Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:09:24.357Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Food intake and grazing behaviour of sheep varying in body condition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

G. W. Arnold  and
H. A. Birrell
G. W. Arnold
Affiliation:
Division of Land Resources Management, CSIRO, Private Bag, PO Wembley, Western Australia 6014
H. A. Birrell
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, Pastoral Research Station, Box 180, Hamilton, Victoria, Australia 3300
Get access

Summary

Herbage intake and grazing times were measured in four experiments in which adult sheep grazed short and long pastures. The digestible organic matter (DOM) intake of adult wooled Merino and Corriedale wethers was higher, both absolutely and per kg live weight, when they were lower in live weight due to prior under-nutrition. The relative differences were similar on both abundant and scant pasture and were proportional to the relative differences in live weight. The higher intakes were achieved by differences in the time spent grazing and in the rate of intake per hour of grazing. DOM intake of shorn sheep was increased by up to 44% per kg live weight within 5 weeks of shearing in two experiments when the mean temperature was 8°C but no increase in DOM intake was observed in four other experiments when the mean temperature was 11°C. Shorn sheep achieved higher intakes on both abundant and scant pastures by increasing intake per hour of grazing.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , June 1977 , pp. 343 - 353
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allden, W. G. 1962. Rate of herbage intake and grazing time in relation to herbage availability. Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. 4: 163–66.Google Scholar
Allden, W. G. and Young, R. S. 1964. The summer nutrition of weaner sheep: herbage intake following periods of differential nutrition. Aust. J. agric. Res. 15: 989–1000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armstrong, D. G., Blaxter, K. L., Graham, N. McC. and Wainman, F. W. 1959. The effect of environmental conditions on food utilisation by sheep. Anim. Prod. 1: 1–12.Google Scholar
Arnold, G. W. 1970. Regulation of food intake in grazing ruminants. In The Physiology of Digestion and Metabolism in the Ruminant, (ed. Phillipson, A. T.), pp. 264–276. Oriel Press, Newcastle upon Tyne.Google Scholar
Arnold, G. W. 1975. Herbage intake and grazing behaviour in ewes of four breeds at different phsyiological states. Aust. J. agric. Res. 26: 1017–1024.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, G. W. 1976. A note on changes in injective behaviour of sheep following shearing. Appl. Anim. Ethol. 2: 175–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, N. A. and Arnold, G. W. 1973. The visual assessment of pasture yield. Aust. J. exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 13: 263–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donnelly, J. B., Lynch, J. J. and Webster, M. E. D. 1974. Climatic adaption in recently shorn Merino sheep. Int. J. Biometeorol. 18: 233–247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donnelly, J. R., Davidson, J. L. and Freer, M. 1974. Effect of body condition on the intake of food by mature sheep. Aust. J. agric. Res. 25: 813–823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gharaybeh, H. R., Arnold, G. W., McManus, W. R. and Dudzinski, M. L. 1966. Prediction of body composition in live animals. Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. 6: 284–290.Google Scholar
Graham, N. McC. 1964. Influence of ambient temperature on the heat production of pregnant ewes. Aust. J. agric. Res. 15: 982–988.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, K. J. and McRae, B. H. 1969. Some factors associated with the behaviour and survival of newly shorn sheep. Aust. J. agric. Res. 20: 513–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, J. P. and Blaxter, K. L. 1964. The effect of air movement, air temperature and infrared radiation on the energy requirements of sheep. Br. J. Nutr. 18: 5–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langlands, J. P. 1968. The feed intake of grazing sheep differing in age, breed, previous nutrition and live weight. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 71: 167–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slee, J. and Sykes, A. R. 1967. Acclimatisation of Scottish Blackface sheep to cold. 1. Rectal temperature responses. Anim. Prod. 9: 333–347.Google Scholar
Sykes, A. R. and Slee, J. 1968. Acclimatisation of Scottish Blackface sheep to cold. 2. Skin temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, shivering intensity and skinfold thickness. Anim. Prod. 10: 17–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, L. J., Reardon, T. F. and Lambourne, L. J. 1963. The effect of pasture availability and shearing stress on herbage intake of grazing sheep. Aust. J. agric. Res. 14: 364–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wodzicka-Tomaszewska, M. 1963a. The effect of shearing on the appetite of sheep. N.Z. Jl agric. Res. 6: 440–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wodzicka-Tomaszewska, M. 1963b. The effect of shearing on sheep. Proc. Ruakura Farmers' Conf. Week, 1963, pp. 28–38.Google Scholar
Wodzicka-Tomaszewska, M. 1964. The effect of shearing on the appetite of two-tooth ewes. N.Z. Jl agric. Res. 7: 654–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wodzicka-Tomaszewska, M. 1966. Efficiency of wool growth. I. Comparison of differences between high- and low-producing sheep under restricted and under ad libitum feeding. N.Z. Jl agric. Res. 9: 909–915.CrossRefGoogle Scholar