Digestibility of Cedar and Jack Pine Browse for the White-Tailed Deer

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Thirty-six pregnant white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), 2.5 to 3.5 years old, were used to study the digestibility of browse from northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and from jack pine (Pinus banksiana). The deer fed cedar ate 4 to 5 times as much as those fed jack pine, and the deer fed jack pine lost appreciably more weight. However, jack pine exceeded cedar in the apparent digestibility of crude fiber and ether extract. In all groups, hemo-globin concentration and hematocrit percentage increased from the beginning of diet adjustment to the end of fecal collections, with the greater change observed in deer fed jack pine. Serum protein concentration also increased during this period, but similarly on both diets. The rumen liquor of deer fed jack pine had a higher concentration of ammonia nitrogen, expressed as a percent of total nitrogen, and a lower concentration of folatile fatty acids.[long dash]Authors.