Grain supplementation of growing Rusa (Cervus timorensis) deer stags.

Abstract

11A Grain supplementation of growing rusa (Cervus timorensis) deer stags M.C. Hmeidan, G.McL. Dryden and J.E. McCosker School of Animal Studies, University of Queensland, Gatton Qld 4345 mhmeidan@uq.net.au We (Hmeidan and Dryden 1998) reported that rusa stags fed on rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) hay lost weight, but adding barley (102 g/d) increased hay intake and liveweight gain. The effects of higher amounts of barley on performance, digestibility and substitution rate were investigated in the present study. Five growing rusa stags (liveweight 68.0 � 6.94 kg, mean � SD) were fed ad libitum on rhodes grass hay and randomly allocated one of five amounts of whole barley grain (g/d): 0 (RG0), 200 (RG2), 400 (RG4), 800 (RG8) and 1200 (RG12) in a 5x5 latin square design. Measurements were made of liveweight change, total and hay dry matter intake, substitution rate (SR) and total tract digestibility of organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and acid detergent fibre (ADF). After 21 days of supplementary feeding, stags fed on rhodes grass alone lost weight, and digestibility of OM and CP were lowest while that for ADF was highest. There was an increase in liveweight gain and the digestibilities of OM and CP with increase in barley level. Digestibility of ADF was negatively affected by the supplementation. Feeding barley at 200 g/d (RG2) resulted in a slight increase in hay intake, while higher supplementation levels significantly decreased intake of the basal diet, suggesting a substitution effect. These results suggest that up to 1200 g/d of barley (RG12) can be offered to growing rusa stags fed on rhodes grass hay ad libitum with no obvious ill effects. However, the decrease in ADF digestibility suggests a negative effect on fibrolytic bacteria. Supplementing with 800 g/d (RG8) seems optimal for liveweight gain and substitution rate. Hmeidan, M.C. and Dryden, G.McL. (1998). Effect of hay quality and grain supplementation on feed intake, liveweight and digestibility in young rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) stags. Animal Production in Australia 22, 383. Table 1 Intake, live weight, digestibility and substitution rate in growing rusa stags fed rhodes grass hay supplemented with whole barley grain. Treatments RG0 RG2 71.4 72.4 47.6 1203c 1028a _ 0.210 c d ab d ab b b RG4 71.2 73.0 85.7 1232 882 c b ab ab b RG8 70.1 73.4 1383b 686 c b b ab a RG12 70.7 74.5 181.0 1434 453 a d b a a SEM 0.48 0.55 22.49 12.38 11.57 0.04 Initial weight (kg) Final weight (kg) Live weight change (g/d) Total intake (g DM/d) Hay intake (g DM/d) Substitution rate Digestibility (%) Organic matter Protein Acid detergent fibre a,b,c,d 72.5a* 71.8b _ 33.3 992 992 -- 54.5d 34.6 e d a c 157.1 0.313c c c b 0.439 b b b 0.549a a a c 58.9 45.0 46.9 60.9 49.4 38.6 66.5 55.9 37.8 72.1 61.5 26.1 3.81 4.04 11.18 50.6a Within rows, means of different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05). Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition in Australia, Volume 13 (2001)