Orphaned roe kids.

yorksjt

Well-Known Member
Last week I got a phone call from a friend telling me that his daugher in law had hit and killed a deer five minutes from me, it had only just happened so I went to get it for the freezer and see what was what. It had come off a peice of waste land where I watch deer that is next to land where I stalk. The deer was a roe doe and was still carrying milk which I was gutted about as there are now young with no mother, I don't shoot does in the area myself.
Is there any chance the young will survive as they must be fairly big and ready to be weaned soon and they have a large area of thick scrub which isn't disturbed, or is it three for the for one?

JT
 
the doe usually gives birth in may or june, and weans the kids after 3-4 months, that is normally towards the end of september. she does give milk into the winter months, but it's more the guidance and maternal support that the kids will struggle without.

I'd say they might survive if she educated them well at the early stages, if there's plenty of cover and food, and we have a mild winter. the right thing to do is monitor the kids into late october and november, and judge on their condition whether they are better culled then left to suffer. only an experience stalker will know how to make that call
 
They will survive without a problem there growth maybe stunted a little, they can get on with out any problems
 
They may be taken under the wing of another Doe, kid lost to an rta, one of twins not survived, many reasons.
They might just manage on their own but as has already been said, maybe a little stunted.
Down here, in the south, Roe Deer tend to give birth earlier, it isn't unusual to see them at the end of April.
Is there any chance they are or were early kids?
 
How do you know that? I am not so sure...

Ive watched in on numerous occasions over many years, Kids Ive watched after dispatching a Doe at a RTA are one lot that survived, there are two kids on one bit of ground i manage just now orphaned due to a RTA again .

Kids are well weaned by this time, we are now in September they are born April /May some out as far as June and as early as March, Ive also found milky Doe's in November doesn't mean they are still feeding Kids ,just as you dog bitch can carry milk way after the pups are weaned .

There have been other occasions where Doe's have been poached and kids left .

One of my findings, when this does happen they never seem to stray to far from the area where the last seem the Doe.

EMC, Ive seen orphaned Red calves go with other Red hinds, but never Roe I would think it is more because of there herding instinct but thats not to say it doesn't happen .
 
Under these circumstances I think it would be more important for the orphaned kids to follow another Doe to learn the feeding cycle, ie when to feed and when to rest up, where the best food is and safe resting areas etc.
If they cannot find one to follow they spend all their time on the move and expend what energy they have built up from the food they have eaten most recently.
I have come across 'runt' Deer in winter and apart from body weight, they have been healthy. That could have been a result of the mother being taken the first day of the Doe season or an earlier RTA. I make this assumption because there is enough food in the area but the animal has not made proper use of it.
 
What's the area you stalk? This might have an effect on the outcome?

I shot a Doe and kid first week December last year, when we had very heavy snow, the Doe was 19kg and the kid was 14kg from memory. A week later, only 100m from the cull the week before, I shot a lone kid, it had no meat on the bones, the saddle was all sunken, the haunches were skin and bone. I suspected an orphan due to RTA, on the gralloch, there was no fat anywhere on the carcass. I suspect it wouldn't have lasted the month......I think it lived as long as it had by luck more than survival knowledge.

Just my pennies worth.....

TJ
 
I think you will need to assess that the Roe Kids will do fine. The government start there culling from the 1st of September and carry it on till the end of April this suggest that there is no welfare issue from these dates. There is always the risk of very bad weather that can have a major effect on wild life something we just need to live with at times as we cannot forecast accurately to far ahead.

 
They may be taken under the wing of another Doe, kid lost to an rta, one of twins not survived, many reasons.
They might just manage on their own but as has already been said, maybe a little stunted.
Down here, in the south, Roe Deer tend to give birth earlier, it isn't unusual to see them at the end of April.
Is there any chance they are or were early kids?

I was watching a doe, possibly the same one, mid May and she looked as though she had just or was just about to give birth. She was stood in the same place for about 20 minutes before I left not feeding but licking herself.
I stalk locally around the Wakefield area.
 
As we are now in the middle of September, kids have a good chance of surviving, they may not grow as well as they would have with their mother, what sort of winter we have will also have an effect, there is a fair mortality rate among
kids in their first winter in any case, they cope quite well with cold dry weather but a prolonged wet spell brings their condition down, obviously this can be even more pronounced if they are not in top condition to begin with.

Sex also plays a part as doe kids have a better survival rate than buck kids.

However if the kids are well grown, and if they are in an area with good feeding and shelter they have a very good chance of making it.
 
Ive watched in on numerous occasions over many years, Kids Ive watched after dispatching a Doe at a RTA are one lot that survived, there are two kids on one bit of ground i manage just now orphaned due to a RTA again .

Kids are well weaned by this time, we are now in September they are born April /May some out as far as June and as early as March, Ive also found milky Doe's in November doesn't mean they are still feeding Kids ,just as you dog bitch can carry milk way after the pups are weaned .

There have been other occasions where Doe's have been poached and kids left .

One of my findings, when this does happen they never seem to stray to far from the area where the last seem the Doe.

EMC, Ive seen orphaned Red calves go with other Red hinds, but never Roe I would think it is more because of there herding instinct but thats not to say it doesn't happen .

I would agree with that, like you I have never known a Roe doe to adopt a kid, while it certainly happens with Reds
I have heard of Roe kids born in March but never seen it personally the last week in April is the earliest I have seen

As for Does in milk in November yes quite often, I have even seen kids suckle at that time , but I am sure its more a bonding exercise than a real need on the part of the kid.
 
To be on the safe side you may as well add them to your cull plan ic you were intending taking animals off of there any way.

Dave
 
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