Influence of Grazing Pressure and Grazing Time on the Foraging Behaviour of Goat

Foraging behavior of goats was investigated under different grazing pressure and different grazing time in South China.Results showed both ingesting times and ingesting steps were decreased under lower grazing pressure index,whereas bite numbers per step,rate of ingestion,intake per bite,daily intake,time of rumination were significantly increased at the same time.There was little effect on other behaviors.In September,ingesting times and ingesting steps were the least and intake per bite was maximum among all tested times.Bite numbers per step in June was significantly less than that of other months.The rate of ingestion was significantly increased in October.Time of rumination,chewing time per ruminating food bolus was the longest in October.Both chewing rate and interval time had fewer differences between two ruminating food bolus in different month.