Maintenance Crude Protein Requirement of Penned Female Korean Spotted Deer (Cervus nippon)

This study was conducted to evaluate the protein requirement for maintenance of 2-year-old female Korean spotted deer. In the course of the experiment, each of three hand-reared female spotted deer was fed three diets that were iso-calorically formulated to contain low (approximately 7%), medium (12%), and high (17%) levels of crude protein (CP). Each of six trials included a 5-day transition, a 10-day preliminary, and a 7-day collection period. Dietary protein levels affected the apparent digestibility of CP (p<0.05) but not the apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, or acid detergent fiber. All of the deer showed a positive CP balance on all of the diets. The maintenance CP requirement estimated by regression analysis was 4.17 g/kg metabolic body weight $(W^{0.75}){\cdot}d$. The maintenance digestible CP requirement was 1.42 g/kg $W^{0.75}{\cdot}d$. The metabolic fecal CP was 1.95 g/kg $W^{0.75}{\cdot}d$. The blood urea nitrogen of spotted deer increased (p<0.05) as the dietary protein levels increased.