getting fawn to eat

This is my first fawn to bottle feed. She is 3 days old. We pulled her yesterday. I tried to feed her at 8, 12, 4, 8. She didnt really drink much. Maybe a total of 3oz. I push my fingers on the sides of her mouth to get it open and then give her the bottle. She swallows what I squeeze in but dosen't really suck it down. My question is how aggressive should I be to keep forcing her. At first it isn't bad but after a few minutes she really throws her head around and squirms and jumps ALOT and clamps her mouth shut. I have been giving up then. Also then I stimulate her and she has peed every time and this last time she pooped. It was kinda dark yellow and soft but not runny at all. How much should I force her and at what point should I get more aggressive and be worried?

Good advice David. The only thing I might add is be sure the nipple is on top of the tounge. Have fun and good luck. Allen

Woody I wouldn't sqeeze the bottle too much as you can force milk into the lungs. It's better to make the opening a little bigger in the nipple. I try to put a finger in the mouth and when I feel them sucking I slip the nipple to them. Alot of the time they take off sucking and relize it ain't too bad and you got them hooked. Leave them a little hungry at first and they will be more willing the next time. also on finicky eaters the temp of the milk is kind of important. Moms milk comes out at around 100 degrees so if your milk is luke warm it won't seem right. Same thing if you get it to hot they will back off. As far as the poop goes it comes out kind of soft a yellow for a day or two and then slowly darkens up and firms up. It will be in clumps but you will see the pellets forming in it. Hang in there. It will get easier. Rick

Be very carful when squeezing fluid into the mouth of the babies as you can get it in the lungs and then it's most times all over for the fawn. I feel the most important thing is to make friends with the baby. Just sit with it in a small area and be friendly. I never keep a baby in something so big I have to chase it to get my hands on it. I place each baby deer in a four by four pen. The stimulating of the baby for poop and pee will help this bond. Like Dc says in a day or two you will be the mother and it will respond as if you were. I personally take babies when 12 to 24 hours old as they are very easy to inprint on you. I don't try to feed them for the first 12 hours, just pet and stimulate them. You will win in the end.

If you think baby deer are hard you should have to try an elk. I had a calf that was 15 days old which had to be bottle fed as the mother died. It took me 10 days for the elk's light bulb to go on and suck from the bottle. At two days I had to start to tube feed it till it took the bottle. I was sure it was going to die before it took the bottle. In the end I was the mother and it would follow me where ever I went. She is still on the ranch and is still tame.

woody said:

This is my first fawn to bottle feed. She is 3 days old. We pulled her yesterday. I tried to feed her at 8, 12, 4, 8. She didnt really drink much. Maybe a total of 3oz. I push my fingers on the sides of her mouth to get it open and then give her the bottle. She swallows what I squeeze in but dosen't really suck it down. My question is how aggressive should I be to keep forcing her. At first it isn't bad but after a few minutes she really throws her head around and squirms and jumps ALOT and clamps her mouth shut. I have been giving up then. Also then I stimulate her and she has peed every time and this last time she pooped. It was kinda dark yellow and soft but not runny at all. How much should I force her and at what point should I get more aggressive and be worried?

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Are you stimulating her while trying to feed? If not this could be part of the problem. Your post sounded like you were stimulating her after trying to feed. Try stimulating her for a few seconds before introducing the bottle then do both simultaneously. You can also try to put your index finger on the back side of her mouth once you get the nipple in... it sometimes stimulates them to move their mouth in a "chewing"/sucking motion. Also if you let them suck on your ear (easy with the comments boys, haha) that may help as well.

I would keep a close eye on her because if she's only getting a few onces everyday she could go downhill quickly. Good luck.

Woody, What are you using? Formula

Woody,

One other thing that is super important ie the faens temp. you can usually tell if they are cold as their cheek (Lips) feel cold....if that is the case they need warmed up.....my one fawn yesterday was fighting me tooth and nail...I took it to my friends he noticed right away that it was cold.....they took warm towels from the dryer and warmed it up for about 20 minutes and he had the deer eating within minutes after that...........once thye learn to suck the nipple you are home free!!!! Good Luck!

i had a fawn that wouldn't eat until i let her lick some of the sweat from my neck. They are attracted to the salt... she is 4 days old and now she will follow me around for 10 minutes. when i start feeding a new fawn i keep a razor (safely) close to make small adjustments to the nipple opening until fawn is eats. try stimulating the throat to encourage swallowing. I use Playtex VentAir bottles, they cost alittle bit more but last a long time, prevent air from being consumed, and work awsome. (32) 660-4338 call an time between 5am and midnight, i'll be awake. I will be happy to share more about what we are doing and what i have learned through talking to others and reading. Good luck.



Cameron Crow

Hoof and Horns Ranch

(832) 660-4338

[email protected]



P.S. we are feeding fox valley and mixing it with red cap

Thanks everyone so much for the help. I wasn't on here cuz of the holiday and I don't have internet at my house. (Only at work). Here's an update. I was stimulating her after I fed her only because I couldn't open her mouth, hold her, hold the bottle and stimulate all at once. Over the weekend I got my wife to give her the bottle and feed her while I held and stimulated her. At one time she did seem to choke a little on it and coughed just a bit but seems OK. She started to look for the nipple herself and she would suck around my armpit and at my shirt. As she was doing this, I snuck the nipple in there and, like you said, she took off sucking. She is drinking 4oz. and climbing all over me for more. I have been stimulating her AS she drinks now and that seems to work well. I can even do it alone. I give a soft grunt on a deer call when I go to her pen to feed and this morning she got up on her on and came over to eat. Took the nipple on her own and slurped it right down. I am feeding her goats milk. I get it from a farm down the road ($8.00/gal) and freeze it and thaw as I need. I'm using pritchard nipples. Now let me ask this, how much and how long should I stimulate her? She pee's as I feed but she drinks so fast that I still rub her after she is done. She goes some, but as I sit with her for a little while petting and hopefully bonding with her I do it some more and, man, she really seems to pee pretty much. Is this OK? Also, she dosen't poop every time. At first I figured it was because she wasn't getting a whole lot to eat, but then she went twice in a row, skipped a time, went a little dime size piece, then the next time smaller, and over night and this morning not at all. How often should they go? Every time, every other time or two or three or just whenever? It has been looking like pellets, only way softer, stuck together, and dark yellowish. Also,the dirt I give her is out of the pen she will eventually be in. Is it Ok to just dig up a little or should it be something special? I know not potting soil but should it be any kind of special dirt? Finally, my hats off to you guys who do 20 or 30 fawns!!!! You guys are superhuman!!!! I grew up on a farm and can't believe how nervous, worried, heartsick and mother hen like I am over this fawn!! She's ALL I want to do and think about. I guess I don't want anything to go wrong with her and have her get sick or die because I took her from Mom and did something wrong. (I even laugh at myself) We had two sets of twins, and a set of triplets over the weekend so I guess I'll be getting another one or two to do. GOD HELP ME!!!! Seriously though, a big thanks to all of you for your help and advice. Saying I REALLY appreciate it doesn't seem to be enough to cover it but it's from the heart and truly sincere. (Humbly, Thank you)

Woody, Thats great to hear. These little guys can get addictive. It can be a ton of work but you truley get a feeling of accomplishment when you get them raised. As far as help goes I have never seen a group of people more willing to help somebody suceed in raising their deer. Not that they don't compete a little to see who has the biggest or best buck out there but when it comes to pulling an animal through a sickness or injury there simply are no secrets and for the most part I think everyone is there to help. Keep up the good work and hang in there. Rick

Well at least I feel a little better about how it's progressing. Another thing, I live in east central PA. and the weather report for the next few days is on and off rain. I have a playschool childs play house in the pen for her to get out of the rain, but beings that it is kinda cool (only in the 50's) should I bring her inside or just dry her off and rub her up when I feed her. I'd like to think she would be fine as long as it isn't pouring and it isn't too cold and blowing out. It's supposed to warm up some tomorrow. (60"s-70). I don't want to baby her TOO much but I don't want to be slacking either.

If you have a place to bring her in I would.........cold and wet is stressful on them....anything you can do to eliminate that stress will only help you raise her going forward....hey don't be afraid to baby her that is half the fun!!!!!

I spoke with my partner about it and he says the other fawns are out in the rain and they are like sponges, all soaked. I said they have mom there to lick them dry and help keep them warm.(Which I don't know how much of that goes on but...) Anyway, I got a big dog kennel from my friend and I'm bringing her in the garage tonight. I already am attached to her too much.We came pretty far together in the last few days and I'm gonna give her the best shot I can! I went home and fed her this afternoon and dried her off with a towel. She was laying in the rain instead of in her house. When I put her in it as I left, she just came running after me crying for more milk. (Man that pulls on the heart strings) So tonight I'm gonna dry her off good and bring her inside till the weather gets better. Baloney on what my partner says! He ain't caring for her. I'll keep ya'll posted on how she comes along and thanks again for all the advice!!

Heck ,why not bring her right into the house in the kennel. I had one a couple years ago that had an abcess on it's hoof so I brought it in and we watched Twins baseball games together while I hot packed it and sat in the recliner. We had a great time together while it lasted.

Woody, keep her dry and warm the best you can. She can handle the rest. Good luck

Well, I kept her in the garage overnight but she did spend most of the evening with us in the family room. My wife was like "No way! No deer in the house" but you should have seen her melt when the fawn started climbing all over her. The cat wasn't as impressed though. She was looking at her like she was covered in mayo and standing in between two slices of bread. Needless to say, the cat went in the basement! I was going to put her back outside this morning but now my wife says "Leave her in the garage and I'll bring her in the house later, until you come to feed her." (No deer in the house) Yeah....right! LOL! That's the update for now. So far so good. Except I could use a little more sleep, but I guess you guys have been down that road before.

Just wanted to share a tough starter for me. This all happened yesterday.



Brought a fawn in and 26 hrs later she still wouldn't take the nipple. So 2 hrs later (around 8pm) she's crying because she's so hungry, I'm sure. So I try her again and she won't suck!! I tell Randy he has to help me here and wipe her butt while I work the nipple. Still not working. So he started grunting like a doe. The second he grunted she started sucking!!! Couldn't believe it.



So I feed everyone else at 10pm and save her until last and try the bottle with out Randy. She won't suck. So he gets behind her wiping her again.....nothing. Started grunting and she took off sucking!!!



This morning, she fought me a little bit, but then she did start sucking without the grunt.



Wanted to share this in case it would help anyone else with a toughie!!