Diet selected by lambs and yearling sheep grazing on annual and perennial pastures in Southern Victoria

Abstract

There was no consistent difference in the botanical composition or nitrogen content of the diet selected by lambs and yearling sheep grazing annual or perennial pastures in the spring. On the annual pasture, where the grass and clover content was similar, selection by the animals appeared to be random with no particular species being favoured. On the perennial pasture, where the clover content remained below 20 per cent, the mean percentage of clover in the diet selected by the lambs increased from less than 5 per cent when they were seven weeks old to over 50 per cent at 16 weeks of age. Over the same period, the mean percentage of clover in the diet selected by the yearlings increased from less than 10 per cent to over 40 per cent.