Recovery and germination of gelatin-encapsulated seeds fed to cattle

Abstract

Artificial reseeding of marginal farmlands, wildlands, or rangelands by mechanical means is expensive and often unsuccessful. This study was conducted to determine the recovery and germinability of seeds of south-western U.S.A. rangeland forages fed to cattle. Seed of fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides), blue panicgrass (Panicum antidotale), and sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) were administered in gelatin capsules to steers maintained on a moderate-quality alfalfa (Medicago sativa) diet. Approximately 95% of the recovered seed passed through the steers within 72 h after dosing, but recovery varied among species. Total recovery was 9·5, 46·4, 61·8, and 0% for fourwing saltbush, alkali sacaton, blue panicgrass and sideoats grama, respectively. Fourwing saltbush, blue panicgrass, and alkali sacaton retained viability and germinated in the fecal material. Germination of seeds recovered 48h post ingestion was 14·8, 50·1, and 41·4% for fourwing saltbush, alkali sacaton, and blue panicgrass, respectively, and was similar to germinability of noningested seeds. The use of gelatin capsules would be an effective method for easily feeding known quantities of seeds to livestock in small herds and could be incorporated with other common and necessary livestock handling practices.