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Bottle Feeding Fawns

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shawnando14

Joined Mar 2015
14 Posts | 0+
Pennsylvania
Any advice on the best way to start doe fawns on the bottle would be great advice.  Would like everyones knowledge.  Only gonna be the second time doing it this year.  Do you give colostum the first few days, what milk replacer is best, and is red cap whole milk good to use instead of milk replacer?  Any information will help.  Thanks


 


Just trying to make bottle feeding successful and go smooth. 


 


Shawn
 
shawnando141018181428118021



Any advice on the best way to start doe fawns on the bottle would be great advice.  Would like everyones knowledge.  Only gonna be the second time doing it this year.  Do you give colostum the first few days, what milk replacer is best, and is red cap whole milk good to use instead of milk replacer?  Any information will help.  Thanks


 


Just trying to make bottle feeding successful and go smooth. 


 


Shawn




Did you have issue's last year?  If not keep on truckin and if so what part was the issue?
 
There are many good bottle feeding topics on here - pm me your email address and ill try and find my bottle feeding chart and routine to send ya as a reference how we do it - i feed first milkings after a cow has calfs from a dairy farm to my fawns for the first 3 days - great source of clostrium better than anything youll find in the stores - if there is a dairy farm near you ask them they just throw it out most of the time anyhow - you can freeze it also
 
Local farm market here has colostrum in pints. I feed a pint per fawn until it's gone usually only a few ounces per feeding, then the rest of the bottle filled with red cap milk. do not serve milk cold. Keep pumpkin filling and yogurt on hand for any bowel troubles.. search the forums here. Tons of great info from great people
 
Why feed colostrum to the fawns when by the time you pull from the mom at 24-48 hours their gut has already closed. It sure wont hurt them but you can feed your regular milk to them at the start. I always keep some on hand for a fawn that gets turned away by the mom at birth like maybe a doe that has 4-5 fawns or some 1st time moms or even some fawns having fawns. 


 


I know one farmers that mixes powered colostrum with his Red Cap and feeds his fawns for their whole weaning period, does not seem to hurt them but probably just an added expense for him.  When one finds what works then thats what they should stick with i guess.  
 
Not an expert on bottle feeding by any means, but seems to me you should feed them something that is designed for them. Scientists and researchers spend countless hours perfecting feed formulas, how can anyone one person feel they have something better? Also, one thing I remember from a Purina seminar is that deer can live on a lot of things, but they thrive on the right things. There are many nuances in their diets and digestive systems.
 
Wild Rivers Whitetails1018251428168488



Not an expert on bottle feeding by any means, but seems to me you should feed them something that is designed for them. Scientists and researchers spend countless hours perfecting feed formulas, how can anyone one person feel they have something better? Also, one thing I remember from a Purina seminar is that deer can live on a lot of things, but they thrive on the right things. There are many nuances in their diets and digestive systems.




 


I certainly am not an expert, but I have bottle fed a LOT of fawns over the last 30 years. Red cap milk, for me, has 1/10 the gut problems of ANY powdered formula that I have tried, and I have tried most of them.
 
Well hope to avoid the whole thing again this year. We only bottle feed if we have to, and even then will try to put a fawn back in with another mother if we can. Nature does it best.
 
mike, for me, I do what works from other farmers experiences. I have been "mentored" by a fellow farmer about 5 mins from me. He suggested colostrum for the first week of a fawns life. I followed his "program" and didn't loose any of the 4 fawns I bottle fed last year, also my first fawns ever bottle feeding. Red cap and colostrum for the first week. After that, strictly red cap milk. No major problems last year following his recommendations on feed so I'm not gonna change it until I see a reason to. The colostrum is only $5 a pint so it's not to bad. It's fresh, frozen colostrum from jersey cows at a local Amish store near me


My mentore has been farming deer since the mid 90's so he has the experience and knowledge so I put my trust in his time and efforts over the years.
 
I'm new to all of this but why not leave them with their mothers for good? How come you bottle feed them at all?
 
Moose..a few reason we bottle feed the doe fawns...the biggest are to give the buck fawns as much of moms colostrum and milk as possible. the next is a bottle fed doe fawn is a lot tamer. a tame doe herd is. people have different ways to tame the herd but bottle feeding is huge for keeping them tame. It's all more about interaction with them tho. If one just feeds them and that's it, they wont be as tame...if one wants dog tame does then interaction s KEY
 
Those are good reasons to bottle feed. However it takes a lot of time and commitment to do it. You are tied down for at least three months. Also, there are many issues and problems that come up with bottomed fed fawns. For those reasons we don't bottle feed unless we have to. Our deer are fairly calm since we throw peanuts to them and they will come up to the truck. We have found that bottle fed does are the most difficult to run through a handling system as well. Never bottle feed a buck unless you have to, they are really dangerous when in hard antler.
 

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