New farmer with 5 day old fawn with diarrhea, help!

Hello Hali.

Sounds like you have most of the viable advice already in hand. With a fawn that young and also premature it is extremely important to keep them hydrated and get as many calories as you possibly can into them. Hopefully you can get a vet in there soon if the struggle continues.

There are a couple things I would say, that you've probably already considered, but it can't hurt to add here...

You mentioned that both fawns started with the diarrhea approximately the same time. This implies that they likely contracted something from momma since they will generally bed separately within a handful of hours of birth (although first time momma's sometimes don't separate them as quickly). It would probably be prudent to take a close look at the doe to make sure she is in healthy condition. Often mature does can fight off infections that will be more aggressive to the fawn's undeveloped immune system, but if she is showing clinical signs of something that is passing through the milk, then it might be necessary to treat more than just the fawn(s) in order to prevent recurring infection. If you have any doubt about the condition of the doe, then I would absolutely address this to the vet when they get to you, and I would definitely consider being aggressively proactive if you are reasonably certain that there is a health concern with her.

Behaviorally, your post seems to indicate that the doe favored the first born and is less attentive to the second fawn. Sometimes this can happen because first time mothers are just not as good as older does at taking care of the fawns, but there are some other situations where deer are predisposed to favoring some offspring and neglecting or abandoning others. I would keep an eye on behavioral patterns of the doe to watch for a few things.

1) A stressed doe with low body weight (particularly if a first time mother) is more likely to neglect/abandon fawns. If the doe is looking thin or appears to be losing weight, then it may be impossible to break the neglect pattern. If that seems to persist, I would be inclined to pull one of the fawns and bottle feed. It is labor intensive and not an easy thing to accommodate at all hours of the day, but if the doe is struggling to keep up with both of them, then it may be the best thing for the health of all three deer.

2) An interesting fact that a lot of folks don't know is that there is an inherent preference in white-tailed does toward buck fawns (which tend to be more aggressive feeders but less socially demanding) and first-born twins (the first born tends to stand and nurse more quickly than the second born twin which apparently gives them an energy advantage over their twin when competing for nursing time). This may or may not apply to your situation, but if the first born is a buck fawn or is a particularly greedy feeder, then he might just be pushing the momma so hard that she can't pay much mind to the second born. This usually wouldn't come into play for an older doe, but if the doe that gave birth was late born as a fawn and is comparatively small-ish at birth of her fawns, then she may just be favoring the first born in the interest of self-preservation. If this is the case, then it may again be necessary to bottle feed the second fawn.

Good luck and hang in there. Hopefully the little one will bounce back on its own as it gets a little more energy and the immune system starts to kick in. Sounds like that may have already happened in the first born.

All Natural Correction

If you are bottle feeding, get some Scmucker's All Natural Correction and add to the bottle at each feeding. It is the only thing that has worked for us. We've had numerous fawns with Crypto and uncontrollable diarrhea. We tried everything that you mentioned and none of it worked. Luckily we found the All Natural Correction and it saved every one of our scouring fawns. I can't say enough about it.

Can u tell me what is “scmuckers all natural correction”
Not able to find on internet!!!!

hey. i just wanted to know is it normal for fawns to poop green ? And how is the fawn poop supposed to look like ? If this is a cause of diarrhea, how can i treat it ? sorry for the overload of questions but i need answers. thank you!


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Albon orally has been working for us this year they seem to really enjoy the taste of it they wont leave you alone when your done giving it to them.