Sheep performance and patterns of herbage utilization were determined in two grazing trials involving different amounts and quality of kikuyu foggage. In both trials each paddock of a series of paddocks of each foggage type was grazed successively. Amounts of leaf and stem, and the digestible organic matter and crude protein contents of these components, were determined at the start and end of grazing in each paddock. In one trial, wether lambs maintained livemass whereas, in the other, dry ewes and wether lambs both lost 8?10% of their initial mass, irrespective of differences in foggage quality. Grazing capacity was proportional to the yield of foggage. Although the percentage leaf in the foggage in the different treatments varied from 72 to 89, only some 50% of the total herbage was utilized. The estimates of quality indicated that a higher level of utilization would have resulted in poorer sheep performance.
Journal articles from the Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA) African Journal of Range and Forage Science as well as related articles and reports from throughout the southern African region.