Comportamento ingestivo de ovinos em pastagem de megathyrsus maximus cv. massai sobre dois sistemas de pastejo: contínuo e holístico

Abstract

The sheep were one of the first species of animals domesticated by man, being raised mainly to the grass, with the years, were developed several types of grazing, aiming to improve the efficiency of the creation. One of them is the Holistic Grazing System, which allows us to have a pasture of high productivity, sustainable and as close as possible to a natural environment. The objective of this work was to evaluate the grazing habit of sheep in pasture of Massai grass in Araguaína region, north of Tocantins, in two grazing systems (Continuous and Holistic). Twelve sheep were used, the variables being analyzed: grazing time (TP); rumination time (RT); leisure time (TO); amount of mouthful per minute (QBM), total mouthfuls (TB), water consumption. The holistic grazing method changes the pattern of sheep behavior in relation to the continuous system. In the holistic system, animals walk less, spend less time to learn forage, and spend more time ruminating and shade than continuous.