Fait partie de [OMA34]

1997 - 253 p.

Recording methods of goat feeding behaviour

Abijaoudé J.A., Tessier J., Morand-Fehr P.

The feeding behaviour of goats involves 2 main behavioural activities: ingestion and rumination which have effects on the levels of nutrient intake and the efficiency of digestive utilisation. To quantify the ingestion and rumination activities of stall-housed goats fed on complete diets, 2 complementary methods were used to record jaw movements and the weight of the ingested quantities simultaneously, and thus, provide a complete and exact distribution of intake and rumination over a period of 48 hours. The feeding behaviour of Saanen and Alpine goats was studied with 4 goats simultaneously. The recording apparatus is composed of a portable electronic device (IPERD-INRA Theix) connected by a soft tube to another softer tube fixed on the inside part of the lower strap of the halter, between the halter and the mouth of the animal. The portable device is placed on the back of the animal, fixed on a basal plastic part which does neither disturb the animal nor change its feeding behaviour. The air pulses coming from the compression of the softest tube are transformed by the portable device to electrical signals which are recorded every 2.5 seconds. The ingested quantities were recorded by placing the feeding pans of 4 goats on weighing machines which transmit the weights to an adapted electronic memoriser. The recordings are made every 2 minutes for 48 hours. This portable apparatus seems to be well-adapted to stall-housed animals.

Mots-clés    

ALIMENTATION DES ANIMAUX, CAPRIN, COMPORTEMENT

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Abijaoudé J.A., Tessier J., Morand-Fehr P. Recording methods of goat feeding behaviour. In : Lindberg J.E. (ed.), Gonda H.L. (ed.), Ledin I. (ed.). Recent advances in small ruminant nutrition. Zaragoza : CIHEAM, 1997. p. 113-119. (Options Méditerranéennes : Série A. Séminaires Méditerranéens; n. 34). Seminar of the FAO-CIHEAM Network of Cooperative Research on Sheep and Goats, Subnetwork on Nutrition, 24-26 Oct 1996, Rabat (Morocco). http://om.ciheam.org/om/pdf/a34/97606125.pdf