This project is headed up by Ella Wilson and is part of her PhD program supported by AgResearch Ltd.
This project applies medical-grade computed tomography (CT) imaging to quantify internal rumen structure, volume, and fill composition in red deer hinds across key seasonal and reproductive stages. Through a custom image-processing pipeline—including slice subsampling, TIFF conversion, segmentation, and quantitative pixel analysis—the project captures detailed spatial and volumetric information about liquid, gas, and fibre fractions within the rumen. This allows characterisation of how the rumen physically adapts to seasonal changes in feed availability and to the metabolic demands of pregnancy.
Rumen morphometric data are integrated with physiological, behavioural, and fermentation outcomes to understand how anatomical capacity shapes digestibility, intake, and metabolic flexibility. The findings offer a unique anatomical perspective on digestive adaptation in deer and inform future feeding strategies designed to match seasonal rumen capacity and optimise production efficiency.
