Comportamento alimentare di capre Girgentane: effetto del tipo di pascolo e del livello proteico del supplemento.

Effect of substitution of barley and tickbean to maize and extruded soybean in the diet on milk and cheese from ewes grazing under two different stocking rates.

This experiment aimed to verify the effects of a concentrate supplement based on barley and tickbean (BT), compared with a concentrate of maize and extruded soybean meal (MS), on milk and cheese yield and composition of ewes grazing with different stocking rate (SR). Thirty two Comisana ewes, divided into four groups, for 50 days in spring were allowed to graze plots of a mixed sward of Italian reygrass and berseem clover with a low (LSR, 23 ewes/ha) or a high SR (HSR, 38 ewes/ha) and fed BT or MS. Herbage allowance per ewe was more than double at LSR compared to HSR (P<0.001), and daily milk yield was 10 to 15% higher (P<0.01) in the LSR-BT ewes than in the other groups. Milk composition, …

Goat intake, diet selection and milk quality as affected by grazing time of day

We evaluated the effect of grazing time of day on goat milk chemical composition, renneting properties and milk fatty acid profile in a Mediterranean grazing system. Sixteen lactating Girgentana goats were divided into two experimental groups and housed in individual pens, where they received 500 g/d of barley grain. For 5 weeks the two group were left to graze in two fenced plots on a ryegrass sward as follows: morning group (AM), from 9.00 to 13.00; afternoon group (PM), from 12.00 to 16.00. In selected herbage, water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) increased in the afternoon (204 v. 174 g/kg dry matter, DM; P=0.01), whereas crude protein (CP) and linolenic acid decreased (respectively, 16.7 …