Chen, H. J.

Li, Zh. Q.

Shan, Y. M.

Sun, X. L.

Wang, Mingjiu

Wu, Zh. Y.

Yang, Zh.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress The Weight Variations of Grazing Goats and Sheep in the Desert Steppe in Winter and Spring Y. M. Shan Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, China Mingjiu Wang Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, China H. J. Chen Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, China Zh. Y. Wu Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, China Zh. Q. Li Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, China See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/9-3/14 The 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. Presenter Information Y. M. Shan, Mingjiu Wang, H. J. Chen, Zh. Y. Wu, Zh. Q. Li, X. L. Sun, and Zh. Yang This event is available at UKnowledge: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/9-3/14 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　 瞯 ]131　 瞯Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems——— Livestock Production SystemsThe weight variations of grazing goats and sheep in the desert steppe in winter and springY .M . Shan ,M .J . W ang 倡 ,H .J . Chen ,Zh .Y . W u ,Zh .Q . L i ,X .L . Sun and Zh . Y angCollege o f Ecology and Env ironmental Science ,Inner Mongolia A gricultural University , H uhhot ,Inner Mongolia 010019 P .R .China . 倡 E‐mail : w angmj ＿ 0540＠ 163 .comKey words : desert steppe ,live weight ,goats ,sheep ,daily weight gainIntroduction Grazing ecosystem was the necessary process in which grassland ecosystem converted from primary production tosecondary production . Livestock productivity was not only the important items of plant‐animal‐interface in the grazingecosystem ,but also one of the important indices of evaluating grazing system and grassland conditions . Livestock weightvariations which including live weight and daily weight gain were the direct reactions of grazing movement to livestock‐plant‐soilsystem ,influencing directly farmers′ economic returns .Materials and methods The dynamic variation of live weights of grazing goats and sheep with four different proportional flocks inwinter and spring were observed in detail with full‐time in the Stipa brev i f lora desert steppe in Inner Mongolia (４１°４７′ N ,１１１°５３′ E ,average annual precipitation ＝ ２８０ mm ,elevation ＝ １９６０ ～ ２８００ asl ,soil ＝ light chestnut) . The ratios of goats to sheep ofthe flocks were １ ∶ ０ ( A ) ,１ ∶ １ (B) ,１ ∶ ３ ( C) and ０ ∶ １ (D) respectively . The goats and sheep for trials in the four flocks withhealthy ,similar live weights and identical ages were observed from Jan .１７ ,２００７ in winter to Mar .２７ ,２００７ in spring . The totalexperimental period was ７０d .Results For both goats and sheep the live weights in all flocks showed no significant difference in the start of experiment inwinter . But the live weights of goats and sheep between different flocks changed significantly in the end of experiment inspring . The live weights of goats in C decreased most dramatically ,A was secondary ,and B was the least ,i .e ６ .０kg ,４ .０kg and１ .０kg respectively . The weight loss of sheep was D ＞ C ＞ B ,decreased by ９ .５kg ,７ .５kg and ４ .５kg respectively . The dailyweight gains of goats and sheep in the four flocks were all negative ,in which the goats and sheep in B were the largest ,thevalues were ‐１４ .３g / goat / d and ‐６４ .３g / sheep/ d respectively . The amplitudes were ‐３ .０％ and ‐９ .１％ respectively . The weightloss of sheep in D was the heaviest ,the value was ‐１３５ .７g / sheep/ d ,the amplitude was ‐１８ .６％ .Figure 1 The live weight v ariations o f graz ing goats and sheep in the f locks f rom w inter to sp ring .Conclusions In flock A ,B ,C and D ,the live weights of goats and sheep decreased with different degrees from winter to spring .As far as the live weights of goats and sheep ,under the circumstances of the similar grassland condition and the accordantgrazing management ,the structure of A ,C and D had disadvantage effects on live weights of goats and sheep . B was consideredreasonable and practicable ,that is the ratio of goat to sheep was １ ∶ １ .Acknowledgement The study was supported by the high college special research fund for Ph .D subject (２００４０１２９００４) .ReferencesZh .Zh . Tian ,Sh .H . Chang ,J .Y . Xiao ,F .J . Hou ,Zh .B . Nan ,２００４ . The reaction of weight of Tan sheep to grazing intensityin short term . Ecology o f Domestic A nimal , ２５(２) :２６‐２９ .Sh .P . Wang ,Y .F . Wang ,Z .Zh . Chen ,２００３ . Grazing ecosystem management . Beijing : science p ress ,９３‐１０６ .

The Weight Variations of Grazing Goats and Sheep in the Desert Steppe in Winter and Spring

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The Weight Variations of Grazing Goats and Sheep in the Desert Steppe in Winter and Spring

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