Red cap milk ??

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RLAwhitetails

Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
413
Location
Kinmundy Illinois
My fawns are due later this week and was going to get milk replacer but have read that many are having goog luck with red cap milk. my question is, will regular milk that I buy at the store be as good as any milk replacer that I can buy. If this will work as good then I will use it. These should be my best deer and I want to make sure I do what is best for them. I already have a lot of $$ in them from semem cost and the cost to A.I. and dont want to cut any corners to save a few dollars now. thanks for any advice.
 
This is my first year and i am using red cap.I am using the program that browning whitetails use and i have 2 fawns that have been on it a week with no problems.I mix a half cup of ultra 24 milk replacer with a gallon of red cap.If you look back on some old post you will find a bunch of posts on red cap and i am sure if you ask rick will send you his program!!Thanks rick your program is working great for me!!!
 
I also have been using the Browning red cap milk schedule and seems to be working well,fawns are fat and happy. I use Fox Valley as my replacer in my milk and have been having great results.Just my 2 cents.Good luck with your fawns.
 
RLA

Replacer added to the milk just helps to replace some of the things lacking in the red cap milk... If a particular milk replacer has worked well for you in the past you may want to consider staying with a farm proven program, I do not believe Red cap is a better program it just offers a couple of benifits, convience of picking up a grocery store, less fear of ecoli problems, etc....
 
I used Red Cap last year with GREAT Results. We mixed milk replacer at a rate of half what it calls for when mixing with water water. About half way through and about 50 trips to the Grocery store buying MANY gallons of milk (and getting stared down by moms after I took the last gallon on the shelf), I realized that I wouldnt do it again. It really costs you about the same as going with just water and replacer. Water is WAY easier to warm up than milk is and I can store water in my kitchen faucet rather than going to the grocery store every couple of days and filling a second refridgerator. It works, but it is not very user friendly.



Just my opinion, not bashing the Red Cap Gang as I am one of you. I just like the convenience of WATER.



Todd
 
I warm my milk in 5 gallon bucket of hot water and get my milk straight from dairy alot cheaper. I also fed it straight with nothing added as much as they wanted.
 
We had a lady up here that lost 10 buck fawns using water from their kitchen sink to mix with replacer and when they (vets) finally found the problem they found the fawns urinary tract was plugged because of crystles in the water.I guess certin water can crystlize in the fawn and they cant pee!!!So i guess there is no fool proof way to go!!
 
Thanks for the reply's and info. One more question. There are a few dairy's in this area and I can get milk straight from the cow. would that be better to use than the milk that I can get from the store ? I also plan to mix First-Fawn colostrum supplement in with the milk for at least 7 day's. Do most of you recomend this. Last year was the first year I used milk replacer and had trouble with scours, that is what I was hoping to avoid using real milk. I had only raised one fawn before last year and used goat's milk on it and didnt have any trouble at all with it. The problems that I had last year could have been from the tap water I dont know.
 
I am only feeding four this year, and i went straight red cap for my personal convience, I dont mix any replacer right now and the fawns are doing great, I have not had issues with scours thus far, usually when i used replacer the stool was loose the first week or so until they adjusted, but the real milk is thicker and seems to be a smooth transition from the moms milk, so no scours yet. I didnt really have any huge problems with replacer, it is just easier for me to use the milk, and it appears the fawns are as healthy as the ones out with mom, and that is all that matters.
 
As long as you pasterize the milk this would be fine but you would be taking big chance of getting different diseases by not pasterizing. As far as mixing colostrum that would be fine also.Just make sure you feed them all they want if using straight red cap milk.
 
I've always been told that the fawn can only benefit from the colostrum for the first 24 hours then something in their stomachs change and they no longer benefit from it. We also agree with Virgil that you might want to make sure the whole milk is pasturized. We were told by our state vet that if you gave unpasturized milk( Cow or goat) to your fawns you might loose your TB status unless the entire herd you got your milk from had been certified. Just a thought. Rick
 
It was my understanding colostrum is only absorbed within first 24 hours and it is needed to help set up digestive system. It is more for health defense or immunity development but very little growth factors or nutritional value. I'm no expert by any means but I thought feeding colostrum after 24 hrs was of no value to the fawn and only occupies tummy space that could be filled with higher fat content milk.



The crystals thing is interesting as I have not heard of it. One more reason I'll continue to red cap my fawns.
 
Rusty,

I heard the same thing about the colostrum but then when speaking to my vet he said that they are good for a couple of days..........so I leave my fawns on the mom foer a couple of days to be safe......can't hurt!! Then they go to red cap......
 
I am using red cap this year and I have a few questions for everyone that is also using redcap. All the fawns start out great and their stools are pellets for the first week and then it seems like now, my oldest fawns all right around 2 weeks old are starting to have scours and their poo fluctuates quite a bit day to day . I have four fawns that are 2 weeks old and they have gotten the same thing everyday 4x a day since the first bottle. red cap with 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin every bottle and a scoop of SB-12 every other feeding. We add more pumpkin to stiffin it up and that works for a feeding or two but then the scours pop back up. I am wondering if anyone else is noticing the scours with red cap or if i need to just keep adding more pumpkin or if it is something deeper? All mothers were wormed prior to birthing so all fawns should have acquired those medications but, is there something I need to use to vaccinate or dewormer or anything like that that will clear up the runs and get them back to pellets? I know there not going to have pellets every time but a little too watery scares me. Anybody with some hints or opinions would be great. thanks
 
Mine are on Red Cap alone...Nothing else...They have pellets...

It could be something your adding.



Sometimes adding stuff then not...then adding it can be a cause of the change in consistency also.

Best of luck
 
We also feed the red cap milk but one difference with what you have said is we do add replacer and we only add the pumpkin if we notice a fawn starting to get loose stools and there are a couple of other drugs we also use if the pumpkin doesn't work. I'll have to check the labels and post them if you would like to try them as well. Hope the fawns get cleaned up for ya.
 

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