Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T17:46:20.271Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comparison of digestive and chewing efficiency and time spent eating and ruminating in sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) and red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

G. Semiadi ,
T. N. Barry ,
K. J. Stafford ,
P. D. Muir  and
C. S. W. Reid
G. Semiadi
Affiliation:
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand Flock House Agricultural Centre, Ag Research, Bulls, New Zealand
T. N. Barry
Affiliation:
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
K. J. Stafford
Affiliation:
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
P. D. Muir
Affiliation:
Flock House Agricultural Centre, Ag Research, Bulls, New Zealand
C. S. W. Reid
Affiliation:
Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Artificially reared sambar (tropical) deer and red (temperate) deer were confined indoors in metabolism cages and fed chaffed lucerne hay ad libitum for 4-week periods during summer and winter at Flock House Agricultural Centre, New Zealand, during 1992. Measurements were made of voluntary feed intake (VFI), apparent digestibility, faeces particle size distribution, eating and ruminating time and the rate of chewing during eating and ruminating. Red deer reduced VFI (kg DMI/day) markedly from summer to winter, associated with a reduction in the duration of each eating bout. Sambar deer slightly increased VFI over this time, associated with an increase in chewing frequency. Digestive efficiency was similar in both species, and the critical particle size for leaving the rumen was passage through a 1 mm sieve for both species. Time spent eating/g DMI was greater for sambar deer than for red deer during summer, but there was no difference during winter. Relative to red deer, sambar deer consistently spent more time ruminating/g DMI, and spent a greater proportion of total ruminating time as daytime ruminating and had more daytime ruminating bouts. Duration of each ruminating bout (min) was similar for the two deer species, but sambar deer had less chews/bolus ruminated but more rumination boli/h than red deer. Differences between sambar deer and red deer were more pronounced in ruminating than in eating behaviour, and sambar deer may have evolved a different rumination pattern to break down low-quality tropical forages more effectively.

Type
Animals
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 123 , Issue 1 , August 1994 , pp. 89 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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

Barry, T. N., Suttie, J. M., Milne, J. A. & Kay, R. N. B. (1991). Control of food intake in domesticated deer. In Physiological Aspects of Digestion and Metabolism in Ruminants (Eds Tsuda, T., Sasaki, Y. & Kawashima, R.), pp.385–401. San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Chai, K., Kennedy, P. M. & Milligan, L. P. (1984). Reduction in particle size during rumination in cattle. Canadian Journal of Animal Science (Supplement) 64, 339–340.Google Scholar
Domingue, B. M. F., Dellow, D. W. & Barry, T. N. (1991 a). The efficiency of chewing during eating and ruminating in goats and sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 65, 355–363.Google Scholar
Domingue, B. M. F., Dellow, D. W., Wilson, P. R. & Barry, T. N. (1991 b). Comparative digestion in deer, goats and sheep. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 34, 45–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freudenberger, D. O., Toyakawa, K.Barry, T. N., Ball, A. J. & Suttie, J. M. (1994). Seasonality in digestion and rumen metabolism in red deer (Cervus elaphus) fed on a forage diet. British Journal of Nutrition 71, 489–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, J. L. & Hafs, H. D. (1971). Analysis of repeated measurements of animals. Journal of Animal Science 33, 331–336.Google Scholar
Goering, H. K. & Van Soest, P. J. (1970). Forage Fibre Analysis, USDA Agriculture Research Service No. 379.Google Scholar
Milne, J. A., MacRae, J. C., Spence, A. M. & Wilson, S. (1978). A comparison of the voluntary intake and digestion of a range of forages at different times of the year by the sheep and the red deer (Cervus elaphus). British Journal of Nutrition 40, 347–357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poppi, D. P., Norton, B. W., Minson, D. J. & Hendricksen, R. E. (1980). The validity of the critical size theory for particles leaving the rumen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 94, 275–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, C. S. W., Ulyatt, M. J. & Monro, J. A. (1977). The physical breakdown of feed during digestion in the rumen. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 37, 173–175.Google Scholar
Renecker, L. A. & Hudson, R. J. (1990). Digestive kinetics of moose (Alces alces), wapiti (Cervus elaphus) and cattle. Animal Production 50, 51–61.Google Scholar
Semiadi, G. (1993). The domestication and nutrition of sambar deer; a comparison with red deer. PhD thesis, Massey University.Google Scholar
Semiadi, G., Muir, P. D., Barry, T. N., Veltman, C. J. & Hodgson, J. (1993 a). Grazing pattern of sambar deer and red deer in captivity. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 36, 253–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Semiadi, G., Barry, T.N. & Muir, P. D. (1993 b). Growth, milk intake and behaviour of artificially reared sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) fawns. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 121, 273–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Semiadi, G., Muir, P. D. & Barry, T. N. (1994). General biology of sambar deer in captivity. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 37, 79–85.Google Scholar
Sibbald, A. M. & Milne, J. A. (1993). Physical characteristics of the alimentary tract in relation to seasonal changes in voluntary food intake by the red deer (Cervus elaphus). Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 120, 99–102.Google Scholar
Spallinger, D. E. & Robbins, C. T. (1992). The dynamics of particle flow in the rumen of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) and elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni). Physiological Zoology 65, 379–402.Google Scholar
Statistical Analysis System (SAS) (1987). SAS/STAT Guide Version 6.0. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.Google Scholar
Suttie, J. M., Goodall, E. D., Pennie, K. & Kay, R. N. B. (1983). Winter food restriction and summer compensation in red deer stags (Cervus elaphus). British Journal of Nutrition 50, 737–747.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ulyatt, M. J. (1983). Plant fibre and regulation of digestion in the ruminant. In Fibre in Human and Animal Nutrition (Eds Wallace, G. & Bell, L.). The Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin 20, 103–107.Google Scholar
Ulyatt, M. J., Dellow, D. W., John, A., Reid, C. S. W. & Waghorn, G. S. (1986). Contribution of chewing during eating and rumination to the clearance of digesta from the ruminoreticulum. In The Control of Digestion and Metabolism in Ruminants (Eds Milligan, L. P., Grovum, W. L. & Dobson, A.), pp. 498–515. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Van Soest, P. J. (1982). Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant. Corvallis, Oregon: O & B Books.Google Scholar