Foraging Behaviour of Goats and Sheep in the Caatinga of Brazil

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Abstract
(1) This study quantified the seasonal feeding patterns of sheep and goats by determining the time spent per feeding station (TFS), and the proportion of foraging time spent by goats and sheep in the bipedal stance and feeding at several heights in the quadrupedal stance. The results were compared to determine whether goats gain a nutritional advantage over sheep by feeding bipedally. The animals grazed caatinga vegetation, a mix of deciduous trees with an annual herbaceous understorey that is strongly influenced by wet and dry seasons. (2) Sheep TFS was c. 8 s during the wet and dry seasons. The TFS by goats was 8 s in the dry season, but >20 s in the wet season. (3) Goats and sheep grazed in different layers of vegetation. Sheep spent 36% of their foraging time grazing at or near ground level, compared with 18% for goats (P < 0.05). Goats stood on their hind legs for 4% of their foraging time overall; for 1% of their foraging time in the dry season; and for 8% in the wet season. There was no nutritional advantage to goats in using a bipedal stance, compared with quadrupedally grazing sheep, because in the season of nutritional stress (the dry season) there was little or no forage in the bipedal foraging zone.

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