Need help one of my does is killing other doe's fawns.I don't know wich doe it is she is only killing buck fawns.She has killed 3 fawns so far i cannot tell that any one is acting different there are 8 does in this field most with fawns.I have tried to seperate them some but it is hard to do with fawns in there.Has any one else had this problem. Please Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow I have never heard of this but I am sure others have had it happen before......you are going to have to find a way to find out which doe it is so you can fix the problem by isolating her........good luck!
I have seen a fawn confused at who it's mother is or a young doe not taking the best motherly care of her fawn and it then following the wrong doe as its mother. I have seen this lead to the fawn bleating and following the wrong doe to the point of irritation where the doe then turns and clubs the fawn with front hooves. Sometimes a young doe will paw at a newborn from curiosity which also can be harmful. Other times a fawn can just get stepped on or rolled on by it's mother. Another possible is a fawn trying to nurse the wrong doe, some does are temperamental about it and can then trample the fawn for doing so. These are just a couple of possibles out of many. Are you finding any signs of trauma? If you aren't certain a doe is killing the fawns, the you should look at having an autopsy done. There can always be other ailments that can occur. I don't think that any doe is purposely picking out buck fawns over doe fawns, but anything is possible. If you do have a doe that you confirm is killing your fawns, the best thing I can suggest is to find the weapon of choice and kill her. Problem solved.
Dereck, if you don't know which doe it is, then obviously you haven't witnessed it happening, so what evidence are you seeing to make you believe that it is in fact a doe killing them. I have never seen this. Doesn't mean it couldn't happen, there are exceptions to every rule. What I have seen is does lifting a foot and dropping it on a fawn that isn't hers, but never with enough power/strength behind it to do anything more than knock it off it's feet. If it is in fact a doe doing this, and when you can confirm which one it is, then I would do what Critter recommended and kill her. Yeah, there would be only one kind of a shot we could give that could cure a deer from doing this.
I have seen this a few times. Mostly with first time mothers or yearlings (fawns that bred). Most of the time with the younger animals they think the fawn is a play toy and try to have some fun.
Older does that do this out of aggression/protection need to be isolated to a pen by themselves, but ideally, should be removed from the breeding program right away.
Older does that do this out of aggression/protection need to be isolated to a pen by themselves, but ideally, should be removed from the breeding program right away.
Joined Apr 2009
524 Posts | 0+
Russell, MN
We have a doe in "jail" right now. She has 2 buck fawns and we caught her brutally attacking a newborn fawn that went up to suck on her. It was the most viscous attack that we've ever witnessed a doe do to some other fawn. Luckily, she is bottle fed and we got her in a holding pen with her fawns quite easily. She was stomping and actually biting the fawn and tossing him up in the air. We also have 2 other fawn stompers in a separate pen. One killed a buck fawn last year.
That's what I'm sayin ''Wow!'' I can tell you one thing for sure, the ONLY protection a doe like that would have in my deer pen from a bullet would be ''top genetics in the herd'' and I mean top, and then my ability to separate her. Man...there are enough things out there to take our deer from us, but to have a ''mother'' and I use that term loosely, that stomps and kills fawns with viciousness...well like I said ''Wow''! Good luck Dereck with finding and solving the problem!
Joined Apr 2009
524 Posts | 0+
Russell, MN
Fortunately for her (not us), we consider her one of "best" does right now. She AIs every year, she's tame and her womb brother is going to be a monster typical this year. We'll see what her yearling bucks do next year (out of Moses). She has 2 yearling does out of Thunderstorm, so won't see anything until next summer. Obviously, she will be put in a holding pen "before" fawning next year until it is safe to turn her out in the pen with the rest. If she is a genetic flop.....she will be gone. FOR SURE!! The other 2 are going in the freezer when they fawn this year.
Hopefully Susan for her as well as you she is not a genetic flop. Nice to be facilitated to separate her and hence make having her possible. Wonder what in the world causes a doe do that!? These other ''fawn stompers'' you have, are they by chance out of the same or at least similar/distant bloodline as this other doe you are speaking of?
Joined Apr 2009
524 Posts | 0+
Russell, MN
Nope....none of the 3 are related even a little bit. I don't know why she would do that. She is tame as can be but absolutely viscous. She tossed that fawn around like a rag doll. Randy was yelling at her and we both raced out to the pen. He went and got the fawn. Thought he was dead. She kept going back there after we saved the poor guy to find him and was running crazy in the pen. She has one more year to prove herself though with these Moses boys and we will breed her good again this fall....otherwise bye bye!
redwood_river_whitetails said:
Were they raised together? Maybe they saw another mother, when they were young, do this behavior?
docility is an inheritable trait, at least in all the animals i have raised in the past. that being said, each breeder to there own liking. i would not keep a line of animals with an attitude.
tom
tom
Wow. It is crazy enough for a momma to ''stomp'' a fawn to death, but to bite it like a canine and toss it 'to and fro' is off the chart bizzare. Well, there's nut cases in us humans, guess it only stands to reason that there'd be nut cases in animals as well. It was very fortunate that you and Randy were there at that time to see it and intervene when you did to save the buck fawn. Hope your luck continues throughout the season. 
Do the aggressive does that you have described, have any "male characteristics"? For example, are they really large (larger than normal) and do they have little nubs where there antlers would grow in were they male? I'm just wondering... My yearling doe flipped my miniature poodle over a few times, but didn't hurt her at all... I am wondering if it is normal for my doe to have these nubs on her head??? again... just wondering...
Joined Apr 2009
524 Posts | 0+
Russell, MN
The doe has never associated with the other 2 at all. In fact, she was/has always been a pen of very motherly does. Does that we call "community" does. They let all fawns suck no matter who it is. And she is a very large doe, but as pretty as a doe can get. Would probably win a prettiest doe contest....if there was one No male characteristics at all.
Her mother adopted a buck fawn that was abandoned by another doe this spring. He was on the bottle for a couple of days and we took him out and she immediately took him. So, no inherited characteristic there. Her mother is as wild as they come too....one that snorts if you get too close and all you see is her tail as she runs away from you.
No male characteristics at all. Her mother adopted a buck fawn that was abandoned by another doe this spring. He was on the bottle for a couple of days and we took him out and she immediately took him. So, no inherited characteristic there. Her mother is as wild as they come too....one that snorts if you get too close and all you see is her tail as she runs away from you.
Lanasvet - My first doe, who is now 15 years old, has these pronounced nubs on her head that you are describing, bigger than any of my other deer. In the summer you don't have to feel for them, you can actually see them. She is and always has been an extremely docile doe, she comes in our house when we allow her too and she lays on the living room floor like a dog(yeah I know we are a little different around here). I think it's perfectly normal for a doe to have those nubs. If you notice, they all have them to a certain degree. It's just an individual thing on how pronounced they are.
Sorry it took so long to get back with you guys.The reason i think it is a doe is i cannot find were anything can get in and i have sight barier up all around the fences. I seen some marks on a couple of the fawns I think i have it narrowed down to two does the first one is a four year old and had a set of triplets and i pulled one of her fawns they were all doe fawns.I have noticed the last 2 or3 times i have fed she seems irritable my dog allways comes along and all of the deer know him and dont mind him i have had him for 12 years.today she paced the fence with him pawing at him usually they sniff each others noses but not now.The other doe is also a four year old and didnot breed this year after a bad labor last year we had to pull both of her fawns one came out backwards and they both were dead at birth.She has allways ben a dominate doe but after last years expearence she lost about 30 pounds but i did see her feeding someone elses fawns last year she has put back on all of her weight now she didnot fawn this year.I am going to try to move them tomorrow if i can catch the fawns.I am not shure what to do but its a start. maybe this info will some Thanks for all of your replys!!!!
Thanks Mark! you're the best! Hope all is great in your "neck of the woods." Big hug. I just realized WHO you were. Good to know my girl is normal.