Yellow colouration on roe buck

[paulbshooting]

I shot a cull roe buck this weekend. He's been living on and around clover leys since the spring and finally caught up with him. Acting normally pre shot, full external and internal inspection showed all good and healthy. However his bones and carcass were yellow in colour as per attached. I have heard of grass fed beef having a yellow tint to their meat but could the clover cause this? Carcass not being used but keen to learn what this has caused this colouration. Thanks.

 

[paulbshooting]

Ragwort apparently.

 

[Merlyn]

Ragwort apparently.

Ragwort is deadly to horses but only when it has dried out as in hay. They won't touch it when it is growing. I wonder why deer should be different. Never seen one eating it but everything is possible in the deer world.

 

[VSS]

Ragwort poisoning affects the liver, and liver disease results in jaundice (ie, yellowing).
However, I'm not sure that ragwort is the cause of the yellowing seen in the OP's photo. I've seen something like it before, and I'm wracking my brain trying to remember what it was

 

[User00056]

I have heard of grass fed beef having a yellow tint to their meat but could the clover cause this? Carcass not being used but keen to learn what this has caused this colouration. Thanks.

That rings a very loud bell with me! I seem to remember reading that a diet high in green plants raises the metabolised chlorophyll levels (or something like that) and that causes the yellow fat.

Anyone else read similar? Damned Iif I can remember where I saw it

 

[Cyres]

I have seen similar in rabbits.
D

 

[paulbshooting]

Thanks all. Certainly seems diet related. Everyday is a school day!

 

[Sitka]

I thought sheep keep ragwort down, if so presumably they would show yellow fat too , or perhaps they have a liver that processes ragwort toxins with no effect on fat colour?

 

[Utectok]

Sunny Deposition

Hunters view parts of a deer that are normally not seen…that being the inside. If you are like me, the inside of a deer is just as fascinating as the outside even after all the parts have stopped working. The heart, lungs, liver, lymph nodes, “stomachs”, spleen – all in a beautiful, elegant...

www.deer.psu.edu

 

[Terrydeer]

Thank you for that Utectok very informative, would there be a taint to the meat

 

[Cheviot]

Looks like jaundice ? could be wrong

 

[baguio]

That rings a very loud bell with me! I seem to remember reading that a diet high in green plants raises the metabolised chlorophyll levels (or something like that) and that causes the yellow fat.

Anyone else read similar? Damned Iif I can remember where I saw it

Not sure that that is relevant here. Deer only ever eat green plants, surely?

 

[VSS]

That rings a very loud bell with me! I seem to remember reading that a diet high in green plants raises the metabolised chlorophyll levels (or something like that) and that causes the yellow fat.

Anyone else read similar? Damned Iif I can remember where I saw it

I think you're thinking of yellow fat caused by eating plants with high levels of carotine. It happens in lamb and beef. Interestingly, there is also a degree of genetic susceptibility, so out of a group of animals all grazing the same pasture, not all will be affected.

 

[User00056]

I think you're thinking of yellow fat caused by eating plants with high levels of carotine. It happens in lamb and beef. Interestingly, there is also a degree of genetic susceptibility, so out of a group of animals all grazing the same pasture, not all will be affected.

That could be it

 

[Tim.243]

Not sure that that is relevant here. Deer only ever eat green plants, surely?

Found them with Haylage plastic wraps, Acorns, beans (hard) they hover up hard wheat from feeders.