Seasonal patterns in food intake, live mass, and body composition of mature female fallow deer ( Dama dama)
Seasonal oscillations in food intake, live mass, and body component masses were investigated in two groups, each of 4 mature fallow does, which were fed high and low energy density diets ad libitum over a 17-month period. The aim of the experiment was to quantify seasonal patterns of food intake, live mass, and body tissue masses and to assess the effect of high- and low-energy diets on these patterns. Total body fat, muscle, and viscera masses were estimated on 10 occasions using computer-aided tomography. When food intake was expressed in megajoules of metabolisable energy per day, there was little difference between the groups fed the high- and low-energy diets. Food intake showed a clear deviation from a regular annual oscillation during the summer, when intake by both groups was reduced. Seasonal oscillations were apparent in live mass, empty body mass, muscle mass, and total body fat mass, with maximum values in autumn and minimum values in spring. Viscera mass did not show a seasonal pattern but was closely related to food intake. There was a lag phase of 6-7 weeks in the correlation between food intake and live mass and body tissue masses, suggesting that the changes in food intake were a precursor of subsequent changes in live mass and body composition. Further oscillations in muscle and fat masses persisted independently of changes in empty body mass, which indicated a differential change in these components according to season.