Kwan-Woo Kim¹, Dayeon Jeon¹, Jinwook Lee¹, Sung-Soo Lee¹, Do Hyung Kim², Sang Woo Kim^3,, Sang-Hoon Lee^1,

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two different concentrate feed allotments on the feed intake, weight gain, and venison quality (mineral and amino acid content, and chemical and fatty acid composition) of sika deer. Sixteen deer were allocated into two groups: T1 (feed allotment of 1.5% of the body weight) and T2 (ad libitum consumption). The results showed no significant differences in the average daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio between the two treatment groups. Analysis of the proximate composition of sika deer meat showed that the muscle tissue of T1 had a significantly lower (P < 0.05) fat content compared with that of T2. There were no significant differences in moisture, crude protein, ash, mineral, and amino acid content between the treatments. In contrast, the composition of fatty acids and total amount of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids showed significant differences. Compared with T1, deer meat from T2 had significantly higher (P < 0.05) levels of palmitoleic and linoleic acids and significantly lower (P < 0.05) levels of myristic and stearic acids.

fatty acids, feeding ration, meat, sika deer, venison