Feeding behaviour of sheep and goats on Lespedeza and Leucaena pastures and the effect of Lespedeza hay on faecal egg count.
Ketshabile, Walter Gaolatlhe.
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Feeding of lespedeza to sheep and goats, besides supplying protein, could be a possible alternative remedial control measure against gastro-intestinal parasites in sheep and goats. However, the feeding behaviour of individual animals and their feed intake are likely to influence t its effect on the parasites. This study was conducted to determine the different feeding behaviour of sheep and goats on Sericea lespedeza and its effect on faecal egg count. The first part dealt with behaviour of animals feeding on lespedeza or leucaena within the rangeland while for parasitic response they were fed on lespedeza or veld hay. During feeding behavior, three sheep and three goats averaged 2- 3 years of age were observed for 30 days during the months of March and April 2006. Activities such as browsing, grazing and idling were recorded after every two minutes for every animal while following animals at a distance of five meters. Feed intake was determined by recording the number of bites made by each animal for a period of ten minutes and by estimating the weight of forage eaten. More (P<0.001) browsing time was observed on goats at both lespedeza and leucaena plot than on sheep, with goats consistently spending longer time browsing than sheep on both lespedeza and leucaena than sheep between 7.00 and 14.00h. More of the browsing time of goats was spent on leucaena than on lespedeza. The longest time of grazing by animals was on the lespedeza plot than on leucaena plot, with sheep grazing for a longer (P<0.001) time than goats. The biggest difference in grazing time for sheep at the lespedeza and leucaena occurred during morning hours. Animal type and interaction of feed animal type significantly affected idling time with goats Idling for a longer (P<0.001) time than sheep at both the lespedeza and leucaena plots. Feeding rate (bite/min) for both sheep and goats were similar on both lespedeza and leucaena plots. Intake rates were higher (P<0.01) for both sheep and goats on leucaena than on lespedeza, with sheep having higher (P<0.01) intake rates than goats on both plots. Animals had the fastest bite rate and intake rate during midday (12.00h) and lowest rates at 14.00h. The highest intake rate occurred on leucaena in the morning and afternoon, but lower than lespedeza during midday. For parasites response twelve sheep and twelve goats aged between 3 and 4 years were used in a study that lasted 60 days. Animals were naturally infested by gastro-intestinal parasites. Egg count was done according to McMaster egg count technique (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 1977) by magnifying parasitic eggs from faecal samples dissolved in saturated sodium chloride. During feacal egg count, the effect of animal on feed intake was highly significant (P<0.001) with sheep consuming more of each kind of feed (lespedeza or hay) than goats. Live weight of animals decreased during the early period of feeding, beyond which it remained stable. Egg count varied significantly (P = 0.015) among periods of sampling, a general trend indicating a decrease from day 0 to day 46 beyond which egg count tended to increase. When regression analysis was done to determine the effect of the previous week’s intake, it was observed that increased intake during the previous week was associated with depression in egg count, the effect attaining significance (P<0.05) for both sheep and goats on hay and for sheep on lespedeza. The results of this study are rather inconclusive about the effect of supplementing small ruminants with Sericea lespedeza hay on gastro-intestinal parasites, owing to variation associated with intake of lespedeza and hay, thus warranting further investigation.