Diet selected by lambs and yearling sheep grazing on annual and perennial pastures in Southern Victoria

Hodge, RW; Doyle, JJ

doi:10.1071/ea9670141

Cited by 16 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…This difference is lower than those reported previously (Van Dyne and Heady, 1965;Dudziriski and Arnold, 1973;Langlands and Sanson, 1976), usually on more complex swards offering greater opportunity for selection. The available evidence (Hadjipieris et al, 1965;Hodge and Doyle, 1967;Langlands, 1969) indicates that diet selection by the intact lambs and the fistulated wethers would be similar. The greater digestibility of the diet selected by the lambs, combined with their higher herbage intakes, explains the more rapid decline in herbage digestibility and in the proportion of green material in their plots (Table 1).…”

Section: Herbage Intake and Ingestive Behaviour Of Calves And Lambsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of variation in sward characteristics upon the ingestive behaviour and herbage intake of calves and lambs under a continuous stocking management

Jamieson¹,

Hodgson²

1979

Grass and Forage Science

120

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that the lack of response under strip-grazing is a characteristic of the management imposed. AbstractGroups of calves and lambs grazed on plots of S23 perennial ryegrass, in successive periods of 2, 2 and 3 weeks, at stocking rates which resulted in a slow change in herbage mass on each plot and measurements were made of ingestive behaviour (biting rate, bite size and grazing time) and herbage intake.As the green herbage mass was progressively reduced from approx. 3000 to 1000 kg OM per ha between periods, biting rate and grazing time increased, but insufficiently to offset the rapid fall in bite size so that herbage intake declined by 24% and 39% for calves and lambs respectively. Patterns of response were similar in calves and lambs, though in all parameters except biting rate the lambs appeared to be more sensitive than the calves to changes in sward conditions and there was no evidence that lambs were better adapted to grazing on short swards than calves.Intake increased in both calves and lambs up to levels of 2500-3000 kg green OM per ha, though this response may have been attributable in part to the reinforcing effects of increasing herbage mass and diet digestibility. Lambs consistently selected a more digestible diet than calves.Both calves and lambs increased grazing time substantially in response to limiting sward conditions, in contrast to results in earlier strip-grazing trials with calves, thus supporting the suggestioti

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Section: Herbage Intake and Ingestive Behaviour Of Calves And Lambsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of variation in sward characteristics upon the ingestive behaviour and herbage intake of calves and lambs under a continuous stocking management

Jamieson¹,

Hodgson²

1979

Grass and Forage Science

120

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“…The assumption was made that there were no real differences in the digestibility of the diet selected, and the differences between the estimates of herbage intake for experienced and inexperienced lambs are due entirely to differences in faecal output (Table 3). This is not necessarily a valid assumption, but the available evidence (10,12,13) indicates that any differences in selection which may have occurred would be much too small to explain the differences in the estimates of herbage intake. Also, the fact that there were no significant differences in the botanical composition of the herbage remaining after grazing by experienced and inexperienced animals ( Table 2) suggests that the assumption is reasonable.…”

Section: O\ M O «^ --O -O O N •» (S (N Os O> ^^mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Consumption of Perennial Ryegrass and Red Clover by Grazing Lambs

Hodgson

1975

Grass and Forage Science

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Groups of six-month old lambs, which were either experienced or inexperienced grazers, stripgrazed swards of S24 perennial ryegrass or Hungaropoly tetraploid red clover, at daily herbage allowances of 20 or 40 g OM/kg LW, in late August and September. The swards were similar in N content, but the weight of standing crop, and its digestibility, were higher on grass than on clover. Estimates of herbage intake were made in two successive periods of 19 days. Intake (g OMAg LW) was lower at low than at high allowance (by 22% and 28% in periods I and II). and experienced grazers ate more than inexperienced animals (by 27% and 22%). Intakes on clover were 28% higher than on grass in Period I, but in Period II the difference was not significant.

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“…These studies form the basis of an increasing body of opinion that sheep prefer clover (e.g. Hodge & Doyle 1967;Bedell 1973;Leigh & Holgate 1978;Curll & Wilkins 1980;Frame & Newbould 1986;Curll & Gleeson 1987;Lascano & Thomas 1988;Wilman & Simpson 1988;Laidlaw & Steen 1989;Ridout & Robson 1991). This belief persists (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not all sheep prefer clover: diet selection revisited

Newman

Parsons²,

Harvey³

1992

J. Agric. Sci.

122

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S U M M A R YSeveral previous studies have shown that the proportion of clover in sheep diets was greater than the proportion of clover in the mixed species swards being grazed. Various hypotheses have been put forward to explain this observation. One widely held hypothesis is that sheep prefer (actively select) clover to grass. This hypothesis was tested by offering 12 sheep, six that had been recently grazing perennial ryegrass and six that had recently been grazing white clover, the choice between foraging on grass or clover provided as turves. It was found that, rather than prefer clover, the sheep preferred the opposite species to the one they had previously grazed. From these observations, alternative hypotheses are proposed to explain the disparity in composition of the diet relative to the swards observed in previous studies, and the evidence for a constant preference for clover and its basis in grazing behaviour is reconsidered.

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Diet selected by lambs and yearling sheep grazing on annual and perennial pastures in Southern Victoria

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

The effects of variation in sward characteristics upon the ingestive behaviour and herbage intake of calves and lambs under a continuous stocking management

The effects of variation in sward characteristics upon the ingestive behaviour and herbage intake of calves and lambs under a continuous stocking management

The Consumption of Perennial Ryegrass and Red Clover by Grazing Lambs

Not all sheep prefer clover: diet selection revisited

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