White-tailed Deer: Creating A Metabolic Profile
Blair Page
For the deer in the Adirondack mountains of New York and through much
of their northern range, winter represents a critical time in their lives.
Limited food supplies and diminishing fat reserves can spell death for
the smaller and weaker membersof the herd.
For
generations several Adirondack residents have been providing supplemental
feed to local deer herds to help alleviate the nutritional hardships of
winter. However, despite the longevity of this practice, it has not yet
been determined if supplemental feeding actually improves the well-being
of the herd.
In this effort, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
has been conducting a study to develop a metabolic profile of deer during
the winter time. The procedure involves anesthetizing the animals to take
physical measurements and to collect blood and fecal samples for analysis.
The samples
are used to evaluate the nutritional, stress, and reproductive parameters
of the herd.
Specifically for a nutritional index we are looking at the following 4
components of blood serum:
1. Urea Nitrogen - used as an indication of protein intake and energy
deficiency. This parameter can be affected by the ability of a ruminant
to recycle urea.
2. Creatinine - a non-protein nitrogen compound that is produced with
the catabolism of muscle tissue. Increases can be associated with muscle
necrosis, atrophy and starvation.
3. Total
Protein - provides reference for protein intake, liver function, and immunological
status.
4. Free fatty acids - produced in response to breakdown of fat tissue
and is usually inversely related to the amount of energy in the diet
Data from the above components coupled with information on fecal analysis
will provide landowners a way to assess the effectiveness of their supplemental
winter feeding programs.
For more information contact Blair
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