Comparative Daily Consumption and Digestibility of Summer Range Forage by Wet and Dry Ewes

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Abstract
During the summer of 1959, a study was made on mountainous range to determine the comparative daily consumption and digestibility of forage by wet and dry ewes. Both wet and dry ewes equipped with fecal bags were grazed in temporary paddocks. Daily intake and digestibility was determined by the lignin-ratio technique. On all study areas, forbs produced more forage than grasses and somewhat less than browse, but they were intermediate in percent of the diets. On some areas, grasses made up the majority of the diet. On others, browse made up more of the diet than grasses. The nutrient content of the diet changed decidedly from area to area. This might be a result of increased plant maturity, differences in portions of the plants consumed, or relative abundance of each of the three forage classes in the diet. In general, the digestibility of most nutrients decreased somewhat from the first to the last period during the summer. Copyright © . .

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