• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.702-705
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• 2003

Forest by-product silage (FPS) comprised of foliage, shrubs, and wild grasses was prepared to examine feeding value as sole roughage source for spotted (sika) deer. This diet was compared with imported oak leaf hay (OLH) and a commercial mixed ration (CMR) in digestion balance trials with spotted deer. Dry matter intake was highest (p<0.05) on the OLH, whereas intakes of the FPS and CMR were similar (p>0.05). Digestibility of dry matter was highest (p<0.05) for CMR. Digestibility of crude protein was highest in CMR and lowest in OLH and there were significant differences (p<0.05) among diets. Average daily gain, digestible dry matter intake and digestibility of crude fiber did not differ significantly among diets. Nitrogen intake, urinary and digestible nitrogen were highest (p<0.05) in CMR. However, nitrogen retention was not significantly different. Consequently, FPS is a good roughage source for deer having high digestibility, dry matter intake and availability of nitrogen.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 2002

A comparison of intake, digestibility and nitrogen balance in spotted deer(Cervus nippon) fed forest by-product silage(FBS), arrowroot silage(ARS) and oak leaf hay(OLH) was made to examine the feeding value of forest by-product silage. Dry matter digestibility of ARS was significantly higher(p$<$0.05) than that of OLH while crude protein digestibility was significantly higher(p$<$0.05) in ARS and FBS than in OLH. The digestibility of crude fiber was highest in FBS. Dry matter intake of OLH was significantly higher(p$<$0.05) than that of ARS, and there was no significant difference with FBS. Nitrogen intake was higher in OLH and ARS than in FBS, but there was no significant difference. Fecal nitrogen was highest(p$<$0.05) in OLH and urinary nitrogen was highest(p$<$0.05) in ARS. Retained nitrogen was highest in FBS, however, there was no significant difference among treatments. In Conclusion. FBS was estimated as a useful roughage source for deer, showing high digestibility, dry matter intake and nitrogen utilization.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.177-186
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• 2002

This experiment was conducted to examine possibility and suitability of forest by-product as a roughage source of deer. As a experimental diet, forest by-product silage(FPS) and commercial mixed ration(CMR) were prepared to compare dry matter intake, digestibility, nitrogen balance and feeding behavior in feeding trials with spotted deer. The digestibility of dry matter was higher(P<0.05) in CMR than in FPS. The digestibility of crude protein was higher in CMR than in FPS and there was significant difference(P＜0.05). CMR had more digestibility of crude fiber than FBS but the difference was not significant. Dry matter intake were similar in both diets. Digestible dry matter intake was higher in CMR than FPS, however, there was no significant difference between experimental diets. Nitrogen intake, urinary and digestible nitrogen were significantly higher(P<0.05) in CMR than FPS. The efficiency of nitorgen utilization was higher for FPS than for CMR. Feeding behavior were similar in FPS and CMR. Consequently. It would be expected that FPS that composed with various feed sources can be used as a good roughage source of deer. Because it has high digestibility, dry matter intake and internal availability of nitrogen.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.169-176
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• 2002

To determine availability as a feed source of deer of by-products that produced at reforestation areas and comprised shrubs and wild grasses, mixed forest by-product silage(FBS), arrowroot silage(ARS), bristletooth oak tree silage(BOS), white oak tree silage(WOS) were prepared to compare dry matter intake, digestibility and nitrogen balance in digestion balance trials with spotted deer. Dry matter intake was highest in WOS and lowest in ARS but there was no significant difference(P＞0.05). Digestible dry matter intake was higher in FBS and ARS that had higher dry matter digestibility than in WOS and BOS that had lower dry matter digestibility(P＞0.05). Dry matter digestibility was highest fur ARS and lowest for BOS(P＜0.05). Digestibility of crude protein was similar to that of dry matter. That of crude fiber was higher for FBS and ARS than for BOS and WOS(P＞0.05). Daily gain of body weight was slightly greater for WOS than fer other treatments(P＞0.05). Nitrogen intake was highest for ARS and lowest for BOS(P＜0.05), and fecal nitrogen was opposite to nitrogen intake(P＜0.05). Nitrogen excretion with urine was highest for ARS that had higher nitrogen intake and lowest for BOS and there was a significant difference(P＜0.05). Retained nitrogen was highest for FBS and lowest for. BOS (P＞0.05). Although there was no significant difference(P＞0.05): the ration of nitrogen intake to retained nitrogen was highest in FBS for 43.9% and lowest in BOS for 24.7%. Consequently because by-products that produced at reforestation areas had high intake and internal availability, it was evaluated to valuable feed source for deer.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.80-85
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• 2004

The purpose of this experiment was to assess seasonal variation of feed utilization by feed sources and to obtain information on the use of feed resources by comparing seasonal changes of dry matter intake, digestibility, nitrogen balance and feeding behavior in spotted deer (Cervus nippon) fed forest by-product silage (FBS) and corn silage (CS). Dry matter intake (DMI) of FBS was higher than that of CS in both winter and summer. While DMI of both diets was higher in summer, this was not significant at the 5% level. In contrast to DMI, digestible dry matter intake (DDMI) was higher for CS than for FBS in both seasons, but the difference was not significant. Digestibility of dry matter and crude protein was significantly higher (p<0.01) for CS than for FBS, whereas digestibility of crude fiber was significantly higher (p<0.01) for FBS than for CS in both seasons. Seasonal digestibility of dry matter and crude fiber for FBS was significantly greater (p<0.01) in summer than in winter: In summer, seasonal digestibility was 57.2% for dry matter and 55.5% for crude fiber, and in winter, 50.8% for dry matter and 30.7% for crude fiber. On the other hand, seasonal digestibility of crude protein was higher (p<0.01) in winter (42.1%) than in summer (32.3%). No significant difference (p>0.05) was found between the two seasons and diets for nitrogen intake (NI), 18.7 g/d in summer and 19.4 g/d in winter for FBS, 17.7 g/d in summer and 17.7 g/d in winter for CS. Fecal nitrogen was higher (p<0.01) for FBS than for CS and varied little seasonally. There was significant difference (p<0.01) between two seasons in urinary nitrogen, which was little difference between two diets. Retained nitrogen (RN) was different significantly (p<0.01) between two diets in both seasons, but there was little difference between seasons. Deer usually spent longer time on eating FBS than eating CS. Eating FBS took 221 min in summer and 187 min in winter, whereas eating CS took 113 min in summer and 109 min in winter. Deer spent less time on eating food in winter than in summer. Time spent on rumination was longer for FBS than for CS: for FBS, 504 min in summer and 456 min in winter, for CS, 423 min in summer and 279 min in winter. Time varied seasonally with both diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1737-1741
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to provide basic information to allow improved nutritional management for velvet production by investigating the effects of dietary protein levels on dry matter intake and production and chemical composition of velvet antler in spotted deer (Cervus nippon). Twenty-four spotted deer stags were assigned to 4 unreplicated groups, Control (15% CP in diet, higher dry matter), CP10 (10% CP), CP15 (15% CP) and CP20 (20% CP). The velvet antlers were harvested from each stag on the 55th day after casting of the buttons from the previous set, measured for their size and weight, and the chemical composition of each antler was determined in three sections (top, middle, and base). Dry matter (DMI) and crude protein (CPI) intake were highest (p<0.05) for the Control and increased progressively (p<0.05) with increasing dietary protein level. Although not significant, mean length and girth of the main antler beam tended to be larger in either left or right beam with increasing protein level in the diet, longest in CP20 and shortest in CP10. Velvet antler production was lowest in CP10 and highest in CP20, which differed significantly (p<0.05). Only negligible differences were found between groups in chemical composition. It is concluded that dietary protein clearly influenced dry matter intake and velvet antler production, whereas there was comparatively little effect of dietary protein on chemical composition of antler in spotted deer.