Methods to determine forage intake by lambs on Italian ryegrass

ABSTRACT. This study was conducted to evaluate the use of chromium oxide and the content of fecal nitrogen to estimate forage intake by female lambs on Italian ryegrass pasture. The pasture was managed under different forage allowances (FA): 6, 9 and 12% BW. The experiment was a randomized split-split plot design, in which the forage allowances were considered as main plots, the phenological stages as subplots and methods to determine intake as sub-subplots. Forage intake, in the ryegrass vegetative stage, is independent of forage allowance. Lower allowances limit forage intake from the pre-flowering stage, while at the reproductive stage, intake was lower in FA6, intermediate in FA9 and higher in FA12. The estimation of organic matter intake by lambs on Italian ryegrass is similar when chromium oxide and fecal nitrogen are used as markers. The forage intake according to forage allowances depends on the sward structure and is limited by high stem mass at the end of the phenological cycle.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Rosa,Aline Tatiane Nunes da, Rocha,Marta Gomes da, Pötter,Luciana, Graminho,Larissa Arnhold, Bergoli,Tuani Lopes, Moterle,Paulo Henrique
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Editora da Universidade Estadual de Maringá - EDUEM 2015
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1807-86722015000400365
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