INGESTIVE BEHAVIOR OF SHEEP IN Panicum AND Brachiaria PASTURES IN DRY SEASON

作者：do Nascimento Silva Larissa Fernanda; Difante Gelson dos Santos; Fernandes Leonardo Santana; Medeiros de Araujo Itania Maria; Emerenciano Neto Joao Virginio; Costa Marcone Geraldo; de Oliveira Feli**erto Nivea Regina

来源：Bioscience Journal, 2016, 32(4): 1018-1024.

DOI：10.14393/bj-v32n4a2016-32945

• Bite rate
• Forage crops
• Grazing
• Livestock
• Supplementation

The ingestive behavior of sheep supplemented with concentrate in Brachiaria brizantha and Panicum maximum pastures were evaluated during the dry season. Twenty four male sheep of 1/2 Santa Ines x 1/2 undefined breed genotypes were used. The treatments were four feeds of cultivar grasses: B. brizantha cvs. Marandu and Piata, P. maximum cvs. Massai and Aruana. The ingestive behavior of the animals was recorded during two periods of 24 hours. The grazing time, rumination, idleness (minutes day(-1)), bite rate (bites minute(-1)), and the frequency of the animals activities in relation to defecation, urination and search for water, concentrated and mineral salt were observed. There was interaction between time of the day and evaluated cultivars based on the grazing time and bite rate response. Sheep grazing on marandu-grass showed higher grazing time between 11 am to 4 pm (257 minutes), compared to animals grazing on aruana-grass (217 minutes). The bite rate was higher for sheep on massai-grass between 11 am to 4 pm (34.32 bits minute(-1)). There was no grass effect for idleness and rumination, which can highlight the similarity of chemistry characterization and high percentage of structural components in evaluated pastures. The structural limitations and feed mass composition in the dry season caused effects on the ingestive behavior of idleness and bite rate of supplemented sheep in Brachiaria and Panicum pastures.

• 出版日期2016-8