Tomas Landete-Castillejos

..001). Milking order of quarters or their position had no effect on milk composition (P > 0.10). Results suggest that milk production and milk energetic quality might increase by advancing calving date in red deer hinds...

..Thus, low calorie intake might boost its slowing effect on growth by increasing the costs of infection fighting...

..Protein may be the most important milk component to explain growth and milk composition differences between closely related mammals...

..Results may be useful in game management aimed at increasing the recruitment or quality of males in managed populations...

..Early-born calves were heavier at 12 and 18 mo (P < 0.05). Results suggest that selecting hinds of high milk production and nutrient supply and advancing calving date may increase growth of calves and their performance at adulthood...

..1923) model always produced curves of type II. Data should be carefully examined to prevent the use of models unable to render the appropriate curve type described by yield data...

..Since these variations are even greater than the caused by deer handling, they should be taken into account when evaluating hematology in deer populations...

..This study shows, for the first time in a wild mammal, the relative importance of social rank, body weight, body condition and age in affecting milk production ability...

..Thus, results show that deer can select mineral content in their diet and that selection is shaped by physiological effort as expected if consumption is driven by physiological needs...

..Because calf mortality is correlated with birth weight, hinds may have kept calf birth weight constant at the expense of greater body weight loss...

..Calf gains showed a greater correlation with mean protein content and total protein yield, than with total energy yield or other milk nutrients. Milk protein appears to be more relevant to calf growth than gross energy yield...

..Finally, high and low ranking hinds had longer time per feeding bout than mid ones (P = 0.011), suggesting complex behavioral feeding tactics of low ranking social ungulates...

..Finally, calving advance also affected antler development. Thus, two of the five males whose birth was advanced, showed two antler cycles in their first year of life...

..This suggests that Mn (and perhaps other minerals) is essential to incorporate Ca and P from resorbed skeleton material in antlers. Apart from implications for game management, some effects may have applications for medicine...

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..2 ng/ml after day 20. Following the rapid decline of progesterone after day 14, the concentration remained around the baseline level of 0.1 to 0.2 ng/ml during the immediate pre- and post-ovulatory phase of the cycle...

..Therefore, osteoporosis would precede brain malfunctioning diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, and clinical data are available to support some of the predictions derived from this hypothesis...

..Development of the body condition during gestation was different to age class 1 with respect to the others, just as between hinds that rested the preceding year and those that did not...

..A pilot experiment examining the effects of one-year restriction to visitors for access to a formerly impacted area showed a plant cover increase by anthropic and not by native species of 57 percent units...

..Results show that at least in Iberian deer, counter-season reproduction is possible, and that the effects on lactation variables are similar to those of a natural delay in calving...

..Prolactin plasma concentrations showed a yearly trend following that of photoperiod, with peak concentrations from April to July, a decrease in August, minimal concentrations from September to February and a sharp increase in March...

..The results suggest that there is an association between bone chemical composition and mechanical properties independently of ash content...

..In contrast, no detrimental effect was found in late-born calves of this group. Lack of differences might be due to the excess of hind milk production during the first 5 wk of lactation previously recorded in other experiments...

..In contrast, no difference was found for Ca, Na, Zn, Fe or Si. The results suggest that thickness and mineral composition reflect the physiological effort made to build antler bone...

..Assessing bone composition may emerge as a new useful tool to obtain information regarding bone biology and its bearer in other species including ours...

..Because of the essential role of Fe and Zn in immune function, a more stable supply of those minerals might be important to the health of growing red deer calves...

..Therefore, deer may be selecting minerals according to nutritional requirements...