What to feed a newish orphan faun?

An orphan faun has been hanging around the yard for a couple of days now.....
Since we had a very wet heavy snow today it took refuge in the porch.....
needless to say its really an orphan,we know the local deer on the farm.....they get hit often crossing the road here....
At any rate, shes in the barn all dried off and warmly snuggled down in some hay,
But being so young maybe somebody who raises deer can tell me what would be optimunm pellets or other feed for her...thanks a bunch....s

www.wildwatch.org...

www.ehow.com...

Good Luck!

reply to post by stirling


Good luck Sweet Pea....

Wildlife First Aid

FEEDING BABY DEER (FAWNS)

Baby fawns go through two containers of milk a day. You can use three cups of goat milk and one cup of cow's milk. All goat milk is preferable.

A newborn fawn is the size of two Chihuahuas. It's important to add seven drops of lactate as well to the formula. If you have a young fawn, do not add anything solid.

When they are the size of the deer in the photos below, add some solid food to the formula such as baby rice or baby cereal. Mix it well with water until it has a pudding-like consistency. Deer love sweet tastes, and bananas are always a good source of sweetness. For older deer, you can add a banana, but be sure to beat it with a fork until it liquefies. You can put it into a blender or use a mixer and stir it up -- but make sure the banana seeds don't clog the nipple

Much more at Wild Life Rescue link...

www.wildwatch.org...

Des

reply to post by stirling


I love the name of this thread. You inadvertently came up with a very exotic mystic title.

Wow, what an incredible opportunity! I would love to have the chance to nurse a faun.

Can't offer any better advice than what's already been posted. But if the little one makes it, and you have the time, could you upload some photos?

Good luck to you, and bless you for caring for our little friends.

Will do...and again hearfelt thanks for advice......off to buy some bannanas now, but will be back with update later.....again THANKS GUYS N GALS....

I know older deer love apples.

knew a elderly couple that i delivered meals on wheels
for, they fed the deer, although it is illegal to do,
but they would slice up apples and put on a bench
by the living room window and watch them come up
and eat, the deer loved it, and they enjoyed watching them.

They also fed them oat's, but it would depend on the age
of the deer as to what it can eat.

Might call your local fish and game and ask them, and
make sure you would not be in any trouble by feeding it
and they may have suggestions and even possibly help with
the food supply.

reply to post by severdsoul


You know, I think one of the most evil things on the planet are hunters who lay out food for deers, wait for them to come by to eat, and then whack them. Murderers, nothing more, but when they do that it's even worse - they have gained the deer's trust.

I feed horses apples, never thought of slicing some up for the deer. Thanks for this suggestion.

Originally posted by Aleister
reply to post by severdsoul

 

You know, I think one of the most evil things on the planet are hunters who lay out food for deers, .

how about people who hunt on a full stomach....

I guess you guys would be opposed to putting apple slices on treble hooks hung from trees, then? "Deer fishing" I call it.

On topic, you should consider contacting your local wildlife department and having the fawn transferred to a sanctuary that can release it into the wild, as soon as possible.

If you handle it much, it'll imprint on you at this age. If that happens, it'll be looking to you for parenting, and it will lose all fear of humans. That sounds like fun, and it will be for about three months.

I've had all sorts of wild/semi-wild pets as a kid on the farm, but my parents wouldn't let me raise a deer. It's sort of cruel. A deer will consider you its herd if you imprint them, and it won't be able to survive on its own. And as they get older, they're still sweet but they have behaviors that you won't likely be able to put up with as an adult. At that point "shoo go away" won't cut it. You're gonna have that deer for about five years, if it doesn't walk up to someone and get shot or run over. Forget penning it in, too.

It's sort of like having a bobcat. You can do it, that works really well, there are few wild animals that domesticate quite that easily, but the problem is they are a pain in the butt, and they're YOURS. Having imprinted it, you've got that thing for years, and it won't leave you, even when you really wish it might. That's another mistake the folks cut off at the pass.

Not to mention, it's probably illegal to have a pet deer where you are.

edit to add: did you move it to the porch to be safe/dry? Just moving a spotty can cause the doe to abandon it. If she smells you on the fawn, it's about 50/50 that they'll walk away and keep going.

There are many milk replacers marketed for deer Purina even makes one
this page has good info

the important thing is, and I have weaned many calves, to put a little of whatever solid food you decide to go with right into the animals mouth several times a day until it starts to eat the solid food well

reply to post by stirling


Firstly, it is not legal in most of the US to have deer in your possession. You can do a search for wildlife rehab in your area and possibly find a permitted person who knows how to raise and release the deer.

If you are somewhere without that resource then:

Everything depends on how old the fawn is. This time of the year it would normally be weaned off of milk. It needs deer chow which can be purchased at your local feed store. It needs roughage, they will eat indigenous plants but not regular grass. Alfalfa is fine. Fresh clean water. Don't feed it deer corn, that in large amounts can kill it. bananas, apples, bread, are ok but in small amounts. If somehow it is very young and needs milk pm me and I will give you the full down load. I am a wildlife rehabber. Very young means it is the size of a (as pointed out already) chihuahua to the size of a terrier. Good luck

reply to post by severdsoul


I worked at a well known Wild Life Rescue Facility in California. We had many ~ 900 to 1000
species of animals, not alot of hooved, but ex. probably every cat except a Cheetah...
We were not allowed to keep any deer & especially fawns. Fawns can be very difficult to feed,
so I was told. They all go to a special rehab in Santa Barbara & all they rehab is Deer.
It must have been my lucky weekend as I reported to work on a Friday & the only medical
person there until Mon morning unless there was an emergency was me.
I was pretty new & now I have a fawn I have to hopefully make it through the weekend in the
not only in the health center, but close to my sleeping quarters which was cool. The Med Staff
thought for sure it was going to die over the weekend as it would not eat anything for at least a day maybe 2days. This was my first fawn experience so I tried to gain trust first & after that, the bloody fawn did drink the formula from the bottle from me. I couldn't believe it as everyone else expected death since no one could get her to drink formula.
Bloody Hell we made it through the weekend & she looked great & went to Santa Barbara on Monday.
I'm not sure how I accomplished it, maybe because I made sure we had a trusting bond prior to
me offering her formula & also no other humans from Friday night until Monday.
They were all very surprised to see her alive on Monday. Made me feel good as I didn't know the
difficulties & complications involved with these little guys.
So I was extremely fortunate to experience this incident as it's the first & only time I've had
the opportunity with a fawn. I am so ever grateful!

Cheers
Ektar

Mine was too young & on formula.

reply to post by stirling


goats milk is the best if its still nursing not really sure once it gets up in age but i would assume fruits veggies and grasses,thats what we fed the fawn i rescued last year after its mom got hit by a car,a guy in my parents neighborhood rehabilitates and reintroduces them into the wild

reply to post by whywhynot


Awesome just gave you a star for that info. As I said in my post
(you beat me to it but you also mentioned permits) we had every permit but that was
one particular animal that we were not allowed to keep. They had to go to a special
facility in Santa Barbara. Cudus to You! & Many Thanks for being a Rehab Facilitator!!!

Cheers
Ektar

reply to post by stirling

I was shocked to learn that it is illegal to feed and keep deer in some of the US states,thankfully there are those such as the OP who endeavour to do what is right.

reply to post by Aleister


I have to agree there, it's sad when people do that,
i hunt and see nothing wrong with it, but it's a actual
hunt, not a farm raised hunt where you pick out the animal
you want, or a setting where a animal is use to going to eat.
Sadly there are many that do things as low as that..
but every now and then you see in the papers where they got
caught and face serious fines and in many times some jail time
plus loose their rights to hunt for a while, if not life.

Hope the suggestion help's. I know the deer the old couple had
loved the apples, they would be gone in no time. They had a store
save the bad apples they could not sell for them and they would pick
them up once a week. Those were some well fed deer *lol*

reply to post by thePharaoh


Ya, we call those "horn Hunters" , only out for the
trophy to put on the wall, there have been a few cases
i have come upon where a animal was shot and all they
took was the horn's and backstrap.. ticks me off when i see
crap like that.
Those people should not be allowed to hunt.

reply to post by stirling


You can use a baby bottle, or (as I did a long time back) a really large syringe. We had one brought in to the vet clinic where I worked (Army), that a hunter's dogs had gone after. They had to pick her up to keep the dogs off, and the mother would not go back with the human scent. Fed the sweetheart for awhile, till a fellow was located that got them back into the wild. Have to warn you, it's very easy to fall in love with one! Baby (yea, so "original") is one I will never forget. She followed me like I was her mother. Indescribable, that feeling! The trust in her eyes.....

You have a problem on your hands. The trick is to keep it alive but keep it wild so it will return to the wild soon. You should find a local ranch to take it in because getting attached is a bad idea since it is illegal to keep fenced in.