The intake and performance of cashmere goats grazing sown swards

Abstract

AbstractAn experiment was conducted to examine the relationships between sward surface height and the intake and liveweight gain of lactating female goats and their single kids and of 12‐month‐old castrated male goats continuously grazing grass pasture. Herbage intake was measured using the n‐alkane marker technique. Goats grazed the experimental area from May to August at nominal sward heights of 3–4, 5–6, 7–8 and 9–10 cm. Sward heights achieved were variable but were consistently ranked in treatment order.The herbage intake of females [57‐140 g DM (kg LW0.75)−1 d−1] and castrates [26‐88 g DM (kg LW0.75)−1 d−1] increased linearly with sward height over the range 3.2‐11.0 cm. The liveweight change of females and castrates reflected the pattern of change in sward height.The herbage intake of kids [17‐41 g DM (kg LW0·75)−1 d−1] was not related to sward height, but there was a consistent increase in liveweight gain with sward height from 98 to 129 g d−1. The herbage intake of kids did not increase with age with means of 25–29 g DM (kg LW0·75 d−1 for kids aged 9–17 weeks.There was evidence that all classes of goat selected green leafy material of high digestibility.