Hosein Arzani; Javad Motamedi; Ali Nikkhah; Hosein Azarnivand; Mehdi GHorbani
Volume 20, Issue 3 , November 2013, , Pages 333-344
Hossein Arzani; Javad Motamedi (Torkan); Ali Nikkhah; Hossein Azarnivand; Mehdi Ghorbani
Volume 19, Issue 4 , March 2013, , Pages 557-570
Abstract
Information on animal requirements is essential to calculate rangeland grazing capacity. Therefore, animal weight and animal unit equivalent (AUE) of each breed should be determined independently. In this research, live weight of Kabodeh sheep was determined based on average live weight of 3 and 4 years ...
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Information on animal requirements is essential to calculate rangeland grazing capacity. Therefore, animal weight and animal unit equivalent (AUE) of each breed should be determined independently. In this research, live weight of Kabodeh sheep was determined based on average live weight of 3 and 4 years old ewes. For this purpose, two herds of Kabodeh breed were selected. In each herd, 15 three–year-old ewes, 15 four-year-old ewes, 5 three-year-old rams, 5 four year-old-rams, 10 three-month-old lambs and 10 six-month--old lambs were selected. They were weighed two times including at the time of grazing season in lowland and highland rangelands. For determination of dry matter requirement, forage quality was taken into consideration. According to the results, animal weight for herds (three and four years old ewe) was 52.66±0.86 kg. Therefore, animal unit equivalent (AUE) for rams, ewes, 3 and 6-month-old lambs were 1.07, 1.66, 0.38 and 0.51, respectively. According to MAFF equation (1984), daily metabolizable energy requirement for maintenance condition was calculated 9.89 and 10.60 Mj (including that multiplied by 1.4 and 1.5) by considering condition of rangelands and distances from watering points and plant density in lowland and highland rangelands. Dry matter requirement was calculated 1.98 and1.80 kgbased on forage quality in lowland and highland rangelands.
Hossein Arzani; Javad Torkan; Ali Nikkhah; Hossein Azarnivand; Mahdi Ghorbani
Volume 17, Issue 2 , September 2010, , Pages 191-204
Abstract
Concepts of animal equivalent has been developed to express different kind and classes of grazing animal in common form. This concept is not fixed and usually determine on the basis of live weight and metabolic weight. More than 27 sheep breeds with different body size have been adapted and grazing on ...
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Concepts of animal equivalent has been developed to express different kind and classes of grazing animal in common form. This concept is not fixed and usually determine on the basis of live weight and metabolic weight. More than 27 sheep breeds with different body size have been adapted and grazing on rangelands in different climatic zones of Iran. So it is not correct to use the same animal unit weight for all. Therefore it is necessary to determine animal unit for each breed. In this study, two herds of West Azarbayjan Makoii breed were selected, 3 and 4 years old ewes, 3 and 4 years old rams and 3 and 6 months lambs were weighted in two stages in each herd. For determination of dry matter requirement forage quality was taken into consideration. Daily requirement of animal for maintenance condition was calculated using NRC (1985) tables and MAFF (1984) equation. On the basis of results; animal unit was obtained 45.36 ± 2.75 kg which is near to animal unit weight calculated for whole country based on weight of all breeds. Daily requirement of animal was obtained 9.50 Mj metabolisable energy equal to 1.77 kg dry matter of available forage
Hosein Arzani; Khadijeh Mahdavi; Ali Nikkhah; Hosein Azarnivand
Volume 13, Issue 3 , February 2006, , Pages 236-247
Abstract
Information on animal daily requirement and forage quality for determination of rangeland grazing capacity is an essential task for range management. Animal requirement depends on factors such as weight, age, physiological condition as well as forage quality. There are more than 27 sheep breeds with ...
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Information on animal daily requirement and forage quality for determination of rangeland grazing capacity is an essential task for range management. Animal requirement depends on factors such as weight, age, physiological condition as well as forage quality. There are more than 27 sheep breeds with different body size in Iran. So it is not possible to represent a unique weight for animal unit in overall country. To overcome the problem live weight and daily requirement of each breed should be determined. In the present study, two herds of Dalagh sheep breed were selected with fifty head sheep in each including : fifteen head three years old ewes, fifteen head four years old ewes, ten head three months old lambs, ten head six months old lambs, five head three years old rams, five head four years old rams. They were weighed at three times (when grazing pasture, early and late winter in lowland). Average live weight of three and four year old ewes was considered as 51.75 kg. Equivalent animal unit for ram, three and six month lambs was obtained 1.37, 0.57 and 0.85 respectively. Animal requirement was determined based on forage quality in two phonological stages of vegetative and maturity. So, animal requirements were determined 1.2 and 1.53 kg dry matter per day at the times of vegetative and maturity stages respectively. Because of environmental condition and distance of watering point and sheep yard, metabolizable energy requirement per day was determined about 9/8 MJ. The SAS statistical software was used for data analysis according to factorial experiment in the form of completely randomized design. The result of analysis of variance showed herds, sex, age and location and also their interaction had significant effects on animal live weight (p<0.01).