Composition of Diet Selected by Grazing Sheep on Natural Rangeland
Abstract
During lush season the dominant plant species on semi arid natural rangeland were Eleusine indica (22.6%), Commelina forskalaei (19.5%), Eriochola polystachya (12.7%) and Eleusine aegyptiac (11.4%) and their preferencen by ewes and lambs were 8.8, 8.9; 13.4, 4.7; 1.0, 1.6; and 11.5, 16.6 per cent with preference index of 0.38, 0.39; 0.68, 0,24; 0.07, 0.12 and 1.00, 1.45, respectively. The mouth grab samples of forage in ewes and Iambs contained 19.4 and 16.7 per cent CP respectively, whereas it was lower (13.1%) in random pasture samples. Similarlyy ADF content of biomass (42.7%) in random pasture samples was Sower in mouth grab samples of ewes (28.7%) and lambs (21.4%). Dominant plant species during monsoon season were highly palatable to the grazing animals.
