Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Ingestive Behavior, Diet Selection,
and Feed Intake
H. Dove , PhD
KEY TERMS
Grazing—consumption of herbaceous material from the plant biomass.
Browsing — consumption of more lignifi ed material from the plant biomass, often above head height.
Ingestive behavior—the behavioral components that result in the animal selecting and consuming forage.
Diet selection—the process of choosing which plant parts and species are consumed.
Diet composition—the consequence of diet selection; the composition of the diet in terms of plant parts/species.
Intake—the amount of forage consumed; “voluntary intake” is the amount of a given diet consumed voluntarily by
the animal when the amount available is nonlimiting.
Bipedal foraging—foraging above the normal reach by browsing while on the hind legs.
Buccal architecture/dentition—the morphology of the jaw, mouth, and teeth/the condition of the teeth, especially
incisor teeth.
Condensed tannins—a major class of plant secondary compounds, capable of complexing dietary and gut proteins.
Tannin-binding salivary proteins (TBSP)—salivary proteins that complex with dietary tannins, thus reducing their
effect on dietary proteins; proline-rich salivary proteins (PRP) are a specialized subset of TBSP.
OBJECTIVES
By completing this chapter, the reader will acquire knowledge on:
The balance of browsing versus grazing is different in goats compared with other domestic ruminants.
The browsing process in goats is only partly “driven” by bipedal grazing.
That as a consequence, goats will select different plant species than sheep or cattle, when confronted with the same
biomass.
That within goats, diet selection will be affected by age, sex, buccal architecture/dentition, and physiological
state.
Analyzing the validity of statements about dietary preferences and diet selection in goats.
That the evidence suggesting that goats digest forage better than sheep, or that they eat more of a given forage than
sheep, is not conclusive.
The importance of dietary condensed tannins as one component of the diet selection process.
How to synthesize this knowledge into a comparative understanding of the processes of diet selection and intake in
goats, compared with other domestic herbivores.
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