Trouble starting on bottle

Hello pulled fawns sat at noon. 2 were 2 days old 2 were 3 days old. Tried to feed at 4pm and 10pm both times they wouldnt suck. I would squeze a little in their mouth and then eventually they would swallow but nothing substantial. Tried feeding again at 6am this morning. Just about the same results. Did have to suck for about 2 secs apiece. No real quantity taken down by any. I am feeding straight red cap whole milk. Is there any tricks you guys use to get them started or am I just missing something her. Any help would be great. I have bottle fed a deer bf but it was already started. But I have never got one to start on the bottle Thanks in advance.

Jarred just be patient !! I`ve had some stubborn fawns that it took over 24 hrs before they would get hungry enough to give in and eat !! They will come around !

Jarred, they will come around. You might try covering their eyes also when you try to feed them. It has help with a few of mine. Also, I pull all of mine at 24 hours instead of waiting 2-3 days. They have seemed to start easier to the bottle the less time they are on mom. Good luck

i agree with michael.. they do better if you pull them a little earlier than 3 days...we pull ours around 36-48 hours.. they still take about a day or two before they get the hang of it but are doing very good so far on the red cap milk..

seen then really tough to start somtimes... try feeding them in the dark or covering their heads with a large towel

I try to pull mine at 12 hrs. The worst one so far has gone 52 hours after being pulled. Just give it time. They will eat when they get hungry.

Bruce nailed it - they need to bond with you. Spend LOTS of time with them, put a shirt that you wore yesterday in the kennel with them so that your odor is with them constantly. We have 11 on the bottle right now, and none of them have taken more that 5 hours to start sucking, but we are with them constantly. Sometimes, if you can wipe their butt at the same time as you are putting the bottle in their mouth - can be a 2 person job - that stimulation makes them instinctively want to suck.

I used to do the shirt thing, but after a few days all of my shirts smelled like deer poop. Now to me that's the smell of money, but to my co-workers it was something less desirable.

Jared,

I am going to sound like a broken record ....but in the future if your going to bottle feed pull them at24 hours what a difference it makes.......also I like to pull them in the evening and I don't even try to feed them till morning....i give a little time for the first try.....then with each try i give it a little more time......they will eventually come around.......however, i got a couple this year the i am not sure will ever come around....got them eating but it is a struggle everytime.....they just seem wilder than any other fawn i have ever pulled...and these were pulled in two days.........

Sometimes the more you struggle the worse they get...

You need to try different techniques ...some you can only touch in certain places...some you need to stretch their neck out...their are many things to try call if you wanna talk through them.

We also pull ours anywhere from 12 - 18 hrs and its been a lot easier to get them started. But regardless BE PATIENT Each fawn has it's own personality and like Robbie said try stimulating thier backside and letting them suck on your arm or ear or your face but BE PATIENT and stay relaxed. I know it's FRUSTRATING but it will get better! GOOD LUCK!

Alot of great tips here. We couldn't find one for about 38 hours last year and did have to work alittle harder to get her to eat. We always catch them and do all our tagging,shots,probiotic,etc right then. We then leave them to quiet down for about 4 hours before we try to feed. This one was stubborn and we had to hold this one and nuzzle it(rub your forhead on it let it smell your breath stroke it) then we took a bowl of warm milk and dipped our finger in it. We would have to force our finger in but eventually she did start sucking on my finger. We repeated this process for about 10 minutes every 2 hours. After about 6 hours or three trips we started slipping the bottle in after it started sucking on our finger. She was very stubborn but did take a few ounces. The longer they go without a feeding the more likely they are going to try some. While I like to see them feed that first time I have had them go over 24 hours without a drop of milk but eventually they always eat. I might add how important for a stubborn eater is to have that milk warm enough. Luke warm milk is not natural at all to the newborn and when they fight you and the milk cools off it just complicates the process. Remember the temp of mama is around 101 degrees and that milk needs to mimic her. Good luck and hang in there. Rick

I pull my fawns at 48 hrs used to go 72 but as said before they have bonded too well with momma and are often harder to start. I pull them in the evening then wait till morning to attempt to feed. I have towels, a bucket of warm water and cloth for wiping butt, and a pan of boiling water for rewarming the bottle. I start out with the bonding process rub my face on their face talking low to them the whole time. I tell them how pretty they are and how much I love them, kinda how I talk to my boyfriend to get him to do what I want!!! I keep my cheek over their nose when I put the bottle into their mouth. Sometimes they take right off, sometimes I have to keep trying rewarming the bottle each time. If the pan of hot water gets too cold, I put her away for a couple of hours and try again. Usualy after a couple of tries with no luck I call in reinforcements. Sometimes I'll get the fawn to suck on my ear lobe and another person will stick the bottle into the side of their mouth and they'll take off with it pretty good. I have also let other fawns lick a stuborn ones face that has helped also. I start to panic after 24 hrs. That's about the time I stick the bottle into their mouth and they take fight off drinking. Remember, like Rick said, keep the milk warm enough and if they cough pull the bottle out of their mouth, milks not going down the right way, don't want them to choke. Everyone here has their own methods and all eventually work. Just try and be patient. And Oh, what a happy day when they take that first bottle. Be patient and Good Luck.



Sandy Malone

Pasture Prime Farm

Rush, NY

Thanks for the tip about covering there eyes arrowhead. I got back from church sunday and tried to feed. I covered their eyes while I tried and all 4 took down 3 ouces like champs. I havent had a problem since. Have been increasing a little and this morning the downed it all again I hope this continues and we dont catch a snag. Things are going good now.

Jared, sounds like something worked...lol I have had good luck with a few doing it. And some nothing helps but HUNGER...