Nursing and feeding behaviour of confined red deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) in the Mexican highlands*

C. G. Vásquez¹
L. Olvera²
Y. Siqueiros³
M. L. Kuri²
V. A. Navarro²
A. E. Rovelo²
A. Shimada^4,5

¹Coordinación de la Investigación Científica
Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Ciudad Universitaria, D.F., México

²Student
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales
Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro
Centro Universitario, Qro., México

³Student
Facultad de Ciencias
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Ciudad Universitaria, D.F., México

⁴Laboratorio de Rumiología y Metabolismo Nutricional
Coordinación General de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación
Facultad de Estudios Superiores-Cuautitlán
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

⁵Centro Nacional de Investigación en Fisiología y Mejoramiento Animal
Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias
Ajuchitlán, Qro., México

*Part of this information was presented as the third author’s (Y.S.) baccalaureate thesis at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Abstract  Red deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) hinds were confined before parturition in 20 * 30 m earth-floored pens and offered freshly cut legume-grass mixed pasture (Experiment 1) or lucerne hay (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, four hinds were placed in a single pen; all parturitions took place within 24 h. Animals were monitored by a single observer for 24-h periods twice weekly for 10 weeks. Number of daily suckling episodes increased with age while their duration decreased. Consumption of forage started around the fourth week and, by weaning, calves had spent an average of 105.5 min eating forage and 44.2 min ruminating daily, compared with hinds, which consumed forage for 6.05 h and ruminated for 1.77 h per day. In Experiment 2, 24 hinds and their calves were confined in four pens for 12 weeks. Four observers each monitored the activities of a randomly chosen calf from 0800 to 1330 h and from 1430 to 2000 h. Activities were analysed as proportions of total activity using linear and quadratic regressions. Time spent suckling increased until Day 26 (110 seconds, in a total of three bouts), decreasing to 13 seconds (in a total of eight bouts) by Day 73. Most of the hinds (70%) allonursed (nursing a calf other than its own), some as soon as 2 days post-partum. Forage consumption by the calves decreased from 37.1 s at 8 days to 12.6 and 17.1 s at 59 and 73 days, respectively. The regression equation for time spent suckling (proportion of total activity) against calf age (days) showed a quadratic effect: y = 0.76 - 0.026 day + 0.00023 day² (R² = 0.797), whilst time spent eating forage showed an opposite quadratic trend: y = -0.17 + 0.28 day - 0.0002 day² (R² = 0.761).

Keywords  red deer; Cervus elaphus; calves; nursing; allosuckling; behaviour; feeding

A02026; Received 15 April 2002; accepted 19 September 2003; online publication date 26 February 2004
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 2004, Vol. 47: 1-9
0028-8233/04/4701-0001 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2004

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