Hosein Arzani; Javad Motamedi; Taghi Mirhaji
Volume 25, Issue 3 , November 2018, , Pages 657-670
Abstract
Knowledge of the animal daily requirement in rangelands is one of the essential requirements to calculate the grazing capacity in rangeland plans. In this regard, the daily metabolizable energy requirements of different Sangesary sheep (ewe, ram, and lamb) were investigated. For ...
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Knowledge of the animal daily requirement in rangelands is one of the essential requirements to calculate the grazing capacity in rangeland plans. In this regard, the daily metabolizable energy requirements of different Sangesary sheep (ewe, ram, and lamb) were investigated. For this purpose, according to the average values of forage quality indices and the proportion of species in the plant composition, the amount of metabolizable energy in one kilogram of dry forage at different growth stages was estimated, and considering the daily metabolizable energy requirement, the amount of forage that supplies the animal was estimated. The daily metabolizable energy requirement was calculated according to the proposed MAFF (1984) equation under grazing condition regarding the physical properties of the rangelands, water distribution intervals, plant density, and applying an incremental coefficient of 70%. Based on the results, the amount of forage needed to meet the daily needs of the ewe of the Sangesary sheep with a mean weight of 37 kg in the early, mid, and late growing season was estimated to be 1.6, 2.1 and 2.3 kg dry matter, respectively. The values for adult rams with an average weight of 48.75 kg were estimated to be 1.9, 2.5 and 2.9 kg in different growth stages. The lambs' daily requirement with an average weight of 19.88 kg was estimated to be 1.3, 1.7, and 1.9 in each growing season. The results showed that considering the amount of 1.5 kg of dry matter forage to meet the daily requirements of different kinds of animals grazing in rangelands is not correct and animal requirement need be determined based on forage quality in phenologiacal stages.In addition, the results emphasize that in order to adapt the daily requirements of animal to the forage quality, it is necessary to consider the values of forage quality indices and the proportion of all species grazed in the plant composition, so that the results should not be limited to the species in animal diet. Otherwise, as in the present study, the estimated requirement is more than the daily intake of animal grazing on rangelands.
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; Somayeh Alikhani; Akbar Javadi; Bardia Nourian
Volume 16, Issue 4 , January 2010, , Pages 431-444
Abstract
Information about animal requirement, available forage and its quality is fundamental for successful range forage and livestock management. Since sheep is dominant grazing animal on rangelands in Iran and there are about 27 sheep breeds and each breed has special body size and physiological condition, ...
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Information about animal requirement, available forage and its quality is fundamental for successful range forage and livestock management. Since sheep is dominant grazing animal on rangelands in Iran and there are about 27 sheep breeds and each breed has special body size and physiological condition, different daily nutrition requirements need to be considered. It is necessary daily requirement of each breed based on quality of available forage be determined which was the main objective of this research for Moghani sheep breed in Kalibar rangelands in eastern Azerbaijan province of Iran. Vegetation composition was formed by 11 species including Hordeum glavum, Aegilops sylindrica, Artemisia fragrans, Agropyron trichophorum, Festuca ovina, Dactylis glomerata, Stipa barbata, Sinapis arvensis, Bromus tectorum, Bromus tomentellus and Kochia prostrata. Among them Hordeum glavum, Aegilops sylindrica, Artemisia fragrans, Stipa barbata, Sinapis arvensis, Bromus tomentellus, and Kochia prostrata were existed in lowland, and other species were observed in highlands. Samples were collected from an exclosure about 25-31 of May in flowering stage and 4-6 of July in maturity stage. Forage quality was evaluated based on chemical combination including crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), dry matter digestibility (DMD) and metabolizable energy (ME). For comparison of results One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used. Duncan test was used to determine inside changing sources and comparing species and location with pFestuca ovina and lowest forage quality was obtained in Hordeum glavum. Among two Phenological stages of (flowering & maturity) the higher percent of CP, DMD and rate of ME were obtained in flowering stage and the lowest percent were belonged to maturity stage. The higher percent of ADF was measured for maturity stage and the lowest Percent of ADF was obtained in flowering stage. Thus there were significant differences (p<0.01) between ADF, CP & ME of species. There were also significant differences between chemical components of species in different phenological stages and areas. Moghani sheep daily requirement based on MAFF equation considering forage quality and physical condition of the areas in two phonological stages and maintenance condition with 40% additional requirement were 1.39 kg DM and 2.14 kg DM in flowering and maturity plant growth stages respectively. Generally considering average metabolizable energy of species daily animal requirement in highland and lowland were 1.53 and 1.95 kg DM respectively.
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).