Two explanations exist for the evolutionary origin of grouping in primary consumers: reduction of individual predation risk and resource-mediated aggregation. While several studies have assessed relationships between aggregation and predation risk, few studies have examined the circumstances under which resource-mediated aggregation can lead to stable group formation. Using a model, we examined...

The restricted access to pasture experienced by many competition horses has been linked to the exhibition of stereotypic and redirected behaviour patterns. It has been suggested that racehorses provided with more than one source of forage are less likely to perform these patterns; however, the reasons for this are currently unclear. To investigate this in 4 replicated trials, up to 12 horses we...

Both the size and the species of the herbivores on your land affect the amount of forage they eat. For example, using an intake rate of 2.5 percent of body weight at body condition score 5, you would expect a 1,200-pound cow to eat 30 pounds of forage dry matter per day, compared to 25 pounds for a 1,000-pound cow. On the other hand, as a percentage of body weight, small herbivore species have ...

A successful honey bee forager tells her nestmates the location of good nectar and pollen with the waggle dance, a symbolic language that communicates a distance and direction. Because bees are adept at scouting out profitable forage and are very sensitive to energetic reward, we can use the distance that bees communicate via waggle dances as a proxy for forage availability, where the further t...

The study describes the profile of fatty acids in hind leg muscle of 18 female and 12 male nutria reared on an extensive system farm in eastern Poland with a diet based on fresh forage. When compared to results from nutrias from an intensive production system from the literature, the forage-fed animals had lower proportions of saturated fatty acids, and higher proportions of n3-fatty acids in t...

Forage quality of orchardgrass and timothy hays can be evaluated from both nutritional and marketing perspectives. From the nutritional perspective it is conditioned by the 1) nutrient concentration, 2) rate of voluntary intake, 3) digestibility and 4) partitioning of metabolized products within the animal. From the marketing perspective, hay destined for urban feed store and Pacific Rim market...

A digestion study with 28 yearling heifers (428 +/- 9.9 kg; Exp. 1) and a 2-yr winter grazing trial with 60 crossbred cows (552 +/- 6.9 kg; Exp. 2) were used to determine the effects of level of nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) supplementation on intake and digestibility of low-quality forage. Treatments were as follows: 1) control, no supplement; 2) 0.32 kg of NSC (1.8 kg/d of soybean hulls an...

This study evaluated the effects of dilution rate and forage-to-concentrate ratio on gas production by rumen microbes. Continuous cultures were used to monitor methane production at three liquid dilution rates (3.2, 6.3, or 12.5%/h) and three forage-to-concentrate ratios (70:30, 50:50, or 30:70). Filtered ruminal contents were allowed 6 d of adaptation to diets followed by 7 d of data collectio...

The present study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional value and in situ degradation kinetics of eight high protein forage crops: alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), forage oat (Avena sativa L.), mixed pasture, and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) pasture in early vegetative stages, two forage lupins (Lupinus albus L.) in early bloom stages, sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) and kale (Brassica nap...