Behavioral observations of grazing sheep in the Cerrado biome of Federal District

Authors

  • David Germano Gonçalves Schwarz Universidade Federal de Viçosa
  • Carlos Thiago Silveira Alvim Mendes de Oliveira Universidade Federal de Viçosa
  • Flávia Aline Silveira Alvim Mendes de Oliveira Universidade Federal de Viçosa
  • Juaci Vitória Malaquias Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária dos Cerrados

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5433/1679-0359.2012v33n2p829

Keywords:

Cerrado, Ethology, Gender, Small Ruminants, Santa Inês.

Abstract

The knowledge of animal behavior under grazing in different biomes is an alternative to increase production because it identifies possibilities of strategic interventions in the management. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the average time of grazing, ruminating and leisure are related to the position (station/decubitus), to the location (sun or shade), as well as the influence of gender in these interactions in Santa Inês sheep in Cerrado from Federal District, Brazil. To obtain the data, the behavior of the animals was assessed by visual observations at ten-minute intervals over a period of ten hours on two consecutive days. From the data obtained were analysis of variance and comparisons between means by Tukey test with significance level of 5%. The result of this study showed that the average time of grazing, ruminating and leisure in Santa Inês sheep, are related to the position (station/decubitus) and location (sun and shade). No significant differences were identified in relation to time spent in the activity of grazing, ruminating and leisure between Santa Inês sheep males and females.

Author Biographies

David Germano Gonçalves Schwarz, Universidade Federal de Viçosa

Pós-graduando em Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, UFV, Viçosa, MG.

Carlos Thiago Silveira Alvim Mendes de Oliveira, Universidade Federal de Viçosa

Pós-graduando em Zootecnia, UFV, Viçosa, MG.

Flávia Aline Silveira Alvim Mendes de Oliveira, Universidade Federal de Viçosa

Pós-graduando em Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, UFV, Viçosa, MG.

Juaci Vitória Malaquias, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária dos Cerrados

Analista em Estatística, Embrapa Cerrados, Planaltina, DF.

Downloads

Published

2012-05-14

How to Cite

Schwarz, D. G. G., Oliveira, C. T. S. A. M. de, Oliveira, F. A. S. A. M. de, & Malaquias, J. V. (2012). Behavioral observations of grazing sheep in the Cerrado biome of Federal District. Semina: Ciências Agrárias, 33(2), 829–834. https://doi.org/10.5433/1679-0359.2012v33n2p829

Issue

Vol. 33 No. 2 (2012)

Section

Communication

License

Semina: Ciências Agrárias adopts the CC-BY-NC license for its publications, the copyright being held by the author, in cases of republication we recommend that authors indicate first publication in this journal.

This license allows you to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, remix, transform and develop the material, as long as it is not for commercial purposes. And due credit must be given to the creator.

The opinions expressed by the authors of the articles are their sole responsibility.

The magazine reserves the right to make normative, orthographic and grammatical changes to the originals in order to maintain the cultured standard of the language and the credibility of the vehicle. However, it will respect the writing style of the authors. Changes, corrections or suggestions of a conceptual nature will be sent to the authors when necessary.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

Most read articles by the same author(s)