Food intake of grazing ruminants with emphasis on Mediterranean grazing lands

Predicting Forage Intake by Grazing Ruminants

Determination of the amount eaten and characteristics of the diet of grazing ruminants remains one of the most difficult tasks in research. While several lifetimes have been devoted to developing techniques to ‘measure’ intake and diet quality, they are laborious, expensive, and often lack both precision and accuracy. Hence, there has been little effort on the part of producers or consultants t...

Forage & Grazing Lands

loaded and a portion of the nitrate is absorbed by the blood stream as nitrate and nitrite. Some of the nitrate Nitrate contained in forage may pose performance and health risks that is absorbed recycles back to the rumen through to ruminants. With timely and accurate assessment of forage nitrate levels, steps to reduce the risks of excessive nitrate intake by livestock saliva thereby adding ag...

Grassland Management with Emphasis on Grazing Behaviour

Investigations into the behavioural responses by ruminants to differences in their grazing environment have led to improved understanding of the grazing process. This has proved useful in developing management strategies which are not only sympathetic to the animals’ natural behaviour, but can improve the level and efficiency of resource use. The components of grazing behaviour considered are a...

Monitoring Grazing Lands: How, Why, When, What?

Toxicity of Crepis lacera in grazing ruminants

BACKGROUND Crepis lacera is a plant from the Asteraceae family that is common in the Mediterranean region. Farmers believe that this plant may be deadly to small ruminants in areas of southern Italy. However, scientific evidence is lacking, and no proof exists that C. lacera is toxic to ruminants. Necropsies conducted on four sheep revealed lesions in their livers and kidneys. RESULTS In the ...