Comportamento alimentar de ovinos e caprinos em caatinga raleada e enriquecida com capim buffel (Cenchrus ciliaris L) no semi-árido paraibano.

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Campina Grande - CSTR / UFCG, physiographic area in the hinterlands Paraibano, Paraíba. The objective of this research was to study the feeding behavior of sheep and goats in caatinga raleada buffelgrass and enriched with grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L) in the semi-arid of Paraiba. There used 24 animals, distributed in 12 goats crossbred F1 (Boer x SRD) and 12 Santa Inês sheep with PV around 15kg. The experimental area was 2.4 ha, divided into four paddocks of 0.6 ha, two for each species. The evaluation of animal behavior was done by visual observation every 10 minutes, held at the beginning, middle and end of the experiment for three days. To estimate the time spent per animal in each activity: grazing, ruminal and leisure was considered: how grazing, the time spent in the selection of sites for grazing, seizure and handling of food cake, and the displacement of the search head of the pasture; as rumination, time on regurgitation, remastigação the food and the time between swallowing and regurgitation, as was considered leisure time activities related to walking, lying down, this set is not grazing or ruminating, and all activities are seen as mutually exclusive . The experimental design was completely randomized, with two treatments and 12 repetitions. Data were submitted to analysis of variance, and where appropriate, the means were compared by Tukek test and analyzed considering 5% probability. It was found that only in time of 11:00 hrs the Santa Inês sheep have moved more than the goats. Throughout the day the goats F1 Boer x SRD practiced the same number of seasons of grazing. The goats crossbred F1 (Boer x SPRD) and Santa Inês sheep finished Caatinga raleada and enriched with capim buffel grass showed feeding behavior similar during the daytime, but the two species spend more time grazing in the 8:00 to 10:00 hours followed the time from 14:00 to 16:00 hours.