The objective of this study was to determine whether rotational grazing generates horse, pasture, or cost benefits over continuous grazing. The study established two replicates (1.57 ha each) of rotational (R; four grazing sections and a stress lot per replicate, where horses were fed a moderate quality grass hay at 2% of body weight when not grazing) and continuous (C) grazing systems (treatments). Twelve Standardbred mares were grazed for an overall stocking rate of 0.52 ha/horse ( = 3 in each pasture). Recommended management practices for each grazing system were followed for 27 mo including three grazing seasons. Samples were collected monthly between 0800 and 1000. Results were analyzed in SAS (V9.4) using mixed model repeated-measures analysis of covariance, chi-square tests of association, and two-sample -tests. Alpha level was set at < 0.05. The C horses were maintained on pasture for 100% of the study duration (844 d; August 1, 2014 to November 22, 2016), while R horses had access to pasture for approximately half of this time (408 ± 33 d). The average length of grazing bout per rotational grazing section during the grazing season increased numerically each year from 7.88 ± 0.76 d in 2014, 10.0 ± 0.61 d in 2015, and 10.9 ± 0.80 d in 2016. Average horse body condition score (BCS) and body fat differed by treatment, with C horses (BCS 6.3 ± 0.05, 17.9 ± 0.15% body fat) greater than R horses (BCS 5.9 ± 0.05, 16.8 ± 0.15% body fat). Both sward height and herbage mass were greater in R (11.8 ± 0.1 cm tall; 1,513 ± 41 kg/ha) than C pastures (6.9 ± 0.1 cm tall; 781 ± 35 kg/ha). The R pastures had higher proportions of vegetative and total cover, planted grasses (tall fescue and orchardgrass), and weeds but lower proportions of grass weeds (nonplanted grasses) and other (rocks, litter, bare ground, etc.) as compared with C pastures. Digestible energy, acid detergent fiber, and calcium were higher in R vs. C pastures; however, crude protein was lower in R vs. C pastures. There were no significant differences between treatments for average monthly amount of hay fed (C, 597 ± 34.1 vs. R, 659 ± 34.1 kg) or average monthly pasture maintenance cost (C, $17.55 ± 3.14 vs. R, $20.50 ± 3.14). This study is one of few replicated experiments comparing the effects of rotational and continuous grazing for horses on pasture quality, horse condition, and production costs. The results here support the recommendation of rotational grazing for production, environmental, and ecological purposes.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7370406 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaa084 | DOI Listing |
J Colloid Interface Sci
December 2024
Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong VIC 3216, Australia. Electronic address:
Hypothesis: Optimizing interfacial positioning of crosslinkers within a reactive self-assembled hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystals (HLLC) system could assist in retaining the hexagonal structure during polymerization and thereby improving water filtration performances of the as-synthesized nanofiltration membranes.
Experiments: The positioning of the hydrophilic crosslinker, poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), within the reactive HLLC system was systematically investigated using H and C solid nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques. The structural variation and water filtration performances of these HLLC systems with/without crosslinkers after polymerization were further studied using grazing incidence SAXS (GISAXS) and crossflow filtration tests, respectively.
Braz J Biol
December 2024
Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Animal Husbandry and feed Production, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan.
An urgent problem in the agricultural science of livestock production is the adequate feeding of the queens of farm animals, in particular sheep kept on year-round pasture, especially in the second half of pregnancy and the first half of lactation. These periods are the most stressful, since the uterus does not receive enough necessary nutrients for the normal functioning of the body, embryonic and post-embryonic development of the offspring. In this regard, the purpose of our research was to increase the usefulness of the diet queens by carrying out additional feeding crushed barley with the inclusion of a mineral supplement developed taking into account the chemical composition of feed in Kazakhstan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Manage
December 2024
Department of Nature and Life Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Nature and Life Sciences, University of Tebessa, 12002, Tebessa, Algeria; Laboratory "Water and Environment", University of Tebessa, 12002 Tebessa, Algeria.
Arid steppe rangelands in North Africa are highly significant ecosystems that are exceedingly sensitive to global warming and are also influenced by severe grazing and heavy utilization practices. Consequently, it is imperative to conduct extensive investigations regarding the impact of overgrazing due to increased sheep populations on plant diversity in these regions. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of two grazing managements (grazing-excluded vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransl Anim Sci
November 2024
Department of Animal Science, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
Strip grazing can increase forage utilization, though it has been shown to decrease individual animal performance. The objective of this study was to evaluate forage utilization and cattle performance when strip grazing () vs. continuously grazing () stockpiled annual forages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
December 2024
Academy of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai, China.
In order to explore the differences in subcutaneous fat metabolism and pathway information in yaks under different feeding conditions, this experiment used Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology to sequence the transcriptome of subcutaneous fat tissues of yaks under different feeding conditions and analyzed them bioinformatically. 9 naturally grazed yaks at 18 months of age were randomly divided into 3 groups, one group (G18_SF) was slaughtered, one group (G24_SF) continued to graze until 24 months of age was slaughtered, and one group (F24_SF) was housed until 24 months of age was slaughtered, and subcutaneous fat tissue was collected from the back of the yaks. A total of 15,261 expressed genes were identified in the nine samples, with 13,959 coexpressed genes and 533 differential expressed genes (DEGs), G18_SF vs F24_SF 133 DEGs, G18_SF vs G24_SF 469 DEGs, F24_SF vs G24_SF 5 DEGs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!