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Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

DOI

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Abstract

Seven male Awassi sheep and 7 male Shami (Damascus) goats, one year old and fed with a diet having 2503 Kcal ME and 155 g crude protein kg^{-1}, were housed individually for 49 days to determine the feeding behaviour. Each animal within each species was one replicate and kept individually within 100 x 120 x 120 cm wood pen in indoor conditions with natural daylight and 11-18 °C room temperature. Twice a week, starting right after daily feed refreshment at 12.00, behavioural observations were made at 12.00, 16.00, 20.00, 24.00, 04.00 and 08.00 with 5-minute intervals by monitoring the animals. The recorded activities were eating, ruminating, drinking, resting, standing, and playing. These activities of sheep and goats were 24.6 vs. 26.6 (P > 0.05), 17.6 vs. 16.6 (P > 0.05), 3.9 vs. 2.7 (P < 0.01), 20.3 vs. 23.9 (P < 0.01), 29.1 vs. 21.8 (P < 0.01) and 2.4 vs. 4.6 (P < 0.01) as a percentage, respectively. In conclusion, goats showed less drinking and standing but higher playing and resting behaviour than sheep without showing any significant difference between species with respect to eating and ruminating activity.

Keywords

Sheep, goats, feed intake, feeding behaviour

First Page

435

Last Page

439

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