Behavior And Energy Expenditure Of Tan Sheep Grazed In Typical Steppe

Grazing is the mainly utilization style of typical steppe in hilly-gully area of Longdong Loess Plateau, livestock is the main source of local farmer income, but the grassland degraded in different degrees by excessive grazing and others.According to this,studying on the role of grazing rate and grazing period in the region of the typical steppe to Tan sheepgrazing behavior, which is a useful approach to optimize grazing management, improve livestock production capacity, and provide the necessary theoretical basis.Results show that:1Daily ingestion of tan sheep was significantly decreased (p<0.05) with the increase of grazing rate; Daily ingestion of tan sheep increased with the ground biomass increases (p<0.05); At the three grazing rates of2.7head/hm2,5.3head/hm2,8.7head/hm2, average daily ingestions were1.92Kg/d,1.66Kg/d and1.23Kg/d in warm stocking; were1.60Kg/d,1.37Kg/d and1.06Kg/d in cold grazing. When the average daily radiation is16.98MJ/d,Tan daily ingestion would at the maximum of1.73kg/d; When ground biomass increased by1g/m2,Tan daily ingestion would increased by0.044kg/d.2Biting rate of tan sheep increased significantly (p<0.05) with increasing of grazing rate in warm stocking, decreased significantly (p<0.05) with the increase of grazing rate in cold grazing; Biting rate of tan sheep increased significantly (p<0.05) with the temperature and weight increase. At the grazing rate of2.7head/hm2,5.3head/hm2,8.7head/htm2,the Tan sheep’s biting rates were54.10bit/min,54.49bit/min,55.97bit/min in warm stocking,were and50.64bit/min,50.46bit/min,48.91bit/min. When the temperature increased1℃, Tan sheep’s biting rate increased0.222bit/min. When Tan sheep’s weight increased lkg, biting rate increased by0.259bit/min in warm stocking and decreased by0.419bit/min.3Tan sheep’s stepping rate increased with the increasing of grazing rate and weight (p<0.05). At the grazing rate of2.7head/hm2,5.3head/hm2,8.7head/hm2,Tan sheep’s stepping rates were4.02feet/min,4.22feet/min,4.3feet/min. When Tan sheep’s live weight increased1kg, the stepping rate would increased0.192feet/min in warm stocking and0.094feet/min in cold grazing.4Tan-head MEI increased with the decrease of grazing rate significantly (p<0.05); MEI of Tan sheep’s trending shows reverse "U" sight along with the radiation increased with the increase of temperature significantly (p<0.05). At the grazing rate of2.7head/hm2,5.3head/hm2,8.7head/hm2,Tan sheep’s MEI were:33.47MJ/d,28.88MJ/d and21.54MJ/d in warm stocking and27.98MJ/d,24.20MJ/d and18.43MJ/d in cold grazing. When the temperature is22.5℃, the average MEI of Tan sheep will reach the maximum of28.42MJ/d.5Tan sheep’s grazing energy consumption in cold grazing is more than in warm stocking, and increased with the increase of grazing rate.At the grazing rates of2.7head/hm2,5.3head/hm2,8.7head/hm2,Tan sheep’s grazing energy consumption were430KJ/d,435KJ/d and459KJ/d in warm stocking of2010; and513KJ/d,511KJ/d and493KJ/d in cold grazing of2010;601KJ/d,603KJ/d and634KJ/d in warm stocking;664KJ/d,657KJ/d and663KJ/d in cold grazing of2011.So we can develop grazing management strategy more accurately on the variation of the grazing behavior and energy consumption with the grazing rate or environmental factors above.