Fawns don’t have a scent for the first few weeks so their mother doesn’t stay with them. She feeds, cleans, and leaves them.

A fawn will spend most of its life the first three weeks alone. Even when we have them in our pens they never lay together. A dog or coyote can walk right by a fawn and not know it’s there unless it moves which it is really good at not doing. Usually there are twins that will be about 50 to 100 feet apart. If a fawn follows you around and is crying, or if it is crying constantly for hours, or if it is laying on its side with legs outstretched, it is in trouble. As stated above, DO NOT FEED ANY WILD ANIMAL COW’S MILK. This will kill a fawn. They are very delicate animals and all come in with their own issues. The first week or two of life they have a freeze response where they stay where Mom tells them no matter what. Farmers scoop them up in combines and kill them even though those machines are big and noisy, because they stay where Mom said. People will call and say “It’s so weak it can’t stand up.” You can pick them up and they are limp and you can put them back down and they are limp. The second and third week they want to follow Mom after feeding but they can’t keep up so they plop down.

Sometimes it’s on a sidewalk or in the middle of a road. Fawns have fat pads that are between the back of the eyes and the ears that will be depleted if they are dehydrated. We can spot this across the yard. You won’t have to look for it as it will be quite obvious. It will look like you pressed your thumb into clay. If you touch this fawn and put your scent on it, Mom will move it the next feeding. If it is there in the morning, leave it until dark. If it is there at dark, leave it until the next morning. Refer fawncare.com for excellent further advice.