Abstract
The nutritive value of red deer feeds is frequently determined by sheep despite the ultimate arbitrator of the nutritive value of any feed is the host animal. The objective of the trial was to determine the influence of rumen fluid donor (sheep vs red deer) on in vitro dry matter (DMD), neutral-detergent fibre (NDFD) and true digestibility (ivTD) of eleven substrata, naturally occurring in Slovenian forests (chestnut fruits, acorns of common and sessile oak, two fresh grasses) and those frequently used in supplemental red deer feeding (two grass hays and two grass silages, apple pomace and sugar beet roots). Only the fresh grass from Jelendol had greater (p < 0.05) DMD (646 vs 508 g/kg) when incubated in red deer inoculum. The NDFD and ivTD were always numerically greater when substrates were incubated in red deer inocula, however the NDFD and ivTD were significantly greater (p < 0.05) only when fresh grass from Jelendol (590 vs 343 g/kg and 801 vs 681 g/kg, respectively), grass silage from Kokra (541 vs 359 g/kg and 742 vs 639 g/kg, respectively) and apple pomace (428 vs 328 g/kg and 704 vs 653 g/kg, respectively) were incubated in the inoculum prepared from red deer rumen contents. These results indicate that rumen fluid from sheep can be used to predict in vitro digestibility in red deer and that these parameters can be used in the formulation of deer diets.
Highlights
The Alpine region of Slovenia is characterised by large areas of mixed coniferous and deciduous forests with small areas of pastures available for red deer
These results indicate that rumen fluid from sheep can be used to predict in vitro digestibility in red deer and that these parameters can be used in the formulation of deer diets
The values of DM disappearance (DMD), neutral detergent fibre disappearance (NDFD) and in vitro true DM digestibility (ivTD) (Table 2) show the expected variation depending on the substrate incubated, they show some significant differences related to the species of the rumen inoculum donor
Summary
The Alpine region of Slovenia is characterised by large areas of mixed coniferous and deciduous forests with small areas of pastures available for red deer. The herbage availability for grazing deer is characterised by a low quantity and a poor quality of herbage during late autumn and during the winter Such limitations together with large herds of red deer in some areas create a need for supplementary feeding as a common strategy to improve animal condition, trophy quality and reduction of winter mortality and is accepted as an efficient biological method to reduce the bark browsing caused by red deer (Rajský et al, 2008). With the increased use of in vitro techniques to evaluate ruminant feeds, it is of great importance to identify whether the species from which the rumen fluid inoculum is prepared has a significant influence on the obtained results This trial was carried out to determine the influence of rumen fluid donor (sheep vs red deer) on in vitro digestibility of several substrates naturally occurring in Slovenian forests and those frequently used in supplemental red deer feeding
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