title: Effect of restricted grazing time on the foraging behavior and movement of tan sheep grazed on desert steppe.
abstract: To investigate the effect of restricted grazing time on behavior of Tan sheep on desert steppe, forty 4-months old male Tan sheep with an original body weight (BW) of 15.62±0.33 kg were randomly allocated to 4 grazing groups which corresponded to 4 different restricted grazing time treatments of 2 h/d (G2), 4 h/d (G4), 8 h/d (G8) and 12 h/d (G12) access to pasture. The restricted grazing times had a significant impact on intake time, resting time, ruminating time, bite rate and movement. As the grazing time decreased, the proportion of time spent on intake, bite rate and grazing velocity significantly (p<0.05) increased, but resting and ruminating time clearly (p<0.05) decreased. The grazing months mainly depicted effect on intake time and grazing velocity. In conclusion, by varying their foraging behavior, Tan sheep could improve grazing efficiency to adapt well to the time-limited grazing circumstance.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Yong
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Hailing
authors: H
authors: Luo
authors: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Xueliang
authors: X
authors: Liu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Zhenzhen
authors: Z
authors: Wang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Yuwei
authors: Y
authors: Zhang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Kun
authors: K
authors: Liu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Lijuan
authors: L
authors: Jiao
authors: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Yanfei
authors: Y
authors: Chang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Zhaoyun
authors: Z
authors: Zuo
keywords: Desert Steppe; Foraging Behavior; Movement; Restricted Grazing Time; Tan Sheep