Differences in weight, nitrogen content and diaminopimelic acid (DAPA) content between individual pellets within pellet groups were assessed in red-deer (Cervus elaphus) faeces. Mean pellet weight in winter varied between pellet groups in 82% of cases. A 10 pellet subsample movided a 100% likelihood of getting a representative sample whereas 5 pellet subsample a 99.75% likelihood. Between pellet variations in nitrogen content, within a pellet group were smaller and not greater than experimental error. However, DAPA content varied greatly within pellet groups.