Effect of pasture availability and shearing stress on herbage intake of grazing sheep

1963 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 364 ◽  
Author(s):  
JL Wheeler ◽  
TF Reardon ◽  
LJ Lambourne
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Cold Stress ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Shearing Stress ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Herbage Intake ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Grazing Sheep ◽  
Index Methods

Digestible organic matter (D.O.M.) intakes of sheep grazing various pastures were measured by faecal index methods in three 4- to 6-week experiments. No correlation could be found between the weight of pasture available (over the range 150–2900 Ib dry weight per acre of green herbage) and the D.O.M. intake of sheep. During two experiments the sheep were shorn. Shortly after, voluntary D.O.M. intakes rose significantly by 42–62%. Concurrently the hay intake of other sheep yarded nearby rose by 20–51% following shearing. Cold stress is probably responsible for these increases.

Herbage intake and production of Merino sheep grazing native and improved pastures at different stocking rates

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (68) ◽  
pp. 307 ◽  
Author(s):  
JP Langlands ◽  
JE Bowles
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Merino Sheep ◽  
Wool Production ◽  
Herbage Intake ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Native Pastures ◽  
Stocking Rates ◽  
Improved Pasture

Estimates were made of the herbage intake, nutritive value of the diet, liveweight, wool production, efficiency of wool production and fleece characteristics of fine wool merino sheep grazing native pastures at stocking rates of 1.9, 3.7 and 5.6 sheep ha-1. The effects of increased stocking rates on these variables, and differences between improved and native pastures were examined by regression analysis. Organic matter digestibility declined with increasing stocking rate and was consistently less on native than on improved pasture as were the N content and the ratio, N : organic matter digestibility in the diet. Organic matter intake/sheep did not differ between pasture types or stocking rates, but digestible organic matter, digestible nitrogen and nitrogen intakes were less on native pasture, and paralleled seasonal changes in nutritive value, minimum values being recorded in late winter. Both wool production/sheep and liveweight were greater on improved pastures. Wool production ha-1 was 4 to 10 times greater on improved than on native pastures at stocking rates at which wool production/sheep were similar. Efficiency of wool production expressed as g wool/100 g digestible organic matter consumed was greater on improved pasture but when expressed/100 g nitrogen intake, sheep grazing native pasture were more efficient. Possible reasons are discussed. The maintenance requirements for energy appeared to be similar on both types of pasture. Fleeces produced on native pastures were generally lighter with shorter staple lengths, and appeared to be one spinning count finer than those produced on improved pasture. They were also superior in terms of softness and colour but were less uniform.

PREDICTED FORAGE VALUE OF WHOLE PLANT CEREALS

1975 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 975-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. FISHER ◽  
D. B. FOWLER
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Neutral Detergent Fiber ◽  
Dry Matter Yield ◽  
Acid Detergent Fiber ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Forage Value

Dry matter yield, percent dry weight, in vitro digestible dry matter, in vitro digestible organic matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, ash and hemicellulose contents were determined for spring- and fall-sown common wheat, barley, rye and triticale and spring-sown durum wheat and oats for the period from late boot to maturity. Differences among cultivars and stages of maturity were significant for all parameters. These differences were accompanied by stage of maturity interactions. Consideration of the interrelationships among these parameters revealed that level of in vitro digestible dry matter was reflected in measures of acid detergent fiber and ash or percent dry weight. Further analyses indicated that differences in digestibility due to stage of maturity were primarily reflected by changes in ash or percent dry weight, while differences in digestibility among cultivars were mainly attributable to differences in acid detergent fiber.

Stimulation of wool growth by thyroxine implantation. II. Feed intake of grazing Merino wethers treated repeatedly with thyroxine.

1964 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 676 ◽  
Author(s):  
LJ Lambourne
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Wool Production ◽  
Wool Growth ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Maintenance Requirements ◽  
Substantial Rise ◽  
Stimulation Of

Estimates have been made of the feed intake of wethers that received implantations of 60 mg thyroxine every 3 months, and of untreated sheep, grazing together. The estimated intake of digestible organic matter (D.O.M.) by treated wethers was higher than that of controls in 24 out of 27 measurement periods. The difference in feed intake was least in the iirst month after implantation, when the treated sheep lost weight, and greatest in the second and third months when the treated sheep were regaining weight. The overall increase in intake resulting from thyroxine treatment (20–25%) was greater than the increase in wool production (7% greasy weight, 3-7 % clean weight), and the efficiency of wool production was therefore lower in thyroxinetreated wethers. From the relationships between feed intake and rate of weight change it was concluded that in the month after implantation, when pulse rates indicated a substantial rise in metabolic rate, the maintenance feed requirement was raised from about 560 g to about 780 g D.O.M. per day. Observations in two winters with recently shorn sheep gave estimates of maintenance requirements for untreated wethers ranging from 850 to 1300 g D.O.M. per day. During recovery from repeated thyroxine implantation the wethers gained in weight no more efficiently than the controls. The mechanism of action of exogenous thyroxine is discussed in the light of these and other data.

Effect of body condition and pasture type on herbage intake, performance during lactation and subsequent ovulation rate in Scottish Blackface ewes

1981 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Doney ◽  
R. G. Gunn ◽  
J. N. Peart ◽  
W. F. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Body Condition Score ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Herbage Intake ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Condition Score ◽  
Daily Milk Yield ◽  
Daily Milk

ABSTRACTScottish Blackface ewes in uniform, good, body condition at mating were differentially fed during pregnancy, such that two groups lost 0·15 to 0·20 (groups A and B) and one group gained 0·05 (group C) of maternal live weight by lambing time. The treatments had little effect on the number of lambs born per ewe lambing (1·39, 1·46 and 148 respectively).Prior to parturition, group A was transferred to a poor hill pasture, and groups B and C to an improved upland reseeded pasture. Herbage intake by six single- and six twin-suckling ewes from each group was estimated in the 3rd, 6th and 8th week after parturition, and mean daily milk production was estimated on 1 day following each intake measurement period. Herbage intake by six dry ewes in each of groups A and B was also estimated.There were significant differences amongst groups A, B and C, respectively, in mean organic matter digestibility of the herbage consumed (0·701, 0·771 and 0·773), mean daily digestible organic-matter intake (1·06, 1·46 and 1·46kg), mean live-weight change over the period ( –2·9, +5·4 and +l·3kg) and mean daily milk yield (0·64, 1·93 and 1·95 kg).By the following mating time, after grazing the same pasture from weaning, there was still a difference in body condition score according to pasture type during lactation (2·08, 2·36 and 2·29, respectively). Ovulation rate measured after mating was consistent with the direct effect of body condition (1·34, 1·56 and 1·52, respectively).

Studies in the wool production of grazing sheep. 4. Variation between sheep in intake, wool production, and efficiency

1966 ◽  
Vol 6 (20) ◽  
pp. 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
WR McManus ◽  
GW Arnold ◽  
ML Dudzinski
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Wool Production ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Grazing Sheep ◽  
Stocking Rates

The results of a three-year experiment with Merino wethers grazed at four stocking rates were examined. There were consistent differences between individual sheep at all times of the year in their intake of digestible organic matter (DOMI), clean wool production (WP), and in their efficiency of conversion of food to wool (E). Within stocking rates there were no consistent relationships between DOMI and WP.

Spray-topping annual grass pasture with glyphosate to delay loss of feeding value during summer. IV. Diet composition, herbage intake, and performance in grazing sheep

1999 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 487 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Leury ◽  
C. Siever-Kelly ◽  
R. J. Simpson ◽  
K. L. Gatford ◽  
H. Dove
Keyword(s):  
Diet Composition ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Soluble Carbohydrate ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Annual Grass ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Seed Head ◽  
Herbage Intake ◽  
Grazing Sheep ◽  
Days After Anthesis

We report the effects of spray-topping annual grass pasture with glyphosate (180 g a.i./ha as Roundup CT, at the seed head emergence stage) on the nutritive value of herbage and on subsequent performance of grazing sheep. Eight 1-ha plots, consisting of 4 sprayed and 4 unsprayed (control) plots, were set-stocked with Merino wethers (18 months old, 12 sheep/ha) from 8 days after anthesis in the control plots (late spring) until 165 days after anthesis (mid-autumn). In 4 periods (15–20, 36–41, 71–76, and 99–104 days after anthesis; Periods 1–4, respectively) sheep were dosed with synthetic alkanes and herbage and faecal samples were taken, in order to estimate diet composition (in terms of plant parts), faecal output, herbage intake, and the digestibility of the whole diet. As described in our earlier papers, spray-topping reduced the yield of pasture dry matter, but also slowed the loss of water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) and digestibility during pasture senescence. The present paper shows that as a result, sheep grazing sprayed herbage in Periods 1 and 2 consumed significantly more organic matter (OM) and digestible OM (DOM) than sheep grazing the control pasture. Their diet contained a higher proportion of stem with a higher WSC concentration than that of the sheep grazing the control plots. The proportions of different plant parts (leaf blade+sheath, stem, seed head) in the diet of both the plot sheep and oesophageally fistulated (OF) sheep, which grazed treatments for short periods, differed significantly between treatments in all periods. However, the compositions of the diets selected by plot and OF sheep were similar. These results confirmed diet preferences measured using housed sheep and demonstrate the usefulness of alkane-based procedures for quantifying diet composition and intake in grazing animals. As a result of their higher intake of DOM, sheep grazing sprayed herbage had a significantly higher liveweight gain over the first 2 periods (40 g/day). In Period 3, sheep grazing sprayed herbage consumed more OM than sheep grazing control herbage. However, DOM intakes from sprayed or control plots were not significantly different in either Period 3 or Period 4, and were lower than in Periods 1 and 2. Sheep grazing both treatments lost liveweight at a similar rate over this time. Wool growth in sheep grazing sprayed herbage was improved by 10% during the experimental period; wool strength was also improved significantly. The implications for the management of sheep grazing spray-topped pastures over summer are discussed.

Herbage as a source of digestible organic matter and digestible nitrogen for the grazing sheep.

1961 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 689 ◽  
Author(s):  
JE Vercoe ◽  
DE Tribe ◽  
GR Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Nutritional Value ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Index Method ◽  
Nitrogen Intake ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Grazing Sheep ◽  
Summer Minimum ◽  
Maintenance Requirements

An experiment is reported in which the digestible organic matter and digestible nitrogen intakes of Corriedale wethers grazing on improved pastures in a Mediterranean- type environment 1%-ere measured by the faecal index method from August 1957 to August 1958. The mean digestible nitrogen intake fell from a maximum of 50 g/clay in the spring to a minimum of 6 g/day in the late summer, and reached an autumn maximum of 13 g/day before falling to a winter minimum of 8 g/day. The mean digestible organic matter intake fell from a maximum of 1500 g/day in the spring to a summer minimum of 600 g/day, rose again to an autumn maximum of 1000 g/day, and fell again to a winter minimum of 600 g/day. The results are discussed in relation to the theoretical maintenance requirements of the sheep and the nutritional value of herbage.

Herbage intake of grazing sheep in South-western Australia

1959 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 237 ◽  
Author(s):  
HE Fels ◽  
RJ Moir ◽  
RC Rossiter
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Nitrogen Content ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Local Regression ◽  
Herbage Intake ◽  
Faecal Nitrogen ◽  
Grazing Sheep ◽  
Clover Pasture

Estimates of the intake of pasture organic matter by grazing sheep were made for two types of pasture, clover-dominant and grass-dominant, at three growth stages. These estimates were made from faecal nitrogen index equations which were derived from data on penned sheep. One of the equations was found to be remarkably close to Lanoaster's (1954) regression of feed/faeces ratio on percentage faecal nitrogen content. The dry mature clover pasture was anomalous, and a separate "local" regression was derived for it. Organic matter intakes for grazing sheep of about 110 lb body weight ranged from 900 to 1300 g/day, except on dry clover pasture, where the intake was only about 700 g/day. Contrary to common belief, subterranean clover was eaten at least as readily as grass during the growing season. Evidence is presented that sheep grazing on pastures with a total nitrogen content of 2 . 5 per cent. or less select material of higher than average nitrogen content, whereas if the nitrogen content of the pasture exceeds 3.5 per cent. there is no such selection. The anomalous characteristics of the dry mature clover are discussed in some detail, and further evidence is given suggesting that the material was of poorer digestibility than usual.

Comparing estimates of herbage digestibility from faecal nitrogen and in vitro determinations

1980 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-62
Author(s):  
H. A. Birrell
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Faecal Nitrogen ◽  
Feeding Trials ◽  
Grazing Sheep ◽  
Organic Matter Digestibility ◽  
Image Position ◽  
Stocking Rates

ABSTRACTIn a grazing experiment, the organic matter digestibility of herbage selected by sheep grazing at two stocking rates was determined at monthly intervals over a 9-month period by (i) the in vitro determination of organic matter digestibility of the material collected from sheep fitted with an oesophageal fistula, and (ii) derivation from the prediction of digestible organic matter intake with a faecal nitrogen regression. A comparison of the two techniques confirms the view of other workers that faecal nitrogen indices based on pen feeding trials of green herbage are unreliable for predicting digestibility of green herbage in the field. The bias which is produced by faecal nitrogen regression appears to be associated with the time spent grazing by the animal each day. Relating organic matter digestibility directly to nitrogen content of faeces of grazing sheep (N, g nitrogen/100 g faecal organic matter) and their grazing time (T,h) yielded the following equation:The expression has standard errors (±2·6) similar to those involved in an in vitro determination. It provides a simple technique for estimating digestibility of herbage eaten by grazing sheep, but this may only be applicable to the particular sward conditions.Field estimates of digestibility over summer and autumn by this equation were found to be similar to estimates by a faecal nitrogen expression established from hand feeding sheep with dry summer herbage.

7.1 Protein Digestion in Grazing Sheep

1982 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 141-143
Author(s):  
J. L. Corbett ◽  
E. P. Furnival ◽  
M. W. Inskip ◽  
F. S. Pickering
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Protein Production ◽  
Protein Digestion ◽  
Microbial Protein ◽  
Adult Sheep ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Grazing Sheep ◽  
Native Pastures

In 23 experiments, measurements were made over 4 or 5 day periods of the digestion of herbage by lambs (Expts 1-10 and 14-18, Table 7.1.1) and adult sheep (Expts 11-13 and 19-23) grazing phalaris (P. aquatica), lucerne and unfertilized native pastures. All 38 animals used (Corriedales) had rumen and simple abomasal cannulae; seven adult sheep also had a simple ileal cannula. Corbett, Furnival, Inskip, Perez and Pickering (1976) and Corbett (1981) have described the techniques used for estimating intakes of organic and digestible organic matter and nitrogen (OMI, DOMI, NI) and the fractional outflow rates (FOR/h) of liquid from the rumen, the rate and composition of digesta flows and microbial protein production by reference to intra-ruminally infused 103Ru-phenanthroline, 51CrEDTA and Na235S04.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document