In a tropical ranch of animal production, which was divided by fire lines into 20 equal grazing paddocks of one mile square each, a grazing experiment was conducted as controlled rotational grazing with forty-five (45) cross-bred Sudanese improved Baggara cattle which were divided into four feeding systems (groups). A drop in condition scores of the farm cattle stock herd was treated during dry summer by supplementary feeding with four types of supplements to investigate the changes in average body weight changes, heart girth and condition scores, through dry summer, wet summer and winter seasons. The results showed that, animals of group three (G3) which supplemented with groundnut cake performed better in all body parameters under study when compared with group one (G1) and group two (G2) being supplemented with groundnut haulm, Stover respectively and group four (G4) which was kept under natural grazing as control group (Natural grazing alone) which reveals the worse body measurement traits performance under study. The effect of seasonal changes showed a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the seasons in average body weight in groundnut cake supplements both in dry and wet summer obtained better average body weight (162.53 Kg and 174.56 Kg respectively) than in groundnut haulm (in dry and wet summer −143.60 Kg and 163.50 Kg respectively), Stover supplements and natural grazing (controlled) groups. The results also showed that, the heart girth and condition score were significantly different (P < 0.05) between the treatments in wet summer and winter. While showing no significant difference between the treatments in dry summer, group supplemented with groundnut cake during the dry summer reported better performance in condition scores than other groups.
Nine samples of range herbage species were collected within the grazing season using 0.5 × 0.5 m quadrate as from three weeks initial pasture growth established in June across throughout up to December (two seasons), to examine the effects of age on the trend of some chemical compositions and energy changes. Analysis of variance indicated that the chemical composition of grassland from 3 weeks of age, to 12 weeks of age across to 27 weeks of age was affected by the grass age, where the metabolizable energy contents were 15.85, 13.11 and 12.36 MJ/Kg/DM respectively. Hemi-celluloses and cellulose content showed a significant difference increase (P < 0.05) throughout the grazing season as grass age increases. The results also revealed that the Organic Matter (OM), Crude Protein (CP) and Metabolizable Energy (ME MJ/Kg DM) were significantly (P < 0.05) tended to be high at the beginning of growing season (mid July) (91.05%, 3.8% and 8.77 MJ respectively), then increased towards the mid of grazing season (mid September) and reduced towards the end of the grazing season (mid December).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.