Sheep with esophageal fistulas were used to determine the daily intake, nutritive content and digestibility of forage at three periods and two stocking intensities during the spring of 1972 on a typical foothill range in northern Utah.
Heavy grazing under a season-long regime did not influence the concentrations of dietary chemical components when compared to moderate grazing; however, it did depress the digestibility of cellulose and organic matter. There was a significant decline in the dietary chemical components due to forage maturation. Digestibility of organic matter and cellulose were significantly higher in the early spring as compared to late spring. Daily intake was depressed as a result of the heavy grazing only in early spring.
Heavy grazing intensities on short-term pastures influenced the content of lignin, cellulose and protein in the diet. Digestibility of cellulose and organic matter was depressed during early and late spring as a result of the heavy grazing intensities while protein digestibility was depressed throughout the season. Intake was significantly lower under heavy grazing in the intermediate period than it was under moderate grazing.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-7378 |
| Date | 01 May 1974 |
| Creators | Kotter, Kurt J. |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. |
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