Fallow deer (Dama dama) are important meat producing species providing venison and other products to an international market. The present study investigated the effects of different feed rations on the growth, carcass characteristics and physical attributes of the longissimus lumborum (LL) and semitendinosus (SET) muscles of 45 farm-raised male fallow deer. The animals were divided into three separate groups: 15 pasture-fed (P), 15 pasture-fed and supplemented with barley (B), and 15 pasture-fed and supplemented with barley and lysine (BL). The animals were slaughtered at an average age of 17 months at three time points: after 155, 169 and 183 days on feed. The addition of barley to the feed ration significantly increased weight gain and had positive effects on slaughter and carcass weights, dressing-out proportion, carcass composition, the weight of LL muscle, and increased the redness, yellowness and chroma values of LL muscle. The supplementation with lysine reduced the amounts of carcass and internal fats without compromising other economically important traits.

Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation University of Queensland 306 Carmody Road St Lucia QLD 4069 Australia

Department of Animal Science and Food Processing Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Praha ⁻ Suchdol 165 21 Czech Republic

Department of Animal Sciences University of Stellenbosch Private Bag XI Matieland Stellenbosch 7602 South Africa

Department of Food Science Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Praha ⁻ Suchdol 165 21 Czech Republic

Department of Microbiology Nutrition and Dietetics Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Praha ⁻ Suchdol 165 21 Czech Republic

Institute of Animal Science Přátelství 815 Prague 22 ⁻ Uhříněves 104 00 Czech Republic

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Effects of Immunocastration and Amino Acid Supplementation on Yearling Fallow Deer (Dama dama) Testes Development

Potential benefits of amino acid supplementation for cervid performance and nutritional ecology, with special focus on lysine and methionine: A review

Carcass and Offal Yields of Farmed Common Eland (Taurotragus oryx) Males, as Affected by Age and Immunocastration

The Effect of Barley and Lysine Supplementation on the longissimus lumborum Meat Quality of Pasture-Raised Fallow Deer (Dama dama)