Publication Date

1989

Location

Nice France

Description

Herbage intake is one of the critical factors in understanding why livestock perform at various levels on different forages, however acceptable methods of measuring voluntary intake of free-roaming livestock are still lacking. Commonly used indirect measurement methods estimate pasture herbage loss or animal gain, fecal output and digestibility equations, grazing behavior calculations or indicators (Greenlaugh, 1982). More direct attempts of measuring intake include the Animal Weight Telemetry System (AWATS) of Horn and Miller (1979), multiple impedance plethysmography (Stuth et al., 1981) and the conductivity transducing cannula (CTC: Forwood et al., 1985). With new technology becoming avail­able in smaller, more affordable packages, researchers are con­stantly challenged to adapt and apply available instrumen­tation to their field of research. The Thermal Conductivity Cannula (TCC) and Telemetric Grazing Clock (TGC) are two examples of attempts to improve intake measurement of free­roaming grazers by application of advanced technology.

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Electronic Measurement of Grazing Time and Intake in Free Roaming Livestock

Nice France

Herbage intake is one of the critical factors in understanding why livestock perform at various levels on different forages, however acceptable methods of measuring voluntary intake of free-roaming livestock are still lacking. Commonly used indirect measurement methods estimate pasture herbage loss or animal gain, fecal output and digestibility equations, grazing behavior calculations or indicators (Greenlaugh, 1982). More direct attempts of measuring intake include the Animal Weight Telemetry System (AWATS) of Horn and Miller (1979), multiple impedance plethysmography (Stuth et al., 1981) and the conductivity transducing cannula (CTC: Forwood et al., 1985). With new technology becoming avail­able in smaller, more affordable packages, researchers are con­stantly challenged to adapt and apply available instrumen­tation to their field of research. The Thermal Conductivity Cannula (TCC) and Telemetric Grazing Clock (TGC) are two examples of attempts to improve intake measurement of free­roaming grazers by application of advanced technology.