Performance of beetal goats and lohi sheep under different feeding management systems

A study was conducted to compare the performance of goats and sheep when they (1) grazed lucerne for eight hours per day (extensive),(2) grazed lucerne for four hours per day and been pen fed lucerne for an additional four hours (semi intensive),and (3) been pen fed lucerne for eight hours per day (intensive). forty five female beetal goats (20 kg body weight) and 45 female lohi sheep (22 kg body weight) were divided into three groups within each species. feed intake and weight gain of animals were monitored over a three month period. in goats and sheep,dry matter and neutral detergent fiber intakes were highest (p<0.05) under the extensive management system compared to semi intensive or intensive systems. however,in each of the three systems sheep consumed more (p<0.05) dry matter and neutral detergent fiber than goats. although crude protein intake did not differed (p>0.05) among systems within species,sheep presented a significant higher (144.43 g/d) crude protein intake compared to goats (127.92 g/d) under intensive feeding. the extensive system resulted in the highest (p<0.05) average daily gain,and the intensive system in the lowest (p<0.05) for both goats and sheep,with growth higher (p<0.05) in sheep than goats in the respective systems. with the lowest feed efficiency (gain per feed intake) found with intensive pen feeding of animals,it can be concluded from this study that extensive grazing of animals on lucerne would result in the cheapest and most effective system to raise either goats or sheep. copyright 2013 zoological society of pakistan.