The effects of castration of fallow deer (Dama dama) on body growth and venison production

1985 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Mulley ◽  
A. W. English

AbstractCastration of fallow deer (Dama dama) at 7 months of age resulted in a depressed growth rate to slaughter at 20 months of age, compared with entire bucks. The castrated bucks were significantly lighter at 15 and 20 months of age respectively (P < 0·001). The mean carcass weight of castrated bucks was 6·2 kg lighter and their dressing proportion 0·07 lower than entire bucks. The potential loss of income per carcass is equivalent to A$27·00 per castrated buck at 1984 prices, with a further potential loss of A$30·00 per head from velvet antler production prior to slaughter, if this is deferred until 2 years of age. It is suggested that the only advantage that castrated bucks would have over dean tiered entire bucks occurs during the rutting period of 3 to 6 weeks from early April, when entire bucks are extremely aggressive, and difficult to confine and transport without risk of injury and bruising of carcasses.

1991 ◽  
Vol 68 (9) ◽  
pp. 309-311
Author(s):  
RC MULLEY ◽  
AW ENGLISH
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (No. 9) ◽  
pp. 379-385
Author(s):  
K Tajchman

Fallow deer (Dama dama) are the most common breeding species among farmed cervids in Poland. Monitoring the animals’ health, nutritional status, and welfare are highly important aspects in their breeding. Haematological variables are important indicators for comparing the physiological status of the animals and for monitoring the changes in the organism related to the adaptation to the breeding conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the day’s length and the total protein content in the diet for the farmed fallow deer on the selected haematological variables. The study demonstrated a significant decline in the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and an increase of the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (P &lt; 0.05) in all the animals after the winter period. However, the animal group exposed to prolonged daylight exhibited a significant increase in the platelet distribution width (PDW) and platelet large cell ratio (P-LCR) (P &lt; 0.05). In turn, the group receiving a lower amount of protein in the diet was characterised by a significant reduction in the platelet count (PLT) (P &lt; 0.05). Thus, the length of daylight and the protein content of the diet for fallow deer exert a significant impact on several haematological characteristics, which may serve as indicators of an animal’s nutritional status and welfare.


1996 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Mulley ◽  
A. W. English ◽  
J. M. Thompson ◽  
R. M. Butterfield ◽  
P. Martin

AbstractA 2 × 2 factorial experimental design was used to compare growth in entire and castrated fallow bucks, implanted with zeranol at 6 and 9 months of age, or left as controls (no. = 10 per group). Growth pattern at pasture was assessed using 10-monthly growth periods from weaning (6 months) to 17 months. There were no overall castration or zeranol effects on growth rates from weaning to 17 months (P > 0·05), although there were significant interactions of zeranol and castration with time (P < 0·05). Zeranol-treated animals grew faster than the controls from 6 to 14 months, compared with the last 3 months (P < 0·05), indicating that the zeranol implants given at 6 and 9 months of age were no longer effective over the last 3 months of the experiment. The interaction between castration and time was significant (P < 0·05), whereby entire males grew relatively faster than the castrated males in both spring and the average of the winter and spring periods, whilst there was little difference in growth rates between entire and castrated males during the autumn period.At 17 months of age all animals were slaughtered following a 16-hfast. Entire bucks were 46g/kg live weight and 56 g/kg carcass weight heavier than the castrated bucks at slaughter (P < 0·05), although there was no effect of zeranol treatment on either live or carcass weights (P > 0·05). The mean dressing proportion for deer in all groups was 0·61.A subset of each treatment (no. = 5) were slaughtered and half carcasses dissected into muscle, bone and fat. When compared at the same carcass weight, both castration and treatment with zeranol significantly reduced the muscle weight and increased carcass fat weight (P < 0·05). There was no effect of either castration or zeranol treatment on the distribution of primal cuts. There were significant castration × zeranol interactions (P < 0·05) for muscle: bone and muscle: fat ratios, the entire control group having the highest muscle: bone and muscle: fat ratios.It was concluded that there is little commercial basis for the use of the growth promotant zeranol in fallow bucks being grown for venison. Although castration resulted in lower carcass weights and muscle proportion, these disadvantages should be considered against the management advantages of easier handling and lower bruising of castrates.


1994 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
HN Jabbour ◽  
VS Marshall ◽  
CM Argo ◽  
J Hooton ◽  
AS Loudon

Thirty-four European fallow deer (Dama dama dama) were randomly allocated into embryo donor (n = 12) or embryo recipient (n = 22) groups. All does were treated with controlled internal drug release (CIDR) devices for 14 days. Animals in the embryo donor group were further treated with 200 I.U. pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) and 0.5 units ovine follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). PMSG was administered 72 h before withdrawal of CIDR devices and FSH was given in eight 0.063 unit injections at 12-hourly intervals starting at the time of PMSG administration. All embryo donor animals were inseminated, by laparoscopy in both uterine horns, 36 h after withdrawal of CIDR devices with 25 x 10(6) fresh spermatozoa collected from Mesopotamian fallow deer (Dama dama mesopotamica). Embryos were recovered by laparotomy on Day 3 (n = 6) or Day 6 (n = 6) after withdrawal of CIDR devices and the ovarian response was determined. In total, 22 embryos were transferred into the oviduct (2-4-cell stage, n = 14) or uterine horn (morula stage, n = 8) on Day 3 or Day 6 after withdrawal of CIDR devices respectively. The overall means (+/- s.e.m.) of total follicular response and corpora lutea were 24.2 +/- 3.5 and 14.1 +/- 3.6 respectively. The mean number of large unruptured follicles was higher on Day 6 than on Day 3 (13.5 +/- 2.9 v. 6.7 +/- 1.3, P < 0.05). The overall embryo recovery rate was 45.8%. There was no difference in pregnancy rate following transfer of embryos on either Day 3 or Day 6 (7/14 v. 5/8 respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 2364-2368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnd Schreiber ◽  
Francisco Braza ◽  
Cristina San José ◽  
Santiago Aragón

The relative proportions of foetal and adult haemoglobins were quantified by densitometry of isoelectric focusing patterns in blood samples from 157 fawns from a free-living population of fallow deer (Dama dama) in Coto Doñana National Park, southwestern Spain. During the first week of life, the ratio of adult to foetal haemoglobin concentration increases with age. The proportion of foetal haemoglobin to total haemoglobin in peripheral blood proved a better indicator of age than morphological characteristics based on the persistence of natal traits in the fawns external phenotype. The erythrocytes of even the youngest fawns contained some adult haemoglobin, the mean percentage of adult haemoglobin in offspring less than 24 h of age being 13.7% in the reproductive season of 1989 (n = 28) and 7.18% in 1990 (n = 25). Half of the fawns whose blood contained less than 3% adult haemoglobin failed to survive past the first weeks of life (even when body mass was not below average), whereas not a single fawn with more than 5% adult haemoglobin on its first day of life was subsequently found dead. Even when the effects of sexual dimorphism in body size are taken into account, the blood of male fawns contained less adult haemoglobin at a given age than that of females, as was evident from significantly lower levels of adult haemoglobin when referenced to several body size covariates such as body length, shoulder height, hind-foot length, and body weight.


1984 ◽  
Vol 104 (4_Supplb) ◽  
pp. S6-S7
Author(s):  
B. EIBEN ◽  
K. FISCHER ◽  
H. SCHMIDT-GAYK

2020 ◽  
pp. 30-33
Author(s):  
D. R. Аgliullin ◽  
G. R. Khasanova ◽  
E. A. Abdulaeva ◽  
S. T. Agliullina ◽  
A. N. Amirov ◽  
...  

Objective: To assess the incidence of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) through the example of a large industrial Russian city.Methods: A retrospective analysis of CSC of Kazan population for 2009–2018 has been done.Results: From 2019 to 2018, 831 new cases of CSC were registered in Kazan. A statistically significant upward trend with growth rate 105.2% and accession rate 5.2% was typical for the annual track record. The mean age of patients was 50 years, the minimum age was 14 years, the maximum age was 87 years. A statistically significant upward trend was detected in track record of incidence in groups of 30–39-year-old and 40–49-year-old. Seasonal increase of the incidence was recorded in February, March, April, October, and November.Conclusions: The upward trend and seasonal prevalence are typical for longterm morbidity of CSC in Kazan. The highest morbidity rate of CSC and statistically significant upward trend of its incidence in track record were recorded in the age of 30–39. 


1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 1503-1510
Author(s):  
Stanislav Žáček ◽  
Jaroslav Nývlt

Lead iodide was precipitated from aqueous solutions of 0.015 - 0.1 M Pb(NO3)2 and 0.03 - 0.2 M KI in the equimolar ratio using a laboratory model of a stirred continuous crystallizer at 22 °C. After reaching the steady state, the PbI2 crystal size distribution was measured sedimentometrically and the crystallization kinetics was evaluated based on the mean particle size. Both the linear crystal growth rate and the nucleation rate depend on the specific output of the crystallizer. The system crystallization constant either points to a significant effect of secondary nucleation by the mechanism of contact of the crystals with the stirrer blade, or depends on the concentrations of the components added due to the micromixing mechanism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 293 ◽  
pp. 109427
Author(s):  
Jane Lamb ◽  
Emma Doyle ◽  
Jamie Barwick ◽  
Michael Chambers ◽  
Lewis Kahn

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