Abstract
Abstract. The Greek Thrakian sheep breed is under extinction and information about their grazing behaviour is important to both welfare and performances. The grazing behaviour of the Thrakian sheep breed was investigated in the mountainous rangelands of North-Eastern Thrace, Greece from April to October 2012. Direct observations were carried out on six female sheep for two consecutive days at each month and the time spent on grazing, resting and rumination was recorded. Also, the daily distance travel by sheep flock was recorded with a handheld Global Positioning System. Sheep travelled on average 4.5 km/day and they walked their shortest distances during the summer months (July and August). Sheep spent 324.3 min/day (64.2 % of their grazing activities) on feeding while they devoted less time (P<0.05) to resting and ruminating (134.4 and 46.4 min/day, respectively). The higher values of resting and ruminating were recorded during summer (163.2 min/day and 54.2 min/day, respectively). Time spent on grazing by sheep had significant (P<0.05) negative relationship to air temperature (r=−0 .966) while the resting and ruminating time had a positive one (r=0.935; P<0.01 and r=0.815; P<0.05, respectively).
Highlights
The Thrakian sheep is an autochthonous Greek breed raised in the villages of NE Rhodopi, Thrace, Greece
Average distance travel of the Thrakian sheep breed was 4.46 km/day (Table 1) with the smaller distance travelled in August and the greater in September
Seasonal variation in grazing time of sheep probably reflects the influence of air temperature
Summary
The Thrakian sheep is an autochthonous Greek breed raised in the villages of NE Rhodopi, Thrace, Greece. The breed is characterized as under extinction (FAO 2007) since its population counts less than 1 000 heads (NSSG 2009). The farmers, in order to fill up the feed gap, utilize alternative forage resources, such as cereal stubble fields after crop harvesting during summer. They make extensive use of purchased feedstuffs, mainly roughage and concentrates, during the entire year. Sheep flocks have a permanent base, located near the village from where they move every morning to rangelands and return at night. Transhumance (seasonal mobility of farmers with their flocks between fixed summer and winter pastures) is not practised
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
