Economic efficiency of pulse diets for captive deer | Lopbarības pākšaugu sēklu izēdināšanas ekonomiskā efektivitāte briežkopībā
2020
Proskina, L., Latvia Univ. of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava (Latvia). Faculty of Economics and Social Development | Cerina, S., Latvia Univ. of Life Sciences and Technologies, Priekuli, Priekuli parish, Priekuli Municipality (Latvia). Inst. of Agricultural Resources and Economics. Priekuli Research Centre
Deer farming is a new and intensively growing non-traditional livestock industry; therefore, experience in feeding traditional livestock is only partly applicable to captive deer due to physiological and housing differences of the animals. As a result, a number of challenges related to efficient herd management emerge, and one of the challenges to be addressed is the choice of proper feedstuffs, which could raise productivity without increasing feed costs. The aim of the research is to determine the economic efficiency of feeding domestically produced protein-rich pulse crops – faba beans, peas and lupine beans – to captive deer. The research conducted a dietary experiment on red deer (Cervus elaphus) raised in captivity to determine the economic efficiency of feeding three pulse crops produced in Latvia – peas, faba beans and narrow-leaved lupine beans – to the deer. The research found that incorporating domestically produced protein-rich feedstuffs – faba beans, peas and lupine beans – in the diets of captive deer was economically efficient, as the productivity of the deer increased and the unit production cost decreased at equivalent feed ration costs. The experimental deer groups were fed diets with a higher protein content (21–32 g); the costs of the diets were equivalent to the cost of the diet fed to the control deer group. The most efficient protein absorption was found in Group 4 fed a lupine diet – a unit of protein fed (1 kg) to Group 4 resulted in the highest weight gain (0.43 kg) among the deer groups. During the experiment, the weight gain was 2.91% higher and the feed cost per unit of weight gain (5.64 EUR kgE–1) was 21% lower in Group 4 than in the control group.
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