A note on the behavioural strategies used by grazing animals to alter their intake rates

Abstract

AbstractA large, and often neglected, component of grazing intake is behavioural. Grazing animals may employ two strategies to increase their intake rates during grazing: increasing bite mass and decreasing handling time. These strategies are discussed in the context of fasted and non‐fasted sheep grazing white clover (Trifolium repens L. cv. Kent wild white) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L. cv. Parcour). It is concluded that within a forage species sheep have little flexibility for increasing their intake rates by altering their handling times but have some latitude for altering bite masses. Between forage species, differences in intake rates may be more strongly affected by the ‘species‐specific’ requirement for mastication than by differences in bite masses per se. Comparisons are also made with grazing strategies of cattle.