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Dietary preference of sheep for grass and clover at contrasting sward surface heights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2021

A. Harvey  and
R.J. Orr
A. Harvey
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, UK
R.J. Orr
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 2SB, UK
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Extract

To develop sustainable grazing systems based on mixed plant species communities, it is important to know how much and from which species animals eat. Previous studies have shown that sheep have a preference for about 70% clover in their diet, when offered a choice between grass and clover at the same sward surface height, 6cm SSH, (Parsons et al, 1994). The objective of this experiment was to establish whether grazing sheep altered their preference for ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens) in response to variation in the relative vertical availability of the grass and clover.

Type
Sheep Nutrition
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 1996 , March 1996 , pp. 161
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1996

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References

Parsons, A.J., Newman, J.A., Penning, P.D., Harvey, A. and Orr, R.J. 1994. Diet preference of sheep: effects of recent diet, physiological state and species abundance. Journal of Animal Ecology 63:456–478.10.2307/5563CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penning, P.D. and Hooper, G.E. 1985. An evaluation of the use of short-term weight changes in grazing sheep for estimating herbage intake. Grass and Forage Science 40:79–84.10.1111/j.1365-2494.1985.tb01722.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar