Effect of strategic shearing on feeding behavior in Ile de France sheep in Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon cv Vaquero) grazing during breeding season

• Main Authors: Luís Gabriel Alves Cirne, Américo Garcia da Silva Sobrinho, Valéria Teixeira Santana, Viviane Endo, Fabiana Alves de Almeida, Mariana Rezende Franco, Filipe Ulian Silva, Emanuel Almeida de Oliveira, Gleidson Giordano Pinto de Carvalho, Nivea Maria Brancacci Lopes Zeola
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Estadual de Londrina 2014-06-01
• Series: Semina: Ciências Agrárias
• Subjects: Ethology; Ewes; Grazing
• Online Access: http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/semagrarias/editor/submission/13938
• ISSN: 1676-546X; 1679-0359

The experiment evaluated the effects of strategic shearing on feeding behavior in Ile de France ewes in Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) grazing during breeding season. A total of 20 ewes, female, Ile de France breed, 4 years old, 71.10 kg of body weight, in grazing, in a completely randomized design with two treatments and ten repetitions, in which the treatments were composed by shorn and non-shorn animals. The length of the breeding season was 90 days, where the evaluations occurred in the 86th, 87th and 88th day of the experimental period. The grazing time (6.50 hours), rumination (1.59 hours) and idle (3.97 hours) have not changed (P> 0.05) by strategic shearing of the animals, as well as the frequency and the time by frequency grazing (18.33 grazing and 21.49 min/grazing), rumination (10.71 ruminations and 8.83 min/rumination) and idle (18.83 idles and 12.66 min/idle). In the same way, the number of bits per minute (26.37 bits) and the total daily bits (19.116 bits) of the animals were not affected. Thus, the strategic shearing in Ile de France ewes in Bermudagrass grazing during the breeding season does not alter animal feeding behavior.