Possibilities of lucerne breeding for sheep preference and responses to forage quality
1992
Chloupek, O. (Vysoka Skola Zemedelska, Brno (CSFR)) | Krejci, F. | Mikolaskova, J. | Babinec, J.
Sheep preference was used as a character of lucerne forage quality in three experiments during 1985-1990 in varietal testing. The sheep preference was expressed by the percentage of consumed forage during the time when some of the samples were nearly consumed. Analysis of variance proved that the sheep preference was influenced primarily by cuts, by age of stand (i.e. by years), by varieties and interactions. It was highest in the first cut each year and lowest in the third year in comparison to the preceeding years. Stand cut only two times was preferred in comparison to stand cut three times in proceeding years. Varietal differences amounted to about 20 %. Varieties with lower yield, with higher percentage of dry matter in forage (in one of two experiments), and perhaps also varieties with higher percentage of DMD were preferred by sheep. Chemical composition expressed by protein, fibre and saponin concentrations did not influence sheep preference. It can be concluded that breeding of lucerne for voluntary intake, expressed by sheep preference is possible but selection of this type would prefer lower yielding varieties.
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