Performance of cow-calf (Bos taurus) and ewe-lamb (Ovisaries) units was compared under multispecies versus single-species grazing and deferred-rotation versus continuous stocking during a 10-year grazing trial. Treatments were arranged in a 3 species (cattle, sheep, or both species) by 2 grazing method (deferred rotation or continuous) factorial using a randomized-complete block design with 2 blocks. All animals were individually weighed at initiation, mid-point, and termination of each grazing season. Livestock species and grazing method did not interact for any dependent variable (P>0.05). Average daily gain (ADG) was greater (P<0.05) when calves were alone than when mixed with sheep (1.04 vs 1.01 kg day-1, respectively), but ADG of lambs was greater (P<0.05) when mixed with cattle than alone (0.25 vs 0.23 kg day-1, respectively). Cow and ewe ADG were unaffected (P>0.05) by animal species mixture. Production of progeny (gain of calves and lambs) and total production (gain of progeny and dams) per ha was greater (P<0.05) using sheep or mixed species than cattle (17.8, 17.8, and 11.2 kg ha-1 respectively, for progeny, and 22.4, 24.5, and 17.6 kg ha-1 respectively, for total). Calves grew faster (P<0.05) under continuous than deferred-rotation grazing (1.04 vs 1.01 kg day-1). Ewes gained more rapidly (P<0.05) during the second half of the grazing season under deferred-rotation than continuous grazing (0.049 vs 0.023 kg day-1). Multispecies or sheep grazing appeared more appropriate than cattle for this environment. Deferred-rotation grazing appeared superior for sheep performance, but continuous grazing allowed greater calf performance. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.