2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Food imprinting in goats and its potential application to weed control on grazed sward
| Project/Area Number |
21580333
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Zootechnical science/Grassland science
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| Research Institution | Kagoshima University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TAKAYAMA Koji 鹿児島大学, 農学部, 准教授 (50381190)
OSHIMA Ichiro 鹿児島大学, 農学部, 助教 (60465466)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2009 – 2011
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| Keywords | 放牧 / 草地管理 / 強害雑草 / 山羊 / エゾノギシギシ / 飼料刷り込み / 行動 |
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| Research Abstract |
We studied whether or not food imprinting in goats was applied to one of the most harmful weed, i. e. broadleaf dock(Rumex obtusifolius L.) control on grazed sward so that the animals could defoliate the forage efficiently. When 1-month-old kids were offered the chopped forage for a month, there was a great individual variation in its intake fluctuation, indicating that food imprinting was not completed. Seven-month-old goats that had experienced food imprinting revealed less selective grazing for the weed, and dietary preference was not modified even if the animals had been offered the plants growing in 0.3-liter pots. Therefore, it was suggested that food imprinting in goats could not lead to weed control.
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