Goat Milk

• Goat milk is the best substitute if the doe is not nursing the fawn or if she is dead, assuming that no supplemental deer milk is available. Fawns generally consume approximately four cups of milk per day, although that figure can vary significantly depending on the size of the deer.
  
  

Alternatives for Young Fawns

• If the fawns are newborns, they are best-suited to colostrum for the first day or two of life. Once again, deer colostrum is the best choice, but if no deer colostrum is available, a goat substitute is the best option. A newborn should receive all the colostrum it wants for the first 12 hours. For older fawns, a blend of goat milk and cow milk can be used, blended at a ratio of three units of goat milk to one unit of cow milk.
  
  

Solid Foods

• Eventually, of course, all deer will make the transition to solid foods. Fawns will begin consuming solid foods on their own when they are ready to begin doing so. The majority of a deer's solid diet consists of browsing, rather than grazing; deer prefer leaves and shoots from trees rather than grasses, which are often difficult or impossible for them to digest. Other supplemental grains, especially corn, are often a part of a healthy deer's diet.