Publication Date
1997
Description
Yearling heifers in groups of 3 grazed 405 m2 plots made up of alternating 2.4m wide strips of white clover/birdsfoot trefoil (WC+BT) or red clover (RC) in the proportions of 80:20, 67:33, 33:67 and 20:80 for periods of 3 days over four replicates in time, balanced for effects of previous treatment. Observation of the distribution of grazing activity and biting rate were made over 3 hour periods each evening. Biting rates were consistently higher on (WC+BT) than RC (52.3 vs 46.3 ± 0.59 bites.min-1 P(0.0001). Animals initially showed partial preference for the minor sward component in each treatment but regression of the proportion of grazing activity on proportion of total area for (WC+BT) approached unity with time, indicating the development of essentially neutral behaviour as herbage on minority strips was depleted.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Partial Preference of Grazing Cattle for Contrasting Legume Swards
Yearling heifers in groups of 3 grazed 405 m2 plots made up of alternating 2.4m wide strips of white clover/birdsfoot trefoil (WC+BT) or red clover (RC) in the proportions of 80:20, 67:33, 33:67 and 20:80 for periods of 3 days over four replicates in time, balanced for effects of previous treatment. Observation of the distribution of grazing activity and biting rate were made over 3 hour periods each evening. Biting rates were consistently higher on (WC+BT) than RC (52.3 vs 46.3 ± 0.59 bites.min-1 P(0.0001). Animals initially showed partial preference for the minor sward component in each treatment but regression of the proportion of grazing activity on proportion of total area for (WC+BT) approached unity with time, indicating the development of essentially neutral behaviour as herbage on minority strips was depleted.
