YcPc?fLk;E,‘:‘l Z33-XTO& C] i. Isdo .- ...
YcPc?fLk;E,‘:‘l Z33-XTO& C] i. Isdo
.- h%XED VS 110X0 ANIMAL SPECIES GRAZIXG UKDER TElIPERATE AND
SEXII-ARID CONDITIONS
T. Nolan'
2
, J. Connolly ,
L.M. Guillon3, C. Sa114,
K. Dieye4,
H. Guerin3.
1Teagasc, Creagh, Ballinrobe, CO. hIayo, Ireland.
2Teagasc, 19 Sandymount Ave., Dublin 4, Ireland.
l
3
I
IEMVT, 10, Rue Pierre Curie, 94704 Maisons Alfort, France.
!
4 ISRA, LNERV, Dakar-Hann, Senegal.
1
Key-words:
Sheep, Cattle, Goats, Preference, Complementarity.
INTRODUCTIOX
Mixed graxing has been practiced for a long time, under a
variety of climatic conditions,
/
combinations of animal species
and grazing managements (ru'olan and Connolly, 1977).
I
They
l
suggested that although mixed grazing research progress was
impeded by difficulties associated with the increased number
of'variables involved it offered greater opportunity to improve
reSource use.
The purpose of this paper is to present results
ffom recent research carried out under temperate and semi-arid
conditions related to individual animal and per unit area outpui
animal/vegetation relationships and complementary patterns of -
grazing behaviour in relation to more efficient and balanced use
of vegetation resources.
METHODS
I
Animal production and output per unit area results are from a
four-year esperiment on permanent pasture.
Treatments were thre
mono steer, three mono sheep and seven mixed grazing groups
#
. . .
where stocking rate and species relative frequency varied.
rz
.
Treatments consisted of five equal sized paddocks and were
self-sufficient for winter silage requirements.
Statistical
analyses were based on regressions relating individual animal
liveweight gain to the stocking rate of each animal species used
and using them to make predictions.
Production per unit area
comparisons use0 the Relative Resource Total (RRT) ivhich
estimnted the area required to siistain thc sme number of ench
animnl
+rin* s-l+ CL.. c-qm- 1 i r-r\\...-: .-IA. -- 2 - 2
.
RIQIIO g r a z i n g . T h e m e t h o d s are tlt-scribcc! i n detail i n Conr,olly
a n d Piolan (1976)
a n d Kolan arid Connofly ( i n press).
Tempe-rate
animal/vegetation r e l a t i o n s h i p s s t u d i e s were carried out Kithin
the production esperiment and in separate small plot esperiments
to measure the effects of rnised 2nd m o n o g r a z i n g o n ( i ) the
evolution of steer dung pat (DP) and associated soilcd h e r b a g e
(Sri) 2nd u n s o i l e d h e r b a g e (L’H) in terms of herbage mass 2nd (ii)
the seasonal and age effects on palatability/acceptability
of SH
and UH.
Detailed descriptions are given in de Rancourt et al.,
( 1 9 8 0 ) ; hTolan e t a l . , ( 1 9 8 7 ) a n d Nolan and Connolly (in press).
R e s e a r c h b y Nolan et al., (198s) i n t h e semi-arid S e n e g a l e s e
Sahel (funded in part by the Commission of the European Comrnunities,
measured (i) preferences of different cattle/sheep/goat mixtures
for different plant species and (ii) whether preference was
affected by proportion of each species on offer o r b y t h e stocking
rate applied.
S i x treatments consistin& o f 4 c a t t l e only, 6 sheep
+ 8 goats and 4 cattle + 6 sheep + 8 goats each at two stocking
rates were used on representative exclosures.
Preferences, u s i n g
the Bergere hlethod of Guerin et al., (1983-84) were r e l a t e d t o
proportion of the different plant species on offer.
Results
for*woody species are given with the preference index represent-
ing the ratio of the percentage contribution of plant species to
animal diet to its percentage contribution to the point quadrat
hits.
RESVLTS
Production per animal: hlixed g r a z i n g i n c r e a s e d s t e e r a n d lamb
ADG (g) to lamb weaning from 141 9 t o 1 5 2 0 (P<O.OS) 2nd 249 t o
265 (P<O.OOl) 2nd t o d r a f t i n g from 9 3 0 t o 1 0 9 4 (P<O.OOl) 2nd
2 1 1 t o 2 2 3 ( P<O.OOl) over four years.
These data are based on
within g r o u p e r r o r h a v i n g e l i m i n a t e d t h e e f f e c t s o f birthweight,
s e s 2nd p a r i t y f o r lambs.
Cnder temperate conditions these
benefits are mainly due to sheep consuming SH which steers mostly
refuse.
R e s u l t s i n T a b l e 1 from cornparison of the influence of
steer dung pat deposition at four dates over t h e g r a z i n g season
and four g r a z i n g p e r i o d s shou t h a t t h e r a t i o o f d r y matter per
u n i t arca of SH before and after grnzing and the ratio of SIi
t@ CII Knc; l~pveI’SP(l bt?t.\\rcc1~ rllCIl0 S
t
cf:r 3::c.l n?onn ~!lpt~~~ c1-a:i;?c.
Tk\\13LE 1 :
Rat io of I;I.! per unit area, after *lOO/befoïe
Treatn1entl
Deposit
Grazing Cycle
Date
1
2
3
4
5
c-s
1
68
83
61
81
91
2
76
44
69
101
3
33
41
89
4
51
75
UII
57
69
43
59
82
C
1
65
93
78
88
97
2
110
44 124
103
3
114
95
69
4
117
75
UB
60
58
39
88
66
1
'c-s = Sheep only grazing with cattle dung pats artificially
simulated and C = cattle only normal grazing.
The area under SH increased during mono steer grazing and mono
sheep grazing caused 46 to 73% reduction.
Observations of time
spent grazing and percentage of bites taken from SH and CH by
steers and sheep support thesc results.
In the semi-arid area experimentprcferenceindices for cattle,
sheep and goats were greatest for the combined five most abundant
species followed by a lower preference for the next eleven most
abundant species and rejection for the combined remaining 16 plant
species.
Species with C3 photosynthetic pathway, kvere preferred
by a11 animal species and C4 plants were strongly (P<O.OOl)
rejected.
Aggregation of plants tended to cloak differential selection for
individu>1 plant species e.g. Zornia was preferrrd significantly
(Fc0.05) more by cattle than by goats. Differential selection
for woody species exemplified how animal diet differed from
vegetation composition, Balanites
accounted for 87% of woody
vegetation plants but only 33% of diet woody component repres?nting
b?
.
a preference value of 0.30 (the percentage contribution to diet
divided by the percentage contribution to vegetation). Acacia
sayal contributed only 2.7% of the vegetation plants but up to 4GO
of the diet giving prefe:.ence values between 6.7 and 17.0.
Acacia '
sencgal contributeci 7.3? to woody vegetation anil up to 2-15 of dict
repl*esenting preferencc values bctv;cJen 1.4 and 3.3.
DISCUSSIOX
The main challenge in mixed grazing research is to identify complement-
ary patterns of behaviour which result in more efficient, balanced
and sustained use of vegetation resources.
Under both temperate and
semi-arid conditions the results show that the diets selected by
animals may differ markedly from the vegetation on offer and suggest
that more efficient and balanced use of vegetation cari be achieved
through matching different animal type grazing preferences with the
vegetation.
h!ixed grazing offers one possibility for range preservation
under semi-arid conditions and higher and more sustained output of
animal products under both environemental condïtions.
Improved output
per individual animal is probably due to a higher intake of preferred
fractions of the vegetation.
There.is a need to define the origins
of the diets selected under mixed vs mono grazing.
REFERENCES
Connolly, J. and Nolan, T. (1976).
The design and analysis of mixed
grazing experiments.
Animal Production, 23 : 63-71.
De Rancourt, M. Nolan, T. & Connolly, J. (1980).
Proceedings of
Workshop on Mixed Grazing, Galway, p, 227-139. Published
by An Foras Taluntais, 19, Sandymount Ave., Dublin 4, Ireland.
Guerin, H., Friot, D., Mbaye, nD., 1983-1984 - Methodologie d'etude
de la valeur alimentaire des parcours naturels a faible
productivite: 1 - Approche bibliographique no. 103/LNERV, 1983-31
p.; 11 - Protocoles et premiers resultats no. 13/LNERV, 1984-33 p.
Nolan, T. & Connolly, J. (1977).
Mixed stocking by sheep and steers-
a review.
Herbage Abstracts, 47:367-374.
Nolan, T., Connolly, J., Sali, C., Guillon, L.M. & baye, nD., (1987).
Mixed grazing by cattle, sheep and goats.
Paper to regional
seminar on forages and ruminant nutrition, IEMVT,IRZ, N'Gaundere
*
Cameroun, 16-20 November.
.-.
Nolan, T., Connolly, J., Sali, C., Guillon, L.M., Dieye, K: &
Guerin, H. (1988).
Mixed species in range grazing and preservation
Ireland/Senegal/France.
Report of project TSD/A/424 funded in
part under the STD subprogramme "Tropical Agriculture, of DGXII
of the European Communities.
Nolan, T. & Connolly, J. (in press). Xlixed sheep and cattle grazing
research in Ireland:
Extension/Development esperiences and design
and analysis methods.
Nolan, T. &'Connolly, J. (in press).
hlixed versus mono grazing by
.
.*
The effects of mixed vs mono animal species grazing on some
animal/vegetation relationships were compared under temperate
and semi-arid conditions.
Under temperate conditions mixed
grazing increased steer and lamb growth rates by about 7%.
Under both environmental conditions complementary grazing between
the different animalspecies appeared to be the basis for the
mixed grazing benefits.
Steer dung soiled herbage was mostly
refused by steers but was preferentially grazed by sheep SO
that during grazing the area under and dry matter contained
in soiled herbage increased for steers only and decreased for
sheep only.
In the semi-arid environment there was strong
selection by cattle, sheep and goats relative to vegetatian and
also strong differential selection among animal species.
These
preference ,differences in mixed grazing cari result in more
efficient use of vegetation resources, improved individual
animal growth rate and offer one method for preservation of range
vegetation.
1
r>
.
.- h%XED VS 110X0 ANIMAL SPECIES GRAZIXG UKDER TElIPERATE AND
SEXII-ARID CONDITIONS
T. Nolan'
2
, J. Connolly ,
L.M. Guillon3, C. Sa114,
K. Dieye4,
H. Guerin3.
1Teagasc, Creagh, Ballinrobe, CO. hIayo, Ireland.
2Teagasc, 19 Sandymount Ave., Dublin 4, Ireland.
l
3
I
IEMVT, 10, Rue Pierre Curie, 94704 Maisons Alfort, France.
!
4 ISRA, LNERV, Dakar-Hann, Senegal.
1
Key-words:
Sheep, Cattle, Goats, Preference, Complementarity.
INTRODUCTIOX
Mixed graxing has been practiced for a long time, under a
variety of climatic conditions,
/
combinations of animal species
and grazing managements (ru'olan and Connolly, 1977).
I
They
l
suggested that although mixed grazing research progress was
impeded by difficulties associated with the increased number
of'variables involved it offered greater opportunity to improve
reSource use.
The purpose of this paper is to present results
ffom recent research carried out under temperate and semi-arid
conditions related to individual animal and per unit area outpui
animal/vegetation relationships and complementary patterns of -
grazing behaviour in relation to more efficient and balanced use
of vegetation resources.
METHODS
I
Animal production and output per unit area results are from a
four-year esperiment on permanent pasture.
Treatments were thre
mono steer, three mono sheep and seven mixed grazing groups
#
. . .
where stocking rate and species relative frequency varied.
rz
.
Treatments consisted of five equal sized paddocks and were
self-sufficient for winter silage requirements.
Statistical
analyses were based on regressions relating individual animal
liveweight gain to the stocking rate of each animal species used
and using them to make predictions.
Production per unit area
comparisons use0 the Relative Resource Total (RRT) ivhich
estimnted the area required to siistain thc sme number of ench
animnl
+rin* s-l+ CL.. c-qm- 1 i r-r\\...-: .-IA. -- 2 - 2
.
RIQIIO g r a z i n g . T h e m e t h o d s are tlt-scribcc! i n detail i n Conr,olly
a n d Piolan (1976)
a n d Kolan arid Connofly ( i n press).
Tempe-rate
animal/vegetation r e l a t i o n s h i p s s t u d i e s were carried out Kithin
the production esperiment and in separate small plot esperiments
to measure the effects of rnised 2nd m o n o g r a z i n g o n ( i ) the
evolution of steer dung pat (DP) and associated soilcd h e r b a g e
(Sri) 2nd u n s o i l e d h e r b a g e (L’H) in terms of herbage mass 2nd (ii)
the seasonal and age effects on palatability/acceptability
of SH
and UH.
Detailed descriptions are given in de Rancourt et al.,
( 1 9 8 0 ) ; hTolan e t a l . , ( 1 9 8 7 ) a n d Nolan and Connolly (in press).
R e s e a r c h b y Nolan et al., (198s) i n t h e semi-arid S e n e g a l e s e
Sahel (funded in part by the Commission of the European Comrnunities,
measured (i) preferences of different cattle/sheep/goat mixtures
for different plant species and (ii) whether preference was
affected by proportion of each species on offer o r b y t h e stocking
rate applied.
S i x treatments consistin& o f 4 c a t t l e only, 6 sheep
+ 8 goats and 4 cattle + 6 sheep + 8 goats each at two stocking
rates were used on representative exclosures.
Preferences, u s i n g
the Bergere hlethod of Guerin et al., (1983-84) were r e l a t e d t o
proportion of the different plant species on offer.
Results
for*woody species are given with the preference index represent-
ing the ratio of the percentage contribution of plant species to
animal diet to its percentage contribution to the point quadrat
hits.
RESVLTS
Production per animal: hlixed g r a z i n g i n c r e a s e d s t e e r a n d lamb
ADG (g) to lamb weaning from 141 9 t o 1 5 2 0 (P<O.OS) 2nd 249 t o
265 (P<O.OOl) 2nd t o d r a f t i n g from 9 3 0 t o 1 0 9 4 (P<O.OOl) 2nd
2 1 1 t o 2 2 3 ( P<O.OOl) over four years.
These data are based on
within g r o u p e r r o r h a v i n g e l i m i n a t e d t h e e f f e c t s o f birthweight,
s e s 2nd p a r i t y f o r lambs.
Cnder temperate conditions these
benefits are mainly due to sheep consuming SH which steers mostly
refuse.
R e s u l t s i n T a b l e 1 from cornparison of the influence of
steer dung pat deposition at four dates over t h e g r a z i n g season
and four g r a z i n g p e r i o d s shou t h a t t h e r a t i o o f d r y matter per
u n i t arca of SH before and after grnzing and the ratio of SIi
t@ CII Knc; l~pveI’SP(l bt?t.\\rcc1~ rllCIl0 S
t
cf:r 3::c.l n?onn ~!lpt~~~ c1-a:i;?c.
Tk\\13LE 1 :
Rat io of I;I.! per unit area, after *lOO/befoïe
Treatn1entl
Deposit
Grazing Cycle
Date
1
2
3
4
5
c-s
1
68
83
61
81
91
2
76
44
69
101
3
33
41
89
4
51
75
UII
57
69
43
59
82
C
1
65
93
78
88
97
2
110
44 124
103
3
114
95
69
4
117
75
UB
60
58
39
88
66
1
'c-s = Sheep only grazing with cattle dung pats artificially
simulated and C = cattle only normal grazing.
The area under SH increased during mono steer grazing and mono
sheep grazing caused 46 to 73% reduction.
Observations of time
spent grazing and percentage of bites taken from SH and CH by
steers and sheep support thesc results.
In the semi-arid area experimentprcferenceindices for cattle,
sheep and goats were greatest for the combined five most abundant
species followed by a lower preference for the next eleven most
abundant species and rejection for the combined remaining 16 plant
species.
Species with C3 photosynthetic pathway, kvere preferred
by a11 animal species and C4 plants were strongly (P<O.OOl)
rejected.
Aggregation of plants tended to cloak differential selection for
individu>1 plant species e.g. Zornia was preferrrd significantly
(Fc0.05) more by cattle than by goats. Differential selection
for woody species exemplified how animal diet differed from
vegetation composition, Balanites
accounted for 87% of woody
vegetation plants but only 33% of diet woody component repres?nting
b?
.
a preference value of 0.30 (the percentage contribution to diet
divided by the percentage contribution to vegetation). Acacia
sayal contributed only 2.7% of the vegetation plants but up to 4GO
of the diet giving prefe:.ence values between 6.7 and 17.0.
Acacia '
sencgal contributeci 7.3? to woody vegetation anil up to 2-15 of dict
repl*esenting preferencc values bctv;cJen 1.4 and 3.3.
DISCUSSIOX
The main challenge in mixed grazing research is to identify complement-
ary patterns of behaviour which result in more efficient, balanced
and sustained use of vegetation resources.
Under both temperate and
semi-arid conditions the results show that the diets selected by
animals may differ markedly from the vegetation on offer and suggest
that more efficient and balanced use of vegetation cari be achieved
through matching different animal type grazing preferences with the
vegetation.
h!ixed grazing offers one possibility for range preservation
under semi-arid conditions and higher and more sustained output of
animal products under both environemental condïtions.
Improved output
per individual animal is probably due to a higher intake of preferred
fractions of the vegetation.
There.is a need to define the origins
of the diets selected under mixed vs mono grazing.
REFERENCES
Connolly, J. and Nolan, T. (1976).
The design and analysis of mixed
grazing experiments.
Animal Production, 23 : 63-71.
De Rancourt, M. Nolan, T. & Connolly, J. (1980).
Proceedings of
Workshop on Mixed Grazing, Galway, p, 227-139. Published
by An Foras Taluntais, 19, Sandymount Ave., Dublin 4, Ireland.
Guerin, H., Friot, D., Mbaye, nD., 1983-1984 - Methodologie d'etude
de la valeur alimentaire des parcours naturels a faible
productivite: 1 - Approche bibliographique no. 103/LNERV, 1983-31
p.; 11 - Protocoles et premiers resultats no. 13/LNERV, 1984-33 p.
Nolan, T. & Connolly, J. (1977).
Mixed stocking by sheep and steers-
a review.
Herbage Abstracts, 47:367-374.
Nolan, T., Connolly, J., Sali, C., Guillon, L.M. & baye, nD., (1987).
Mixed grazing by cattle, sheep and goats.
Paper to regional
seminar on forages and ruminant nutrition, IEMVT,IRZ, N'Gaundere
*
Cameroun, 16-20 November.
.-.
Nolan, T., Connolly, J., Sali, C., Guillon, L.M., Dieye, K: &
Guerin, H. (1988).
Mixed species in range grazing and preservation
Ireland/Senegal/France.
Report of project TSD/A/424 funded in
part under the STD subprogramme "Tropical Agriculture, of DGXII
of the European Communities.
Nolan, T. & Connolly, J. (in press). Xlixed sheep and cattle grazing
research in Ireland:
Extension/Development esperiences and design
and analysis methods.
Nolan, T. &'Connolly, J. (in press).
hlixed versus mono grazing by
.
.*
The effects of mixed vs mono animal species grazing on some
animal/vegetation relationships were compared under temperate
and semi-arid conditions.
Under temperate conditions mixed
grazing increased steer and lamb growth rates by about 7%.
Under both environmental conditions complementary grazing between
the different animalspecies appeared to be the basis for the
mixed grazing benefits.
Steer dung soiled herbage was mostly
refused by steers but was preferentially grazed by sheep SO
that during grazing the area under and dry matter contained
in soiled herbage increased for steers only and decreased for
sheep only.
In the semi-arid environment there was strong
selection by cattle, sheep and goats relative to vegetatian and
also strong differential selection among animal species.
These
preference ,differences in mixed grazing cari result in more
efficient use of vegetation resources, improved individual
animal growth rate and offer one method for preservation of range
vegetation.
1
r>
.