TIPO DE VOLUMOSO E DENSIDADE ANIMAL NA LINHA DE COMEDOURO: COMPORTAMENTO SOCIAL E INGESTIVO DE OVELHAS MORADA NOVA

Abstract

In intensive sheep production systems, the organization of groups is performed to meet the nutritional requirements of individuals and when some resource is not sufficient to serve all members of a particular group, the established hierarchical order allows certain individuals to have access priority. the purpose of this study was to verify the influence of the hierarchical order, availability of space in the feeder and the type of roughage on the food preference and dominance expression of Morada Nova sheep kept in confinement. Thirty - six dry sheep of Morada Nova breed were used in a completely randomized design in a 3x2 factorial arrangement, three different densities of competition by feeder areas (0.15, 0.20 and 0.35 m / animal) and two types (elephant grass silage and elephant grass hay) as treatments. The order of social hierarchy in each group was determined through the peer-feeding motivation test. The observations were of the focal animal sampling type with the indirect observation method, using camcorders (Hero3 GoPro® model), during a continuous period of three hours after the diet. The daily DM intake per animal varied for type of bulky and for animal density in the feeder line. The ewes spent more time feeding on silage compared to hay, however, there was no difference in feeding time as a function of animal density at the feeder line. The numbers of aggressive behaviors varied according to the densities and there was interaction density and social position. Morada Nova sheep prefer elephant grass in the form of hay compared to silage. The animal density in the feeder line influences the expression of dominance in Sheep Morada Nova. The area of 0.20m / animal allows better access in the feed line of Sheep Morada Nova.