| In this study, non-pregnant Small-tailed Han sheep were used in three independent experiments to estimate the effects of different feeding methods on behavior, production performance and economic benefits of sheep, aiming to provide the basic data for scientific breeding management of Small-tailed Han sheep.Test1.Effects of Different Feeding Frequency on the Behavior and Production Performance of Small-tailed Han sheepThis experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different feeding frequency on the behavior and production performance of Small-tailed Han sheep.72 non-pregnant Small-tailed Han sheep with good body condition and similar weight at 1 year old were selected and randomly divided into two groups with 3 replicates and 8 sheep per replicate. Three groups were fed same diet, while group A were fed twice per day, group B were fed three times per day and group C were fed fourtimes per day. Feeding experiments were conducted for 35 d. The behavior of each group was observed and recorded within 24 h by a 24-hour camera in 20 d ~ 23 d and digestive experiments were conducted for 7 days after the formal experiment period. The results showed as follows:(1) With the increase of feeding frequency, standing time had an increasetrend.Group A and group B had the similar time while significantly lower than group C. Standing time ofgroup C respectively higher than group A and group B by 178.38 min(37.75%) and 197.69 min(43.62%).(2) In standing condition,ingestion time significantly reduced with the increase of feeding frequency.Ingestion time of group A increased by 58.28% and 46.20% than group Band group C(P<0.05),respectively;Standing ruminatingofgroup B and group C had no difference and higher than group A by37.61% and 41.72%(P>0.05),respectively;Moving time of Group C increased by 62.69% and 57.59%(P<0.05)compared withgroup A and group B; In reposing state,rumination time of group Aincreased than group B and C by 13.32% and17.44%(P<0.05),respectively; Total rumination time of group A increased by 8.13%and 11.97%compared with group B and group C(P<0.05),respectively;(3) With the increase of feeding frequency, DMI of sheep had an increase trend(P>0.05). DMI of group C increased than group A and group B by 27.78 g/d(1.80%) and 6.75 g/d(0.41%),respectively;Apparent digestibility of main nutrients hadno significant difference in three experiment groups(P> 0.05).(4) With the increase of feeding frequency, the ADG and FCEdecreased. The ADG and FCE of group A increased than group B and group C by 4.50 g/d(3.59%)、 26.50 g/d( 25.67%) and 4.69%、27.78%,respectively.The above results showed that under the whole barn feeding condition of the, just 2 ~ 3 times feeding frequency per day wasrelatively appropriatefor non-pregnant Small-tailed Han sheep.Test2. Effects of Dry and Wet Feeding Methods on the Behavior and Production Performance of Small-tailed Han sheepThis experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dry and wet feeding methods on the behavior and production performance of Small-tailed Han sheep. 30 non-pregnant Small-tailed Han sheep with good body condition and similar weight at1 year old were selected and randomly divided into two groups with 3 replicates and 5 sheep per replicate.Group A were fed dry wheat straw, group B were fed wet wheat straw. Feeding experiments were conducted for 43 d. The behavior of each group was observed and recorded within 24 h by a 24-hour camera in 20 d ~ 23 d and digestive experiments were conducted for 7 days after the formal experiment period. The results showed as follows:(1) The standing and reposing time had a little difference by 44.66min(P>0.05), however, standing time and ingestion time of group B reduced by 5.17%(P>0.05)and 82.34%(P<0.05),respectively,while the rumination time increased by 3.38%(P>0.05) than group A;(2) The DMI and apparent digestibility of nutrients had no significant difference between two groups, but daily roughage intake of group A increased by 4.22% than group B, andapparent digestibility of nutrients had a decrease trend;(3)The average daily gain and conversion efficiency of concentrate supplement of group B increased by 9.74%,respectively compared with group A,and economic gross improved 2.84%.Comprehensively feeding wet roughage could improve the production performance of sheepbyeffectting the behavior.Test3. Effects of Concentrate and Roughage Feeding Sequence on the Behavior and Production Performance of Small-tailed Han sheepThis experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of concentrate and roughage feeding sequence on the behavior and production performance of Small-tailed Han sheep. 30 non-pregnant Small-tailed Han sheep with good body condition and similar weight at 1 year old were selected and randomly divided into two groups with 3 replicates and 5 sheep per replicate.Group A was fed roughage firstly and then concentrate,group B was on the contrary. Feeding experiments were conducted for 40 d. The behavior of each group was observed and recorded within 24 h by a 24-hour camera in 20d~23d and digestive experiments were conducted for 7 days after the formal experiment period. The results showed as follows:(1)The standing and reposing time had a little difference by 14.77 min,but had no significant difference between two groups, the ingestion and resting time of group A reduced by 4.68%(P>0.05)and 24.42%(P<0.05)respectively, the moving time and rumination time increased by 14.72%(P>0.05) and 10.98%(P>0.05) respectively compared with group B;(2)The DMI and apparent digestibility of nutrients had no significant difference between two groups, but dry matter intake of group A increased by 1.56% compared with group B, andapparent digestibility of nutrients had a decrease trend;(3)The average daily gain and conversion efficiency of concentrate supplementation of group A increased by 1.27%(P>0.05) compared with group B.The above results show that dietary roughage firstly and thenconcentrate was better than the contrarymethod. |
PDF Full Text Request