Effects of Diet on Growth and Lipogenesis in Deer Fawns

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Abstract
White-tailed deer (O. virginianus) fawns were fed a pelleted diet (16.2% protein, 3000 kcal of energy per kg). Their daily allotment provided either a high (ad lib), marginal (2/3 ad lib), or low (1/2-ration) nutritional plane during a 10 wk autumn trial. Compared to high-diet animals, food-deprived fawns grew much more slowly, had smaller organs and stored less fat. Considering their poor growth fawns on marginal and low diets accumulated surprisingly large fat depots. Lipogenesis probably comprises an obligatory physiological event in autumn and proceeds despite undernutrition until a serious negative energy balance occurs. Inspection of fat reserves may not reliably indicate relative range quality unless other physical parameters also are examined. A limited study revealed that stunted, lean fawns given moderate nutrition over winter managed to survive by consuming more food, feeding efficiently and minimizing their activity to conserve energy. The ecological implications of these findings are discussed.