Analysis of rotational grazing management for sheep in mixed grassland

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 12; p. e17453
• Main Authors: Tong, Zongyong, Dai, Xianlin, Wang, Yu, Li, Xianglin, He, Feng, Yin, Guomei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States PeerJ. Ltd 30-05-2024; PeerJ Inc
• Subjects: Agricultural Science; Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Husbandry - methods; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena - physiology; Animals; Biomass; Ecology; Fatty acids; Grassland; Grazing managment; Infrared spectroscopy; Livestock; Mixed grassland; Natural Resource Management; Oil and gas exploration; Rotational grazing; Sheep; Unsaturated fatty acids; Veterinary Medicine; Weight Gain - physiology; Zoology; China; Sheep; Fatty acids; Grazing managment; Mixed grassland; Rotational grazing
• ISSN: 2167-8359; 2167-8359
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17453

Sown mixed grassland is rarely used for livestock raising and grazing; however, different forages can provide various nutrients for livestock, which may be beneficial to animal health and welfare. We established a sown mixed grassland and adopted a rotational grazing system, monitored the changes in aboveground biomass and sheep weights during the summer grazing period, measured the nutrients of forage by near-infrared spectroscopy, tested the contents of medium- and long-chain fatty acids by gas chromatography, and explored an efficient sheep fattening system that is suitable for agro-pastoral interlacing areas. The results showed that the maximum forage supply in a single grazing paddock was 4.6 kg DM/d, the highest dry matter intake (DMI) was 1.80 kg DM/ewe/d, the average daily weight gain (ADG) was 193.3 g, the DMI and ADG were significantly correlated (
 < 0.05), and the average feed weight gain ratio (F/G) reached 8.02. The average crude protein and metabolizable energy intake by sheep were 286 g/ewe/d and 18.5 MJ/ewe/d respectively, and the n-6/n-3 ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids in mutton was 2.84. The results indicated that the sheep fattening system had high feed conversion efficiency, could improve the yield and quality of sheep, and could be promoted in suitable regions.