Supplementary feeding of farmed fallow deer: effect on milk composition and fawn performance

The aim of this trial was to study the effect of supplementary feeding offered to farmed fallow deer does on milk characteristics and on male and female fawns performance. During two years, 40 females were divided in two groups and assigned to two homogeneous paddocks of the same pasture: SUP group received 0.5 kg/d per female of supplement that was raised to 0.7 kg/d from the third month of fawns age, while HER group was fed only on herbage. Herbage availability and composition were monitored by exclusion cages. Female performance (body weight, body condition score and milk composition) was recorded. Further, during the first year, performance and hematological parameters (non-esterified fatty acids and urea nitrogen) were assessed. Fawns were weighed every 45 days until the end of the experiment, when the characteristics of their carcasses were recorded. Supplementary feeding reduced herbage gathering and quality, but allowed a full recovery of body weight and condition of does. The milk provided by the HER does to their female offspring was richer in fat (16.1 vs 14.2 g/100 mL) and protein (8.76 vs 8.04 g/100 mL) than that furnished to male fawns; the opposite condition happened for SUP does (12.6 vs 13.3 g/100 mL for fat and 8.04 vs 8.35 g/100 mL for protein). At slaughter, SUP fawns showed higher carcass weight (14.10 vs 11.26 kg), greater conformation score (2.1 vs 1.6 points) and higher fat score (2.0 vs 1.2 points) than HER ones, moreover male fawns presented higher carcass weight than female (13.62 vs 11.74 kg).