Growth and venison production from red deer (Cervus elaphus) grazing red clover (Trifolium pratense) or perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)/white clover (Trifolium repens) pasture

Abstract

SUMMARYA study of growth and venison production from weaner red deer grazing pure tetraploid red clover (RC) or conventional perennial ryegrass/white clover (PRG) pasture was conducted in 1990, with the objective of attaining a minimum slaughter liveweight of 92 kg (50 kg carcass) by 12 months of age in the stags. Ten weaner red deer stags and ten weaner red deer hinds were randomly selected and rotationally grazed on either RC or PRG forage. In autumn and spring, forage allowances were 7 kgDM/hd/day and 8 kgDM/hd/day respectively. In winter, the animals from both groups were grazed together on PRG pasture, at a residual dry matter (DM) of 1100 kgDM/ha. Total nitrogen (N) concentration was higher in RC on offer than in PRG on offer (autumn 3·4 v. 3·1 %DM; spring 3·8 v. 3·1 %DM), whilst organic matter digestibility (OMD; autumn 80·5 v. 76·5%; spring 82·1 v. 80·3%) was also higher for RC on offer. Diet selected showed similar differences in total N concentration, but there were negligible differences between forages in OMD.Liveweight gains of RC and PRG stags were respectively 263 v. 192 g/day, 101 v. 106 g/day and 354 v. 341 g/day during autumn, winter and spring, with the corresponding values for hinds being 198. 173 g/day, 52 v. 53 g/day and 242 v. 218 g/day. At one year of age, stags grazing RC were 7 kg heavier and hinds 3 kg heavier than animals grazing PRG pasture. Animals grazing RC forage had higher voluntary feed intake (VFI) in both autumn (P < 0·10) and spring (P < 0·001), than animals grazing PRG pasture.All stags grazing RC forage reached the minimum slaughter liveweight by one year of age, compared to 75% of those grazing PRG pasture. At slaughter, stags that had grazed RC produced heavier carcass weights (59·9 v. 54·5 kg, P < 0·01), had higher carcass dressing percentage (55·3 v. 53·2 %; P < 0·01), and tended to have slightly greater carcass subcutaneous fat depth than stags grazing PRG pasture, but this effect disappeared when the data were corrected to equal carcass weight. All stags grazing RC produced velvet antler, relative to 75% of those grazing PRG; in stags producing harvestable velvet antler, there was no difference in antler weight between those grazing RC and PRG. It is concluded that RC offers potential as a special-purpose forage for the growth of weaner red deer.

Effects of grazing red clover(Trifolium pratense)or perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)/white lover(Trifolium repens)pastures upon growth and venison production from weaner red deer(Cervus elaphus)

“…The weaner red deer showed intermediate growth during autumn, slow growth during winter, and high growth during spring in the present experiment, in agreement with the growth of farmed red deer being seasonal (Blaxter et al 1974;Drew 1976;Fennessy et al 1981;Ataja et al 1992;Semiadi et al 1993). Slow growth of the animals during winter is typical for young red deer, because of the seasonal loss of appetite (Kay 1985;Barry et al 1991), and acts as a major constraint to increasing venison production from young deer.…”

“…37 Deer fed red clover had a faster rumen fractional voluntary feed intake in deer consuming red clover outflow rate of liquid relative to paniculate matter than perennial ryegrass/white clover, as found in than those fed perennial ryegrass, and very fast the present study and in the studies of Niezen et al liquid fractional outflow rate has been suggested (1993) and Semiadi et al (1993). as a reason why deer grazing red clover never get…”

“…This resulted in high growth rates and the proportion of animals attaining target slaughter weight was an improvement on the findings of Ataja et al (1992) (41%) and Semiadi et al (1993) (75%) for young red deer stags grazing perennial ryegrass/white clover pastures (Table 7).…”

“…Table 7 Comparison between liveweight gain, total animals attaining target slaughter weight (92 kg), and carcass production from red deer stags at Massey University Deer Unit during 1989, 1990, and 1991. (RC, red clover; PRGAVC, perennial ryegrass/white clover pasture). Semiadi et al (1993)…”

A Multi‐scale Test of the Forage Maturation Hypothesis in a Partially Migratory Ungulate Population

“…These results were corroborated in other experimental settings for ruminants. In New Zealand, farmed red deer (males, females, and calves) fed experimental diets of red clover with 3-5% higher digestibility had higher body mass at the end of one year, and females on the high quality diet had increased milk yield than did a control group (Niezen et al 1993, Semiadi et al 1993. Domestic sheep foraging on summer diets of high-quality Salix spp.…”