New Baby reindeer to my herd

Well, free paddock wasn't a good idea as he was scouring by morning and wasn't a chance of catching him with lichen...
I had to work on hormones to catch him up... I had to walk Katya through his paddock to get him to follow into enclosure. It worked, I caught him but really didn't want walk her through BUT she didn't eat anything just wiggled her tootie!
A random photo of main herd


and one of Frodo

 

Loved the decription of Katya wiggling her "tootie"! At least Frodo is thinking and reacting like a male reindeer.

 

Maybe that paddock time did do him some good (and Katya, too).....his eyes in that picture look just a little bit more alert.....

What is 'scouring'??

 

Katya obviously knows how to attract men ( or maybe that should be boys!)

 

Karen, in the last photo Frodo seems bigger and stronger than the first one you had received from his previous owner. (I couldn't see your pictures in the other post #3484).
I really wish he will adjust to his environment and with the rest of the herd. I am sure he will go through his problems with your help and love. He is very lucky to be part of your family now

 

Sorry no photos but an update.. Vet came to seem Frodo today.
Nothing conclusive, his lungs are fine and rumen working well, temp normal (I had taken already, so no surprise) fecal results aren't back from labs. Vet has taken bloods, first results won't be back till earliest Friday but as he says trace elements from bloods aren't accurate only liver biopsy at PM.... And I'm not wanting to wait that long!!! So we are looking for any raised white blood count for other issues. In the meantime I keep him alone but vet says if we see no white blood cells raised then we can risk him going out with some of the herd. Vet isn't confident that he'll make it through Winter weight loss but he says he will cope better to be in with girls as stressing to reach them will cause more weight loss than having them with him... I'm not even sure he will go into rut but he does need to be with other reindeer asap.. A worry/struggle..

 

Thanks for the update. Still keeping my fingers crossed that Frodo will improve!

 

Well Karen, as usual you have your plate full! I am hoping that Frodo will do better and at least start to eat proper food not just bits and pieces! Did the vet say anything about his eating habits?
Thanks for keeping us informed and like Lilaclady said "We" are all hoping for the best!

 

I hope his results come out good...
Do you have female and male reindeers in a separate place?

 

Nightmare.. as no obvious fixes yet. Vet came yesterday. Heart, lungs, rumen appear to be functioning normally, Temp normal (but I had taken that). First bloods may be back tomorrow or Monday... Bloods apparently aren't accurate for deficiencies only liver at Post Mortem! So vet looking for raised white blood counts to show an underling health issue..
Vet not hopeful of getting him through (normal reindeer) Winter weight loss... I asked if it would be better keeping him away from girls - apparently not as he would stress far more, trying to get to them.
So once vet thinks he is non contagious that he would relax more if the girls are with him but he probably won't do anything about it... So don't get too hopeful for anything... But boy I am trying to temp him with anything that is good for him... He won't even eat his own pellets until today I got him to eat a few with beet pulp - prior I have mixed with shredded moss and willow leaves and he onl picked out the bits he liked!

 

Silly Frodo! Do you think the problem could be his refusal to eat enough?

 

Simmer, I just don't know... wish I did.
I am hoping, praying (which I'm not good at ) that it's a combination of worms, copper deficiency and bullying by the three big castrates he lived with not letting him get to like pellets, while she penned them in a stable overnight (there was another tiny poor castrate too). I hope these are the only reasons but even if I can eliminate those minor issues there still may not be time to get enough weight on him before he looses winter weight which is the reindeer metabolism and nothing can change that..
To be honest it doesn't look good to get him through Winter.

 

Have you tried herbs, with the pellets?
Horses generally love mint or anything mint flavoured and will go to great lengths to eat it. You could try mint + whatever dry herbs you already have in your cupboard, see if he's tempted by any of them. If he does like any of them a very light spray of essential oil onto the pellets could make him more willing to eat them.

 

Wouldn't it be great to do a weight exchange? I have an extra 20 lbs. I would love to donate to Frodo!
On a more serious side, I had a cat with hypothyroidism. There was a tube of extremely high calorie stuff I would feed him(bought from vet's office). It was 3k calories per teaspoon. I believe they came in flavors. Maybe peanut butter on pellets?

 

I'll donate some weight too!
And my girlfriend (don't tell her I said that she'll kill me)

How on earth do you get 3k calories into a teaspoon? What was it, rocket fuel?

 

I have no idea Shimmer. It was a bit scary for me to feed him this 2-3 times a day. I was anxious some would make it into my mouth....and oh my, I have an extra 100 calories and whoosh....there goes another pound up! LOL

p.s. We finally had the Vet remove my cat's thyroid. After about a year he started getting very thin again...so we took him back. The Vet's answer....his thyroid grew back. How is that even possible?

 

Maybe he is part lizard?

 

Frodo update - yesterday evenings pellet mix & this morning's were cleared by his next feeding, first time!!! I am mixing soaked beet pulp in and it's working providing I don't put too many pellets in the mix. Not a balanced diet yet but I will slowly change the ratio to more pellets but I can't tell you how good it is to see an empty bucket rather than an untouched one!

All the rest of herd are well - Sorry for the few photos & updates but with Frodo "on board" feeding times take an awful lot longer with having to hand harvest grass/clover/dandelion & of course willow and spend time with him for company as he is still in isolation as no results back from vet yet.
An amusing photo of Katya and her daughter from yesterday. Why is it that the feed under the others nose is better than theirs?

 

Glad to hear that Frodo has been eating more. Love the picture of Katya and her daughter, obviously the other person's feed tastes better!