Abstract

Diet quality was measured using oesophageally-fistulated lactating Dorset ewes offered herbage allowances of 8 (H), 5 (M) and 2 (L) kg DM/ewe/d. Ewes on all allowances tended to have a similar selection preference for grass and clover; those on H and M allowances consumed proportionately more clover and less dead material than L ewes. The mean DDM of herbage selected by ewes in H and M groups averaged 0.790 and was 0.734 for L ewes compared with 0.727 for sward samples taken pre-grazing. The ME content of DM consumed by H and M ewes was 7% greater than for L ewes. It is suggested that the lower digestibility of the diets of L ewes was due to a higher consumption of dead material and plant stalk than in ewes on H and M allowances.

DA, Clark, MG Lambert, MP Rolston, and N Dymock

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 42, , 155-158, 1982