Intake behaviour of lambs finished on pasture/Comportamento ingestivo de cordeiros em terminacao a pasto

• Published in: Acta scientiarum. Animal sciences 2009-07, Vol.31 (3), p.227
• Main Authors: Piazzetta, Hugo Von Linsingen, Monteiro, Alda Lucia Gomes, Ribeiro, Ticiany Maria Dias, de Faccio Carvalho, Paulo Cesar, Dittrich, Joao Ricardo, da Silva, Claudio Jose Araujo
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• ISSN: 1806-2636
• DOI: 10.4025/actascianimsci.v31i3.5345

Intake behaviour of lambs finished on pasture. The objective of this study was to evaluate intake behavior of lambs in pasture systems: (1) lambs kept with their dams in ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) without supplementation; (2) lambs kept with their dams in the same pasture but supplemented in creep feeding; (3) lambs kept with their dams in the same pasture but supplemented in creep grazing with white clover. Three evaluations of intake behavior were performed to check the activities carried out by animals (grazing, rumination, suckling and other activities). Grazing, rumination and other activities times were different (p < 0.05) for non-supplemented lambs. For these lambs, grazing and rumination times were longer than other activities time compared to other systems. Creep feeding reduced grazing time (p < 0.05), probably due to easy access and quality of concentrate. Lambs in creep grazing had reduced (p < 0.05) rumination time. Bite mass in creep grazing was higher (p < 0.05), probably due to easy harvesting of leaves by lambs. It was concluded that the production system affects feeding strategy of lambs and the preference for legumes suggests the use of creep grazing for finishing lambs. Key words: suckling, creep feeding, creep grazing, sheep, grazing, ruminating. Este trabalho objetivou avaliar o comportamento ingestivo e o consumo de forragem de cordeiros em sistemas de terminacao a pasto. Os tratamentos foram: cordeiros mantidos junto as ovelhas em pastagem de azevem sem suplementacao; cordeiros mantidos junto as ovelhas na mesma pastagem, suplementados em creep feeding; cordeiros mantidos junto as ovelhas na mesma pastagem, suplementados em creep grazing com trevo branco. Foram realizadas tres avaliacoes do comportamento ingestivo, verificando-se as atividades realizadas pelos animais (pastejo, ruminacao, amamentacao e outras atividades). Houve diferenca (p < 0,05) no tempo destinado ao pastejo, a ruminacao e a outras atividades, e os cordeiros nao-suplementados tiveram maiores tempos de pastejo e ruminacao e menor tempo dedicado as outras atividades. O creep feeding reduziu o tempo de pastejo (p < 0,05) provavelmente pelo facil acesso e pela qualidade da racao concentrada. Os cordeiros em creep grazing tiveram reducao (p < 0,05) no tempo de ruminacao. A massa de bocado no creep grazing foi superior a dos demais sistemas (p < 0,05), provavelmente pela facil colheita das folhas de trevo pelos cordeiros. O sistema de terminacao interfere na e