suggestion for bottle feeding

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Len, can you feed them as much as they want without getting bloat or sick. I found most of the replacers cannot be fed like this. I like my fawns tone satisfied and full.




 


It really all depends. There are so many factors that can influence the risk of bloat in fawns. A few things that can increase your chances are; improper mixing ratio, inconsistent feeding schedule, temperature of milk, feeding dirt, large single meals, osmolarity of electrolytes and  replacer, no free choice water, exposure to pathogens, etc. Some farms are successful with challenge feeding with very little effort while others struggle. I would recommend frequent small meals for the youngest fawns, and gradually increase amount and decrease the the frequency as DMI increases. This program would insure a constant emptying of the abomassum. There are general rules to feeding but every farm will have fawns that don't fit the mold, that is why these forums are a great place for information. I do caution the use of ideas without getting the full picture of someone's feeding program. You cannot blindly implement ideas without recognizing the impact on your nutritional balance.


 


-Len

This is going to be a dumb question but what type of pumpkin do you use? We are new to deer farming (3rd year bottle feeding fawns) and I have read several posts on adding pumpkin to milk if fawns have diarrhea. My question is...can it be canned pumpkin from the store? I want to know if we ever have issues. Thank you in advance for all your advice!

Canned pumpkin

Pure canned pumpkin not pie mix with sugars added.


Len, been feeding fawns for many years. Not all replacers can be fed all they can eat without bloating that's why I was asking. What's the price of your replacer. I feed red cap with a little replacer mixed in for added nutrition works great. Have a Amish family feeding but they have hard time storing milk. So need to find replacer for them.

You are absolutely right. You have an increased risk of bloat with some replacers due to the high osmolarity. The delay in digestion will increase the lag time of the abomassum emptying, allowing for excessive gas production from carbohydrate sources. We have addressed this issue with our milk replacer. It's $118 for 40#