2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Foraging ecology of grazing cattle on dwarf bamboo grassland

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21780244
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Zootechnical science/Grassland science
Research Institution	Gifu University
Principal Investigator	YAYOTA Masato 岐阜大学, 応用生物科学部, 准教授 (30324289)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2011
Keywords	草地利用 / 草地管理・保全 / 栄養・飼養 / 家畜生産システム
Research Abstract	The objective of this study was to clarify ingestive behavior, intake rate and digestive dynamics in the rumen of grazing cattle on Sasa(dwarf bamboo) grassland. The intake rate did not differ between the cattle grazing on Sasa and common grass pasture because the cattle adjusted their ingestive behavior[ bite, chew and chew-bite] to the plant form. Further, feed particle size which passed the rumen was bigger in the animal grazing Sasa, resulting in faster decrease of rumen fill comparing the animal grazing on common grass pasture. These digestive dynamics may induce foraging behavior and keep intake of Sasa by grazing animals.