Creep grazing, a method for investigating pre-weaned lamb diets?
M.G. HYSLOP AND C.A.M. MOFFAT
AgResearch, P.O. Box 60, Lincoln, New Zealand.
E-Mail:
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 2001. 61:
20-22
Creep grazing as an experimental method offers potential as a
research tool for investigating the diet of the pre-weaned lamb, without
the confounding associated with both the ewe and lamb sharing the same
pasture during lactation. Eighty-four Romney x Poll Dorset ewes with
single or twin lambs were set stocked in a randomised block design
(wooden gates used to create creep areas) at 15.2 ewes/ha, 4 weeks after
lambing. Subterranean clover was established in four creep, and 2 shared
areas in autumn. Herbage mass and composition were measured weekly in
the creep and shared pasture areas. Lambs were observed for their use
and activity (grazing, active, inactive) of the creep areas at 5-minute
intervals, over 4 hours, weekly, from 4 to 12 weeks of age. Individual
lamb live weights were taken fortnightly. At 4 weeks of age, lambs
grazed in the creep area for 4% of the time and for an average time
interval of 16 minutes compared to 20% and 32 minutes at 12 weeks of
age. Lamb herbage intakes from the creep areas ranged from 0.21-0.53 kg
DM/lamb/day. There was no significant difference in the liveweight gain
of lambs with the creep area or without, over all treatments. The creep
grazing method is a feasible, non-invasive tool to study the foraging
habits and diet of the pre-weaned lamb, but further refinements are
required.
Keywords: NZSAPAB;
creep grazing method; diet; pre-weaned lamb
Last Updated 7/08/01
