Grazing ecology of female lambs on Italian ryegrass plus red clover pasture under different defoliation intensities
The relationship between pasture dynamics and ingestive behavior of female lambs was studied on Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) plus red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) mixture under a range of defoliation intensities. Rotational grazing was used and the grazing interval was determined by the thermal sum of 313 degree days. The initial pre-grazing canopy height disappearance values were 65 (very high), 58 (high), 47 (medium) and 37% (low). The sward vertical structure was similar among defoliation intensities. The forage allowance decreased linearly as defoliation intensities increased, with 0.35 bite/minute reduction for each 1% increase in forage allowance. The bite rate and number of bites/feeding station decreased with reduced contribution of leaves in the sward structure. It was associated, respectively, with an increase and a decrease of NDF and CP levels in forage as grazed by female lambs. The pasture cycle proves to be more important than defoliation intensities as a source for changes in feeding stations and displacement patterns of female lambs.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sociedade Brasileira de Zootecnia
2010
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| Online Access: | http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-35982010000100007 |
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