Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T10:07:35.621Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effect of winter nutrition of young farmed red deer on their subsequent growth at pasture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

Clare L. Adam  and
Carol E. Moir
Clare L. Adam
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB2 9SB
Carol E. Moir
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB2 9SB
Get access

Abstract

Housed male (stags) and female (hinds) red deer, initial live weight 43·2 and 38·3 kg respectively, were given ad libitum (1) ammonia-treated straw, (2) a barley and fish meal concentrate, and hay, or (3) potatoes and hay, from 7 to 11 months of age. Dry matter (DM) intakes were low for all deer and some live-weight loss was experienced for the first 6 weeks in January/February. Thereafter DM intakes increased, and deer given the concentrate diet showed higher live-weight gain (P < 0·001) than those given potatoes and hay (273 and 162 g/day, respectively) whereas deer receiving the treated straw continued to lose weight (-18 g/day) (P < 0·001).

From 11 to 16 months of age at grass, deer previously given treated straw grew significantly faster (P < 0·001) than those previously overwintered on concentrate or potato diets (215, 156 and 170 g/day, respectively). Final live weights for animals given straw, concentrates and potatoes in the preceding winter were, respectively, 71·6, 92·6 and 80·8 kg (stags) and 63·0, 71·9 and 68·5 kg (hinds).

The dietary treatments imposed in the previous winter had no lasting effects on the carcass composition of stags slaughtered at 16 months, and the practical implications of the different growth patterns are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , February 1985 , pp. 135 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Blaxter, K. L., Kay, R. N. B., Sharman, G. A. M., Cunningham, J. M. M. and Hamilton, W. J. 1974. Farming the Red Deer. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. J. and Blaxter, K. L. 1980. Reproduction in farmed red deer. 1. Hind and stag fertility. agric. Sci., Camb. 95: 261–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kay, R. N. B. 1979. Seasonal changes of appetite in deer and sheep. A.R.C. Res. Rev. 5: 13–15.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland and Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland. 1975. Energy allowances and feeding systems for ruminants. Tech. Bull. 33. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, LondonGoogle Scholar
Ørskov, E. R., Tait, C. A. G. and Reid, G. W. 1981. Utilization of ammonia- or urea-treated barley straw as the only feed for dairy heifers. Anim. Prod. 32: 388(Abstr.).Google Scholar
Wilson, P. N. and Osbourn, D. F. 1960. Compensatory growth after undernutrition in mammals and birds. Biol. Rev. 35: 324–363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed