I know there are many threads on fawn bloat. I've read through all of them. My fawns get bloated only when they drink a bottle. They blow up like balloons. They act like they are starving. Their stools look great--pellets. No diarrhea. They seem healthy although a few of their coats look dull and rough.
I've given pumpkin. I've given C & D antitoxin. I've decreased their formula mix. I've given probiotics and I've given baking soda.
They get better, they blow up, they get better, they blow up.
I'm very confused.
What milk are you giving? What kind of bottle and nipple are you using? Are you making sure their heads are tilted upwards. How often and how much are you feeding them.
Just for reference on my end. I use red cap (whole milk) from the store. Real goats milk or Fox Valley replacer is the only other kinds of milk I would ever use. I prefer goats milk right from the source, but unless you have a nanny it’s more expensive than cows milk and not as easily accessible as going to get it at the store. In my opinion, red cap doesn’t keep them full as long as the other two though.
A plastic coke bottle and Prichard nipple from TSC is the best. You can cut the nipple down as the grow for more intake.
I keep my fawns head at 45 degrees or a little more. Anything lower is not good. They are going to get air and milk could go down the right way.
It’s also important to keep them on a schedule and only give them an X amount. If you overfeed them, they will get bloated and possibly diarrhea. For example, I have an 11 week old female. I give her 14 ounces (red cap) every 6 hours. She gets solid foods in between meals such as Kale, collard greens, black berries, strawberries, grass, leaves, dirt etc. She’s a picky one so she won’t eat pellets, for now.
When you feed your fawns milk, their bellies will swell up like they are kinda pregnant. However, by their next feeding their bellies should return to normal. If it hasn’t went back down to normal and is still bloated looking, don’t feed. It will only make the bloat worse.
Watch about having much clover and alfalfa in their pen.
