20 BULLETIN" 1346, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



castor oil, it never did so well as those that had not had it. We also found 

 that whenever one of them looked a little dumpy, a tablespoonful of castor 

 oil invariably brought it around within 24 hours. The warm milk was fed 

 three times a day, 6 o'clock in the morning, noon, and 6 o'clock in the evening. 

 (See PL III, fig. 2.) 



GRAIN AND GREEN FEED 



When the fawns were six weeks old we began to feed them a little wheat 

 (bran and middlings) and when they were two months old quite a number 

 were eating it. Then we substituted steamed rolled oats, which they ate readily 

 at the same time that they were also eating considerable green feed from the 

 meadow. When they were about 2% months old the green feed dried up 

 on account of the extremely dry season, and the fawns began to fall off in 

 flesh, but ate about twice as much grain as they did when the green feed 

 was plentiful. 



When they were 3 months old we moved them to Reno, so as to be able to 

 get green feed, as it would have been hard on them to wean them from 

 their milk without it. They were very fond of green lawn cuttings of blue 

 grass and white clover, and we cut it from the lawn three and four times a 

 day, feeding it to them fresh and keeping an ample supply of rolled oats 

 where they could go to it at all times. They did not appear to miss the 

 milk, which was discontinued on August 25, with the exception of five or six 

 weaklings and cripples which were fed milk until the 5th or 6th of September. 

 Even though we had discontinued the milk, the kids began to fatten up and 

 grow fast upon the green-feed and rolled-oats diet. 



We shipped some of them on the 9th of September, when their average 

 weight was 42 pounds, at 3% months of age. They ranged in weight from 

 about 35 up to 50 pounds each. 



We purchased a bale of first-cutting, well-matured alfalfa hay, keeping a 

 supply in the inclosure from the time they were 3 months old, and they would 

 feed a little at a time on this, and no doubt if they did not have an ample sup- 

 ply of green feed they would have taken to it very readily. For a winter diet 

 I believe well-cured meadow hay and rolled oats would be the best. In feeding 

 alfalfa hay care should be exercised not to get unmatured second or third 

 cuttings, as there is danger of its causing bloating. Mr. Green, of the Cali- 

 fornia Fish and Game Commission, told me that they had lost several deer and 

 elk from allowing them to feed on green alfalfa in the field. 



TRANSFER TO TEMPORARY INCLOSURE 



When a sufficient number of fawns were caught to make a load they were 

 placed in an automobile and taken to the Wood ranch at Diessner, Nev., where 

 we had built a wire-fenced inclosure containing 5 acres of meadowland. The 

 distance by road was about 55 miles, but going by saddle horse it was only 12 

 miles. It was much easier on the fawns to go in a car, even a much greater 

 distance, than it would have been on pack horses for a shorter distance. 



In building temporary inclosures to hold antelope fawns until they are old 

 enough to transfer to their permanent homes (PL IV) much care should be 

 taken to have all posts on the outside of the- wire netting and all braces so placed 

 that there will be no projections inside for the fawns to run against. The feed- 

 ing corral should be small and made of dressed lumber with no cracks, or if net 

 wire is used it should be lined inside with sacking to keep the animals from 

 getting hurt when they become frightened. 



