Digestibility of Zoysia-type Grass by Japanese Deer

Abstract

Digestion trial was conducted on Japanese deer (Cervus nippon Temminck) to know the carrying capacity of Zoysia-type grassland in Nara Park. Three adult does of good temper were immobilized with succinylcholine chloride, weighed and moved into the feeding stall. These stall allowed quantitative control of feed intake and collection of fecal samples uncontaminated with urine or hair to study digestion coefficients for feed. Deer 1 (6 years old, 49kg of body-weight) and Deer 2 (6 years old, 48kg) were given Zoysia-type grass hay (Zoysia japonica Steudel) and Deer 3 (4 years old, 40 kg) was given alfalfa (2nd cutting) hay as a single component respectively. After the adjustment period of 5 days and the preliminary period of 10 days, total fecal samples were collected for 5 days and feed digestibility was studied. Average daily consumption of Zoysia-type grass was 13.8g per kg bodyweight for Deer 1 and 18.8g for Deer 2. That of alfalfa was 12.9g for Deer 3. Apparent digestibility (%) of the proximate components and detergent fibers are as follows: dry matter in Zoysia-type grass, 65.0 for Deer 1, 62.5

Ecological Implications of Zoysia Species, Distribution, and Adaptation for Management and Use of Zoysiagrasses

“…Zoysia japonica is the Zoysia species most widely used as a turfgrass, mainly in Asia, North and South America, and Australia, and numerous commercial cultivars of Z. japonica have been developed in these regions. It also has a long history of use as a grazed pasture grass in Japan for horses and, more recently, cattle and Japanese deer (Hirayoshi and Matumura, 1957; Suganuma, 1966; Itow, 1970, 1974; Saijoh and Yoshida, 1976; Shôji, 1983; Miyazaki et al, 1984; Yamada and Fukuoka, 1984; Ishida 1990; Nakagami et al, 2008; Kawano et al, 2009).…”

Impact of Defoliation Intensity on Net Primary Productivity of Zoysia japonica-dominated Pasture under Grazing Conditions

“…Above-ground net primary production (ANPP) is directly related to the grazing capacity of grasslands. Most of the studies on Z. japonica-dominated pastures [3][4][5]8,10 were concerned with the herbage pro-…”