I have a doe fawn that was born on the 15th I pulled her to bottle feed she does fine in the house and is eating great,I go to put her in a bigger pen she takes off running like a wild deer and wants nothing to do with ppl. Once I catch her she eats fine on the bottle, the pen she is in 20x40. She keeps jumping out of the play pen in the house is why I thought she was ready for outside, any suggestions on what to do with her. Do I put a smaaler pen made from dog panels inside the larger pen till she gets better or will she always be this way?
hard to catch
- Thread starter Leatherwood
- Start date
I've seen several like that over the years. Ya need a small pen, maybe 6x6 so you can reach the fawn from the center w/o chasing it. I had one years ago that would refuse any bottle till I had caught it and held it while sucking. Last drop and it fought to get away.....
that is what i figured that i would have to do, do you think that she will have to stay the whole time bottle feeding or just for a couple of weeks?
Dtala
That fawn that would fight to get away how is she in your big pens with the rest of your herd? is she a fence buster when there are other people in the pen with you? this is the first time I've had one like this. I did not take her off of her mom until she was 4 days old, do you think that might have something to do with it?
That fawn that would fight to get away how is she in your big pens with the rest of your herd? is she a fence buster when there are other people in the pen with you? this is the first time I've had one like this. I did not take her off of her mom until she was 4 days old, do you think that might have something to do with it?
Joined Feb 2011
912 Posts | 0+
Blair County, PA
We have one like that this year but there's hope we've had two others like that over the years and once weaned and put in with the tame herd they eat out of our hands and you can rub their head
Leatherwood, she was in a 6X10 pen with several other fawns. All the others would come to me for their bottle. This one I had to physically catch every time. As soon as she was caught she would calm down and take the bottle, last sip and she fought to go. She stayed pretty wild even grown, but not a fence hitter. I don't think the four day wait was the problem, I've done rescue fawns for 30 years and it is just dependant on the individual fawn. One thing I have learned over the years is that every deer is an individual just like people.
Ok I built a 6x10 pen inside of the larger pen with the rest of the fawns last night, caught her pretty easy this morning and fed fine, I'm just wondering if she will have to stay in there the whole time or if she starts to calm down to let her back out into the big pen and take my chances having to catch her again
all you can do is try her in the larger pen in a couple of weeks, see if she comes to you. If not....back in the smaller pen. BTW, they are easier to catch at night with a big fishing net!!!!
You might see if you can find a way to feed her without catching her, it might take some patience and maybe even a skipped feeding, but if you have to catch her in the 6x10 pen then odds are you will have to catch her when you let her out, and that will of course be quite a challenge. Good luck with this girl, I have one myself that is challenging me right now, although she did come to the bottle this morning without the chase...
Joined Apr 2009
343 Posts | 0+
Cascade, Iowa
the best set-up we have for our bottle babies is a calf condo. For the ones that don't know what a condo is- It is a wood frame building open in front with roof sloping to the back. We have six pens
in ours with the pens being 3ft wide by 5ft deep. We then made wire pens out in front, with each pen funnels back to the opening in front of the condo
I think this works good for a couple reasons
1- If they need to be caught, they will run back into the condo where they can be caught easily
2- If they are spooked for some reason, they will run inside and feel safe
3- we have doors on the condo so we can lock em inside
Leatherwood, maybe it wood work for ya if you built a wood box for them to lay in and funnel the sides somewhat to the box.
Just my 2 cents worth
in ours with the pens being 3ft wide by 5ft deep. We then made wire pens out in front, with each pen funnels back to the opening in front of the condo
I think this works good for a couple reasons
1- If they need to be caught, they will run back into the condo where they can be caught easily
2- If they are spooked for some reason, they will run inside and feel safe
3- we have doors on the condo so we can lock em inside
Leatherwood, maybe it wood work for ya if you built a wood box for them to lay in and funnel the sides somewhat to the box.
Just my 2 cents worth