Performance of lambs and kids on silvipastoral system and effects of grazing on constituent vegetation

Abstract

Performance of male lambs and kids grazed on 4-year-old silvipastoral system consisting of Albizia amara and Leucaena leucocephala as trees, Dichrostachys cinerea as shrub and Chrysopogon fulvus + Stylosanthes hamata + S. scabra as pasture components was assessed from September 1994 to June 1996. Lambs and kids after introduction to the pasture continued to gain in their body weight up to April and May 1996, respectively, and after that animals maintained their body weight. The lambs gained body weight @ of 50 g/head/day in grazing period of 608 days while kids gained weight @ of 29 g/head/day in a grazing period of 639 days. The plant population of pasture and tree components after 2 years of grazing showed maximum decrease in S. scabra (91.3%) followed by S. hamata (58.3%) and L. leucocephala (38.0 %) indicating their relative preference by the animals. This results showed that sheep and goats can be maintained on silvipastoral systems with reasonable growth rates and that Stylosanthes were preferred plant species in pasture vegetation.