know of one well known breeder who says don't do anything for them and they will heal up on their own.



My only experience is with a pied I bottle fed last year. Her legs were so crooked you couldn't tell if she was coming or going. What I did was keep her in a pen 30'x30' with about 6" tall grass at all times. I figured bare dirt or hard surface might complicate things if she was having too much trouble. I think I have a few pics of her at a couple weeks old in my folders. I would say she has recovered about 80% today after one year of life.



Another friend of mine had a buck fawn he used splints on he purchased from the vet for sheep. His fawn was walking on his knees and caused to break through skin so that's the reason for intervention with the splints.



I think my perspective is to leave alone unless skin show signs of breaking and potentially letting in infection. I'm only a rookie so take it for what its worth. Good luck to you and your lil' ones!

I had one look like that two days ago walked around like that now it is fine i would let it go for few days see what happens then go from there . I've also seen this many times in past all got better in few days on own. I don't think it is anything to worry about.

If you are going to bottle raise this doe fawn, I would suggest you bring her in your house and work at streching her tendons 2 or 3 times a day. We had a buck fawn with this problem several years ago and it took him a couple weeks to straighten out but then he was OK. The problem with splinting is blisters leading to infection. However if you don't intend to bottle raise her, that might be your only option.

Scot you`ve got some got ideas here from some good knowledgeable people. Now I`ll tell ya what a ******* did with 2 cases just like this. The first time I caught the fawns I worked the joints & stretched the tendons. The next visit ( 3 hours ) later I did the same thing. I have one pen that is pretty steep so every couple hours I would get those fawns up and have them walk up the hill and then back down. Sometimes they got a little too fast and took a tumble. I didn`t want those tendons to get too tight so I would do this a few days and by the end of a week both fawns were walking normal. Now ya have some good advise and a Pollocks practice. Good luck.

We used rubber bands to hold the splints, you know the ones that your news paper comes wrapped in? They will degrade in about 10 days on their own, so if you cant catch the fawn, the splint will come off on its own.