I got a doe fawn that is five weeks old today. We introduced a small amount of pellets Sunday and upped them to 10 oz per feeding Sunday as well. Both her and her twin brother eat very well, but today at the 6 pm feeding she didn't touch her bottle, but had great pelleted poo and peed as well. Didn't drink an ounce. Any cause for concern? This is the first time either has refused the bottle, and it has me a little discouraged. She is to eat again at 11 pm, but I am thinking of giving her a little bit now to she if she eats any? Any other suggestions?
Fawn Trouble
- Thread starter Ferguson288
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I wouldnt worry and me personaly I wouldnt offer a bottle until their next scheduled feeding. As long as theyre poops normal and theyre healthy its good to have em a little hungry.
Just an update....she wouldnt take her bottle at 11 pm now.....Starting to get more worried.....her belly is hard to the touch and she seems to be passing a lot of gas.....hearing some very weird sounds coming from her belly area.....I am starting to think that bloat is becoming a big issue and I am thinking she may not make it through the night......HELP PLEASE!!
Its almost like there are short gasps of air coming from somewhere....like air inside her stomach that cant get out....If anyone is awake, I could use some help fast!!
I don't know if this will help you or not. It is from the baffled by bloat thread. You might read and see if your symptoms are the same.
I think I get a cookie too. This morning yet another fawn bloated to the size of a keg. We gave 5cc of Pen-G and 10cc of C&D Antitoxin (Mitch it wasn't A&D like I originally thought). The two were spaced a few hours apart. Within one hour of giving the antitoxin the bloat was totally gone. After consulting a few of the experts on the forum I believe it was the combination of the Pen-G and the Antitoxin that did the trick. Next time (hopefully there won't be a next time) I will administer them both together. Hope this can help someone else...
__________________
Lizabeth M Gode
WTD Rehabilitator
www.Fawnhaven.com
I think I get a cookie too. This morning yet another fawn bloated to the size of a keg. We gave 5cc of Pen-G and 10cc of C&D Antitoxin (Mitch it wasn't A&D like I originally thought). The two were spaced a few hours apart. Within one hour of giving the antitoxin the bloat was totally gone. After consulting a few of the experts on the forum I believe it was the combination of the Pen-G and the Antitoxin that did the trick. Next time (hopefully there won't be a next time) I will administer them both together. Hope this can help someone else...
__________________
Lizabeth M Gode
WTD Rehabilitator
www.Fawnhaven.com
I know I sound like a dummy....but I don't have either of those medicines....anything else?
Do you have any baby gas drops or Therabloat? If not you can try passing a tube into her stomache to relieve the gas. Last resort needle decompression.
There is another thing....when I hold onto her stomach and move her around, all her insides seems to shift around in the pit of her stomach.....and you can almost hear like water or something sloshing around in her stomach.....just the simple shift of her belly makes that sound....any ideas on that?
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no it is alert and acts fine....its just that shifting and sloshing of the belly is really getting me worried....its not that she is bloated (her stomach isnt real hard), but that sloshing is just weird
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I would not do anything drastic...
I feel everything is fine...I may be wrong, but it sounds normal to me...If they are drinking water and eating pellet and grass on their own.I would get the pen-g and c&d anti-toxin ASAP...but everything sounds normal.If you would feel better call me... I will be up for a little while still(724)735-9924
I feel everything is fine...I may be wrong, but it sounds normal to me...If they are drinking water and eating pellet and grass on their own.I would get the pen-g and c&d anti-toxin ASAP...but everything sounds normal.If you would feel better call me... I will be up for a little while still(724)735-9924
Ya I got a calming call from some newly trusted friends.....I think everything is fine.....Thanks to Liz and John....Now I can get some sleep!!!!!
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Ferg,
I think what you are describing is something that naturally happens in ruminants at about one month of age. It sounds to me like you are describing the rumen contractions, which are what works/flushes the ruminal material/feed stuff through the different chambers of the rumen.
The rumen does contain water/saliva and if you are listening you can hear the rumen contractions working the fluid and quite possibly you may also notice a hick-up reflex of sorts. The air you are hearing is probably the fawn belching, as ruminants belch a lot.
Some fawns will actually wean themselves from milk sooner than others. As some of the folks have said, if shes alert and her "poop" looks good, I wouldn't worry to much about it tonight.
Good luck,
John
I think what you are describing is something that naturally happens in ruminants at about one month of age. It sounds to me like you are describing the rumen contractions, which are what works/flushes the ruminal material/feed stuff through the different chambers of the rumen.
The rumen does contain water/saliva and if you are listening you can hear the rumen contractions working the fluid and quite possibly you may also notice a hick-up reflex of sorts. The air you are hearing is probably the fawn belching, as ruminants belch a lot.
Some fawns will actually wean themselves from milk sooner than others. As some of the folks have said, if shes alert and her "poop" looks good, I wouldn't worry to much about it tonight.
Good luck,
John
Ya she made it through.....now she wont take her bottle at all....no feeding since noon yesterday
How much has her water, pellets, grass, hay intake increased recently? They all seem to hit a slow spell every now and then. Like John said she's growing and her body is changing. Two things I might would do if she doesnt take milk in 24hrs, either mix a bottle 4 oz milk, 4 oz pedialyte or in a 6cc syringe add 1cc b complex and 5cc milk and squirt it in her mouth to swollow, hold her head back and get her to take it. most of the time if there's no other symptoms one of these will get her to pick back up eating. If she's browzing, drinking water, eating hay, you may reduce a little of the availability of each to get her to take more milk. If she doesnt seem lethargic, or her sides arent sunken in and she has a normal BM, I would say she's eating and drinking, just not the milk......