• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.1192-1199
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• 1999

Two cultivars of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.), "Dinninup" and "Seaton Park" were sown at Shenton Park Field Station, Western Australia, in May 1992 and 1993. The characteristics of Dinninup related to animal production were compared with Seaton Park under grazing conditions with herbage utilization efficiencies of 60% in 1992 and 65% in 1993. The results showed that Dinninup and Seaton Park had similar dry matter digestibility (77-78%) and dry matter production (1,290 kg/ha in 1992; 930 kg/ha in 1993) before flowering initiation even though Dinninup had more (p<0.05) branches, leaves and petioles per plant. After flowering, the herbage on offer of Dinninup was higher (p<0.05) and dry matter digestibility was lower (p<0.05) than that of Seaton Park while the sward structure was similar for both cultivars. The variation in nutritive value among plant parts increased with maturation. Leaf was more digestible than stem and petiole with a higher nitrogen content, and stem had the lowest dry matter digesitibility and nitrogen content in late of the season. Sheep did not show any preference for Seaton Park over Dinninup. The predicted bodyweight gain of sheep grazing pure Seaton Park and Dinninup swards using Grazfed software indicated that sheep grazing Dinninup were predicted to have a similar bodyweight gain in early growing stage and a significantly lower gain after flowering compared with those grazing Seaton Park.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.344-350
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• 1998

Seasonal variations in the feeding behaviour of Jamunapari and Barbari goat breeds and their utilization of browse and grass nutrients was evaluated in a promising 3-tier (Leucaena leucocephala- Dichro-stachys nutan-Cenchrus ciliaris) reconstituted pasture during summer, rainy and winter season of the years 1987 and 1988. Distinct diurnal pattern of feeding was observed with both the breeds. Jamunapari goats spent significantly more time foraging during winter season (352.0 min) followed by summer (306.0 min) and least in rainy season (277.0 min). Though no significant difference was observed in the relative time spent by Barbari goats on grazing activities during summer and winter season, they spent significantly more (p < 0.05) time during rainy season as compared to other two seasons. The preference of grazing goats for certain plant species in relation to others was evident with distinct seasonal and breed variations. DM intake (g/kg $BW^{075}$) varied significantly (p < 0.05) from season to season. Among the browse. L. leucocephala was prefered over D. nutan irrespective of breed over the seasons. There was no breed difference in DM intake, or proximate composition and nutrient digestibility of ingested herbage. The available nutrient content of ingested forage was found sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of adult goats for maintenance (NRC, 1981). The reconstituted 3-tier pasture dominated by plant species like L. leucocephala and Cenchrus species appear to have great potential to sustain the nutrient requirement of goats without adverse seasonal fluctuations in pasture quality.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.187-194
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• 2002

This study was carried out to investigate the ecological characteristics, forage value and similarity among the plant communities of the gazing pasture at Witzenhausen, Germany. Ten plant communities of the different grazing pasture were the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea that was named the class of plant sociological nomenclature. The forage value of the plant communities were ranged from 4.35 to 6.60 grade for roughage qualify. Hemicryptophyte of lift form and mesomorphic of anatomical structure were greately dominated in all the plant communities. The correlation coeffcient between class No. 3 and 4 of plant communities was highest by botanical composition. The clustering analysis by Euclidean distance showed that class No. 9 and 10 of plant communities were closely grouped as affected by the similar botanical composition.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.152-157
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• 1983

This study was carried out to investigate changes in the quality and botanical composition of native pasture during the grazing period. The results obtained were as follows: 1. On all the farms, the total dry matter yield of native pasture was much higher in the October-cut than in the July-cut. 2. The crude protein content was higher in the July-cut than in the Oct.-cut, while the crude fiber content gave opposite results. There was the same tendency on all the farms. 3. When the six farms were compared, the highest crude protein content was found at Hawon and Haian farm, and cows on these farms showed the highest daily weight gain. Ohra farm had the lowest crude protein and the cows on this farm the lowest daily weight gain. 4. The botanical composition of the main species distributed was 58.1% Zoysia japonica, 16.4 Pteridum aquilinum, and 3.8% Miscanthus sinensis. In the case of family, 72.1% were Gramineae, 1.8% Leguminosae, and 16.4% Pteridacea. 5. According to botanical composition of a family, Hawon farm had the highest daily weight gain and the highest rate of Gramineae and Leguminosae. Ohra and Youngkang farms had the lowest weight gains, but the native grassland on these farms contained a high proportion of Pteridum which is toxic to cattle.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.663-670
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• 2008

The effect of supplementing the diet of grazing dairy cows with fish oil (FO) and linseed oil (LSO) on milk conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was investigated. Sixteen Holstein cows (17019 DIM) were assigned into two groups and fed a grain supplement (8.0 kg/d; DM basis) containing 800 g of saturated animal fat (CONT) or 200 g FO and 600 g LSO (FOLSO). All cows grazed together on Sudan grass pasture ad libitum and were fed the treatment diets for 3 wks. Cows were milked twice a day and milk samples were collected during the last three days of the trial. Milk production (24.89 and 22.45 kg/d), milk protein percentage (2.76 and 2.82) and milk protein yield (0.68 and 0.64 kg/d) for the CONT and FOLSO diets, respectively, were not affected (p>0.05) by treatment diets. Milk fat percentage (3.90 and 2.86) and milk fat yield (0.97 and 0.64 kg/d) were lower (p<0.05) with the FOLSO diet compared with the CONT diet. The concentration and yield of milk cis-9 trans-11 CLA were higher (p<0.05) with the FOLSO diet (2.56% of total FA and 16.44 g/d, respectively) than the CONT diet (0.66% of total FA and 6.44 g/d, respectively). The concentrations of milk trans C18:1 and vaccenic acid (VA) were higher (p<0.05) with the FOLSO diet (13.53 and 7.48% of total FA, respectively) than the CONT diet (3.69 and 2.27% of total FA, respectively). In conclusion, supplementing the diet of grazing cows with FO and LSO increased milk cis-9 trans-11 CLA content but reduced milk fat content and yield.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.803-810
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• 2001

This study examined the behavior of dairy heifers and the factors affecting the performance of them on pasture. Behavior of 10 Holstein heifers in a herd of 25 animals that rotationally grazed five 8-ha pastures was observed and recorded every 5 minutes during 24 hours; body weights were measured once a month from June to October. Blood and rumen fluid samples were collected from 5 of them bimonthly. Chemical composition was analyzed for the forage samples collected each month. CP content (DM basis) of herbage ranged from 12.2 (June) to 17.2% (October) and ADF from 31.1 (October) to 39.1% (July). Standing (posture) time was different significantly among months (p<0.001) ranging from 48.3 to 61.3% of 24 hours and was longer in July and August (61.3% and 58.3%, respectively) when ADF content of herbage was higher than in the other months. Grazing time which significantly differed among months (p<0.001) ranged from 29.1 to 41.6% of 24 hours and was shorter in June and September (29.1% and 33.0%, respectively) when ADF content was lower than in the other months. Average DG through the experiment period was 0.74 kg/day. August was the lowest in DG (0.41 kg/day) and the longest in rumination time and standing-rumination time among months. Animals of higher DG had a shorter standing time (r=-0.36, p<0.01) and a longer lying-rumination time (r=0.55, p<0.001) throughout the experiment. Total protein concentration in blood ranged from 9.04 to 9.64 g/dl and was negatively correlated with DG (r=-0.65, p<0.05). Phospholipid concentration of blood ranged from 119.66 to 156.40 mg/dl and was negatively correlated with DG (r=-0.57, p<0.05). VFA in rumen fluid, acetic acid proportion (ranging from 69.35 to 74.76%) and butyric acid proportion (ranging from 7.18 to 12.05%) showed significant differences among months (p<0.05, p<0.001, respectively). Butyric acid proportion was significantly related with DG (r=0.60, p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.563-570
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• 1994

Fifty-one Thai Native (TN) and Anglo-Nubian (AN) $\times$ TN does were studied. The purpose of the study was to investigate the reproductive performances of different goat genotypes grazing improved pasture with or without supplementary feeding. The feeding regimes were: 1. no concentrate supplement (T1), 2. supplemented for 15 days before mating and 45 days during mating period (T2), 3. supplemented from 15 days before mating to 42 days after kidding (T3) and 4. supplemented for 30 days before kidding, followed by 42 days after kidding. Cross-bred does tended to have higher conception rates, kidding opportunities and higher multiple birth rates than TN does. However, these differences were not statistically significant (p>0.05), and concentrate supplementation under the various regimes did not increase reproductive performance. TN kids had significantly (p<0.01) lower birth weights and lower weights at 3, 6 and 12 weeks of age than those of the cross-bred kids. However, there was no significant difference between the genotypes in growth rate (g/d or $g/kg^{75}/d$) of kids during these periods. Supplementary feeding did not significantly affect either kid birth weight or weight gain in the first 6 weeks after birth and during this period supplementary adequate in both quantity and quality, substantial reproductive performances were achieved from both TN and AN $\times$ TN does without concentrate supplementation.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.76-84
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• 2022

Background: Climate and livestock grazing are key agents in determining current Mongolian steppe vegetation communities. Together with plant coverage or biomass, palatability of steppe community is regarded as a useful indicator of grassland degradation, in particular, at grazing hotspots in arid and semi-arid grasslands. This study analyzed relationships between livestock grazing pressure and steppe vegetation palatability at three summer pastures with different aridity (dry, xeric, and mesic) and livestock numbers (1,100, 1,800, and 4,100 sheep units, respectively). At each site, it was surveyed coverage, biomass, and species composition of different palatability groups (i.e., palatable [P], impalatable [IP], and trampling-tolerant [TT]) along a 1-km transect from grazing hotspots (i.e., well) in every July from 2015 to 2018. Results: In results, total vegetation coverage increased with wetness, 7 times greater at mesic site than dry one in averages (33.1% vs. 4.5%); biomass was 3 times higher (47.1 g m^-2 vs. 15.7 g m^-2). Though P was the dominant palatability group, the importance of IP in total coverage increased with aridity from mesic (0.6%) to dry (40.2%) sites. Whereas, TT increased with livestock numbers across sites. Locally, IP was observed more frequently near the wells and its spatial range of occurrence becomes farther along the transects with aridity across sites from mesic (< 100 m) to dry (< 700 m from the well). Conclusions: Our results showed that the importance of IP and its spatial distribution are different at both local and regional scales, indicating that the palatability parameters are sensitive to discern balance between selective-grazing demand and climate-driven foraging supply in Mongolian rangelands.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.255-264
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• 2003

A study was conducted to determine the effects of pig slurry application on forage yield and growth of fazing Hanwoo heifer in a mixed pasture. To each of three treatments 1.4ha were alloted a control applied with only chemical fertilizer (N-P-K=150-150-120kg/ha), two pig slurry lots applied with the amount to allow 100% (150 kg/ha) or 150% (225 kg/ha) of N used in the control. A randomized block design was used without replication. Cattle were allowed to graze continuously during the experimental period. Results obtained were as follows: Total dry matter yield was 16,291, 15,632 and 16,320 kg/ha for chemical fertilizer. pig slurry 100% and 150％, respectively. The pasture was dominated by perenial ryegrass during the first gazing season, but by orchard grass and perenial ryegrass (60∼70%) and red clover (20∼30%) during the second grazing season. Average gazing rate per ha was 2.75∼2.76 animal units and daily weight gain of grazing cattle was not different among treatments ranging from 0.563 to 0.580 kg. Total weight gain of grazing cattle per ha during the grazing period was 541, 541 abd 555 kg for chemical fertilizer, pig -slurry 100 and 150%, respectively. RBC, WBC, total protein and albumin etc. concentrations in blood were normal in all treatments.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

This study assessed the impacts of grazing and barn feeding on the reproductive performance of black goats and the growth performance of goatlings to gather basic data for the establishment of an ideal goat-breeding system. A total of 36 Korean black goats were grouped by feeding system (a pasture grazing group and a barn feeding group, n=18) over the 8-month study period from April to November 2011. The difference between the singleton pregnancy rate of the grazing group, measured at 31.5%, and the barn-feeding group's 37.0% was not statistically significant. Also, breeding type did not yield any meaningful differences, with 1.76 live births recorded for the grazing group and 1.69 recorded for the barn-feeding group. In regard to weaner goats, the grazing group showed a higher number compared to the barn-feeding group (p=0.11). The birth weight of the grazing group was measured at 2.3 kg, while that of the barn-feeding group was 2.29 kg, with breeding type yielding no significant differences. The grazing group's weight at 90 days of age was 9.97 kg, which was higher than the barn-feeding group's 9.45 kg (p=0.09). The grazing group showed higher daily weight gain during the lactation period than the barn-feeding group (p=0.13). Overall, with breeding type considered, the grazing group did not show significant differences in terms of the number of live births and birth weights compared to the barn-feeding group; however, the grazing group showed better outcomes in terms of daily weight gain. As it has been shown that grazing satisfies the physiological needs of goats more effectively than barn feeding, we believe that it contributes to the farming of healthy goats.