Abstract

FLOTA-BANUELOS, Carolina; RIVERA-LORCA, Juan A.  and  CANDELARIA-MARTINEZ, Bernardino. Importance of sheep social hierarchy on feeding behavior and parasite load in silvopastoral and grass monoculture grazing systems. Rev. mex. de cienc. pecuarias [online]. 2019, vol.10, n.1, pp.52-67. ISSN 2448-6698.  https://doi.org/10.22319/rmcp.v10i1.4655.

In sheep the interaction between social hierarchy, forage preference and parasite load effects production. A study was done of this interaction in two grazing systems (silvopastoral, SSP; star grass monoculture, PE) with twenty-two Pelibuey sheep per system. Tests were done of social hierarchy to calculate dominance index values, of forage plant species (C. nlemfuensis, L. leucocephala, G. sepium, G. ulmifolia and H. rosa-sinensis) preference, of parasite load (gastrointestinal nematode egg count per gram of feces), and of hematocrit levels. A generally nonlinear hierarchy was present in both systems, with linear dominance (h=0.75) in the SSP and bidirectional dominance (h=0.5) in the PE. In both systems the most dominant individuals had the highest number of aggressive behaviors (SSP: rs= 0.790909, P=0.05; PE: rs= 0.845455, P=0.05) and the lowest parasite loads (SSP: rs= -0.909091, P=0.05; PE: rs = -0.727273, P=0.05). In the SSP, the animals had greater preference for C. nlemfuensis but those that consumed more L. leucocephala had higher hematocrit levels (rs=0.694269, P=0.05). Sheep grazing in silvopastoral systems consume more arboreal and shrub species foliage which helps to control parasite load and maintain stable hematocrit levels regardless of group social rank.

Keywords : Animal behavior; Feeding preferences; Parasites; Small ruminants.

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