Dietary Overlap between Sheep, Cattle, and Goats When Grazing in Common

The chemical and botanical composition of the diets of esophageally fistulated sheep, cattle, and goats was monitored over a period of 1 year at intervals of approximately 2 months. The animals were grazing together in a poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea) woodland community with an understory of shrubs, chiefly Cassia and Eremophila spp., and an herbaceous field layer of grasses and forbs. Diet quality, as assessed by in vitro digestibility, was highest for sheep in all seasons. The degree of dietary overlap, and hence potential competition, was greatest between goats and cattle. Both goats and cattle had a high proportion of browse plants in their diets. Discussion centres on the degree of overlap in the diets and the complementarity of grazing under common-use.This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries.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 202