Growth Performance and Hematological Changes in Growing Sika Deers Fed with Spent Mushroom Substrate of Pleurotus ostreatus

Hematological Changes in Sika Doe and Suckling Fawn Fed with Spent Mushroom Substrate of Pleurotus ostreatus

Sika deer velvet antler is the most important animal nutraceutic in traditional Chinese medicine. Reducing the breeding cost of sika deer by looking for a low-cost diet is the main research direction at present. The purpose of this experiment was to find an alternative diet for sika deer and reduce the cost of the diet by using spent mushroom substrate (SMS) as a concentrate supplement. The apparent digestibility for sika doe and the hematological changes of sika doe and suckling fawn were measured by replacing 10% of the concentrate supplement with SMS of Pleurotus ostreatus (SMS-MP). Compared with the control group, the digestibility of dry matter (DM), total protein (TP), globulin (GLO), and cholesterol (CHOL) of sika doe were significantly decreased (p < 0.05), and glucose (GLU), alanine (Ala), phenylalanine (Phe), and proline (Pro) of sika doe were significantly increased (p < 0.05) after the replacement of SMS-MP. Compared with the control group, the serum GLU of suckling fawn was significantly decreased (p < 0.05) and the phosphatase (ALP) was significantly increased after the replacement of SMS-MP (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the immune globulin and amino acid of suckling fawns between the two groups (p > 0.05). The present findings confirm the applicability of SMS-MP as a sika doe concentrate supplement. At the same time, using SMS, a waste resource, can not only reduce the breeding cost of sika doe, but also make full use of SMS to reduce environmental pollution.

Velvet Antler Production and Hematological Changes in Male Sika Deers Fed with Spent Mushroom Substrate

At present, spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is a waste resource that is producing a pollution problem in China, and which has some use as animal feed or fertilizer, has not been assessed as a feed for deer. The purpose of this study is to expand the feed of male sika deer and reduce the feeding cost by using the waste resource of SMS. The 10% concentrated supplement was replaced with SMS and the feed intake, apparent digestibility, blood index and velvet production of male sika deer were measured. As the results showed, compared to the control group, the substitution of SMS for 10% of the concentrate supplement decreased the concentration of IgA (p < 0.01), replacing 10% concentrated supplement with SMS of Pleurotus ostreatus (SMS-MP) reduced the intake of organic matter (OMI) and improved the digestibility of ether extract (EE), while replacing 10% concentrated supplement with SMS of Flammulina velutipes (SMS-MF) had no effect on apparent nutrient digestibility, feed intake, velvet antler production, and biochemical indexes. In conclusion, SMS had no effect on serum biochemical indexes and the ratio of the feed weight of the deer supplement to the weight of velvet antler (p > 0.05). At the same time, SMS could reduce the feed consumption and improve the economy by using SMS as a waste resource.